Vol 30 - Just read me tonight, but you feel like a sub of mine

Happy Friday,

Waited three years for three new lines from Rihanna, Taylor Swift served & 40 Under 40 [METHODOLOGY LEAKED‼️].

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 Morgan Wallen, Chezile, Avery Anna, Rico Nasty, Jin, Blxst, Matt Maltese, EKKSTACY, Tee Grizzley, MEOVV, Madison Watkins, Slow Joy, R2R MOE, Sleep Theory…

♪ Notable singles from Lola Young, Laufey, Snoop Dogg & Sexyy Red, Latto, Avicii & Elle King, Sebastian Yatra, Wolf Alice, Thee Sacred Souls, Little Simz, Alessi Rose, spill tab…

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

#1 - After weeks of teasing, Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae’s collab finally arrives with ‘What I Want.’

#2 - Rihanna (as Smurfette) is back with her first single in years, ‘Friend of Mine.’ The track was co-written and co-produced with Jon Bellion and more.

#8 - Their first single via Columbia, Wolf Alice returns after 3 years with ‘Bloom Baby Bloom,’ which debuted on BBC Radio 1’s as its ‘Hottest Record.’

#14 - Originally featuring vocals from Kacey Musgraves, Elle King steps in on ‘Let’s Ride Away’, the latest posthumous release from Avicii.

#17 - Rico Nasty’s ‘CRASH’ lands as she drops her album LETHAL.

#21 - Kesha drops summer pop anthem ‘BOY CRAZY,’ co-written with Madison Love and Zhone.

#27 - Matt Maltese wishes you ‘Happy Birthday’ off his new project Hers.

#33 - Steve Aoki + Tyler Hubbard means we won’t ‘Forget Tonight.’

#36 - Sebastian Yatra releases his first album in 3 years, Milagro, with the title track featured on NMF.

⭐ #47 - Singer-songwriter and pop star Debbii Dawson drops ‘Chemical Reaction.’

#72 - JP Saxe and TINI collab on ‘STRANGERS.’

#74 - Emotional Oranges drop their first album in 2 years, Orenji, with ‘That Girl’ featured on NMF.

#94 - DJ Snake and Bipolar Sunshine collab to cover Phil Collins’ ‘Another Day In Paradise.’

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Joe Jonas, Stereolab, Boldy James, G-Eazy, Julia Michaels, Skunk Anansie, SOFIA ISELLA, Sports Team, LeoStayTrill, Myles Smith & Sparks all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Laufey, JADE, Snoop Dogg, Jamie Lidell, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, Slick Rick, SunYears, No Joy, DE’WAYNE, Three Days Grace & Jehnny Beth all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

Sony generated $2.54B in Q1 (up 1.5% YoY). In more re-org news at UMG, Capitol Records Nashville and Capitol Christian Music Group were brought under one banner as Capitol Music Group Nashville. Despite his claims that Scooter Braun owed him millions, a new report by an internal audit claims Justin Bieber owes his previous manager over $8M. Taylor Swift was subpoenaed in the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni legal battle from “It Ends With Us.” Zach Bryan removed ‘Memphis: The Blues’ from streaming services after his feud with past collaborator John Moreland escalated. Jillian Lauren (wife of Weezer’s bassist) pled not guilty to felony charges after a shootout with the LAPD in April. Janet Jackson is set to become the 3rd ever ICON Award winner at the upcoming American Music Awards, after Rihanna (2013) and Lionel Richie (2022). Speaking of Rihanna, she released her first solo track in 3 years today, ‘Friend of Mine,’ featured in the new Smurfs movie where she voices Smurfette and is a producer.

Smokey Robinson was accused of sexual assault by 4 former housekeepers who have now filed civil claims against him. Twenty One Pilots fans worked together to find a stolen drum from the band’s Manchester show last weekend. Eazy-E’s son Lil Eazy-E plans to use AI to recreate his father’s voice for a project. Jennifer Lopez suffered an eye and nose injury during rehearsals for the AMAs. Tory Lanez is in stable condition after being stabbed by another inmate earlier this week. Halle Bailey was granted a restraining order against ex-boyfriend DDG. Chris Brown was arrested for allegedly hitting a producer over the head with a tequila bottle at a nightclub. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross launched the ‘Future Ruins’ Film & TV Composer Festival taking place in November.

The Diddy trial began this week with Cassie testifying for multiple days…

Airbnb teamed up with Megan Thee Stallion, Sabrina Carpenter and more for new Airbnb Originals experiences. Netflix is developing a limited series about Madonna with director Shawn Levy. Yusuf/Cat Stevens announced his upcoming memoir Cat on the Road to Find Out, releasing this Fall. A Kygo concert movie is set to release in theaters this summer. A new Selena documentary, Selena y Los Dinos, is coming to Netflix this winter. Charli xcx shares the ‘party 4 u’ music video 5 years after the track’s initial release.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• SoundCloud updates terms of use to align with new AI policies

• Tencent Music reveals UMG stake and Sony Music deal renewal

• Music publishers escalate legal battle with AI firm Anthropic

• Spotify listeners can now make requests to its AI DJ

• Apple Music and UMG debut ‘sound therapy’ wellness music

• Reservoir subsidiary PopIndia signs first catalog deal with Musicraft Entertainment acquisition

• Jason Boyd, aka Poo Bear, launches content monetization platform for creators to earn without ads or large followings

• Universal Music expands iconic Blue Note and Deutsche Grammophon jazz and classical labels into China

• Rob Stevenson and Matt Signore launch new label ALTER, backed by Firebird

Group Chat

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

Penske’s flagship “news publication” dropped their latest 40 under 40 list. Let’s once again drill-down on their “methodology” for the list (def not a Google Form sent around to fake electors).

To start - the “methodology” (as stated by the “news publication”):

Lucky for you, we have the LEAKED methodology (the real/believable one). Presenting the Billboard Favorability Index (BFI):

Here’re the persona computations for your benefit:

So…who qualifies?

Not a data person? Here’s a Trump’d-down briefing:

What was the white smoke actually?

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Ground Control agent ripping their vape in the Palladium (33%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Coke bag opened weirdly at Baby's All Right (40%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Cigarettes on the patio at El Cid (0%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Incense coming from the green room at a Ghost show (27%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

Belgian brothers Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike signed with Alex Chaykin at IAG for touring. The duo, who has been named the World #1 DJ twice, will also be represented by the firm for acting.

Country singer Walker Montgomery joined the Major Bob Music roster for publishing. He’ll be hitting the road for a number of festivals during the summer & supporting Dustin Lynch & Scotty McCreery this fall.

OG TikTok star Bella Poarch, known for one of the most viewed videos of all-time on the platform, signed with Brandon Silverstein of S10 Entertainment for management. The singer is also released by Warner Records & booked by CAA.

Rising singer Josie Edwards, who has been gaining traction recently with some viral clips online, has teamed up with Brent Shows & Emily Clark of ALTAR MGMT who also represent artist David Kushner. Her debut single dropped today and has been being courted on the label side.

New label Parallel Vision launched this week, founded by Cage the Elephant’s Brad Shultz alongside Daniel Oakley & Darren Potuck. The new company is in partnership with Big Loud Rock and signed rock duo Girl Tones as its first act.

Artist manager Mike Scrafford joined the Alternate Side staff bringing over his clients Beach Bunny, Car Seat Headrest, Gia Margaret & Jayla Kai.

+125 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Kali Uchis, Alex G, X Ambassadors, NxWorries, NBA YoungBoy, 50 Cent, Beach Fossils

Mumford & Sons announced their Railroad Revival tour, a limited run of shows featuring Celisse, Chris Thile, Madison Cunningham, Nathaniel Rateliff amongst others.

Dead & Co are slated to play 3 concerts in Golden Gate Park this August in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the band forming in 1965.

Live Nation announced its concert ticket initiative through this summer, which will give concertgoers access to >1K shows at select venues across North America for an all-in price of $30. The offer starts May 21st.

🏟️ Venues:

• The Marquee Skydeck at Hudson Yards will install a pop-up nightclub 1,100 ft in the air this summer, and will bring a limited run of DJ shows to Manhattan

• Jacksonville, Florida is now home to Marathon Live’s newest venue FIVE, which opened on Tuesday with a performing from BoyWithUke. The 1,250 capacity venue aims to preserve the historic 1927 theater it has built on, while introducing modern amenities and upgraded sound and lighting systems

• Live Nation signed a long-term lease for a 5K capacity venue in downtown Atlanta, which will become part of the developing Centennial Yards. The 50-acre site, which will feature a 14-story hotel, a Cosm venue, and 2-story food market alongside the music venue, is expected to cost $5B to develop

• Another Planet Entertainment officially opened doors to its first full build with venue Channel 24. Tucker Wetmore, Tycho & Sierra Ferrell played the inaugural shows for the >2K capacity Sacramento venue

❌ Cancellations:

Yeah, we have a section for it this week..

• Clairo pulled out of Primavera Sound citing logistical issues building out her set at the Barcelona festival

• Lord Buffalo cancelled its European tour after border patrol removed drummer Yamal Said, a Mexican citizen, from a flight, despite being a green-card holder

• Daniel Seavey postponed his European leg, sharing his vocal cords are becoming “completely unusable,” and that it is “physically impossible for [him] to perform right now”

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• San Francisco’s Portola will be headlined by LCD Soundsystem, Christina Aguilera, Dom Dolla, Peggy Gou & more

• Mk.gee, Wet Leg, MJ Lenderman & The Beaches will headline Rolling Stone Presents: Gather No Moss, a showcase that will stop in 4 major cities this summer

• Farm Aid’s 40th anniversary will feature performances from Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Margo Price & others

• Randy Rogers Band, Pat Green, Josh Abbot Band & more will play Feels Like Home Festival this October in Texas

• Brooklyn’s new one-day festival CBGB will feature headliners Iggy Pop, Sex Pistols & Jack White

• Illfest returns to Austin with headliners Tape B, PEEKABOO, Wooli & Liquid Stranger

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

UMG names Matt Ellis CFO. Adam Bulleid moves up to partner at WME. Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota announces plans to step down at the end of 2025. Cory Hajde has been elevated to Partner at Alternate Side. AEG announced the appointment of Katie Pandolfo as the GM of the company’s Crypto.com Arena. UNIFIED Music Group promoted Kat Gibbs to Head of People and Culture, Kristin Churley to Head of Legal and Business Affairs, and Julian Marshall to Group Ops Manager as part of a new growth phase.

G Major Mgmt expands with new hires Emilie Gilbert as Manager of Insights & Fan Engagement Strategy and Madeline Lary as Digital Manager, while promoting Samantha Thornton to Sr. Director of Marketing and Harry Lyons to Sr. Director of Business Ops. Jay Siegan Presents (JSP) has announced the promotion of Tamara Rajkovic to Creative Strategist. Armada Music Group appoints Maarten Steinkamp as Interim President. Tony Burke is reappointed as Minister for the Arts in Australia.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Royalty Specialist (H/F) at Believe in Paris

• Director of Marketing at ATG Group in Los Angeles

• Sr. CRM and Marketing Manager at Syntho in the UK

• Sr. Manager Strategy & Consulting at Wasserman in Raleigh

• Sr. A&R at ONErpm in Miami

Find these and 300+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR.