Vol 37 - You leave me on read, babe, but I still get the message

Happy Friday,

Is it finally clocking to you? You can bid on FYRE Fest, get free therapy, study K-dot & join the Recording Academy.

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 Justin Bieber, Wet Leg, Noah Cyrus, Barry Can’t Swim, Chris Lake, Marlon Hoffstadt, Steph Schlueter, JANE HANDCOCK, CARI, TOBi…

♪ Notable singles from BLACKPINK, Drake, Tyla, Conan Gray, Geese, mgk, Quevedo, The Chainsmokers & Beau Nox, Hunter Metts, Big Thief, TWICE, Lil Yachty, Jessie Murph, Wolf Alice…

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

#1 - Mk.gee Justin Bieber lands ‘DAISIES’ at number one.

#2 - BLACKPINK are back with ‘JUMP,’ their first single as a group since 2023.

#4 - Drake drops his first single of the year, ‘What Did I Miss?,’ talking betrayal and backstabbing after his beef with Kendrick.

#5 - Burna Boy and Shaboozey collab on ‘Change Your Mind.’

#9 - Cameron Winter-led rock outfit Geese really don’t want to pay their ‘Taxes.’

#18 - Dasha releases ‘Oh, Anna!,’ co-written with Hillary Lindsey, Emily Weisband and Chris LaCorte.

#23 - Deftones are back with ‘my mind is a mountain’ while announcing their 10th studio album private music.

#26 - Scottish producer and DJ Barry Can’t Swim shares his second project Loner with ‘Childhood’ landing on today’s playlist.

#42 - UMG / Motown rapper PLUTO drops ‘Gimme Him.’

#44 - Simple Plan release their documentary soundtrack, featuring NMF track ‘Nothing Changes.’

#59 - Jon Batiste shares the title track off his upcoming album ‘Big Money,’ out Aug 22nd.

#65 - After nearly 30 years with Atlantic, Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas releases his first music in 4 years with ‘Hard To Be Happy’ via Universal.

⭐ #73 - Canadian R&B maestro Dylan Sinclair lands another gem in his album release cycle with ‘Stay Home.’

#82 - Jake Owen drops ‘Dreams to Dream,’ produced with Shooter Jennings.

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Myke Towers, Alex G, Ty Dolla $ign, Lord Huron, Joyner Lucas, Bush, Jim Legxacy, FLETCHER, Slaughter to Prevail, Styx, hard life, Billie Marten, GELO, Above & Beyond, We Are Scientists, Jade Bird, Mae Muller & Jessie Murph all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Geese, Jay Som, We Came As Romans, Kid Cudi, Mammoth, Of Mice & Men, Jens Lekman, Dayseeker, Purity Ring, Chris Young & Soulwax all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

Last week:

Diddy was found not guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering, but was charged for 2 counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was later denied bail and will remain in jail until his sentencing in October. Scooter Braun stepped down as CEO of HYBE America. Warner announced more layoffs and another round of restructuring. At least 4 people were killed and 14 were hurt in a drive-by shooting outside of a release party in Chicago for rapper Mello Buckzz. JAY-Z’s lawsuit against Tony Buzbee was thrown out in court.

This week:

ByteDance are reportedly working on a new, US-only version of TikTok, called “M2.” Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke was indicted in an alleged scheme to rig the bidding process at a Texas arena; it’s now been confirmed that he’s stepping down from his CEO role. Controversial “band” Velvet Sundown confirmed their music is AI-generated. Billy McFarland revealed that the 7-figure deal to sell the FYRE Fest IP fell through; the brand is now up for auction on eBay.

Virgin’s JT Myers & Nat Pastor respond to backlash over Virgin/UMG’s Downtown Music buyout. The Recording Academy invited about 3.6K people to become members this year, including KATSEYE, Nikki Glaser, Ella Langley, Addison Rae and many more. Lewis Capaldi donated 734K hours of free therapy to those in need; the number is in reference to the 734 days it took him to focus on his mental health after his 2023 Glastonbury set. Olivia Rodrigo paid for therapy for her crew on the Guts tour. Temple University will introduce a new course on Kendrick Lamar in the Fall.

Joe Jonas asking the important question?

A judge dismissed rape claims against Diddy from the 1990’s, claiming that the statute of limitations expired. Fall Out Boy’s guitarist Joe Trohman announced he will take the rest of the year off to get surgery on his right hand. Pearl Jam’s drummer Matt Cameron left the band after 27 years. Apple Music revealed Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ is the most-played song on the platform. A judge ruled that Megan Thee Stallion and Roc Nation can’t stop a lawsuit from a former cameraman who claims he was forced to watch the rapper have sex in a car. The creator of Nickelodeon’s Big Time Rush sued Sony for allegedly cutting him out of touring profits from the band’s reunion.

Michael Jackson’s estate claimed “My Friend Michael” memoirist Frank Cascio was behind a shakedown plot against the estate. Jay Sean, Cardiak and more sold their catalogs to Seeker Music. Mel B aka Scary Spice married her longtime love Rory McPhee. Netflix’s new series “Building the Band” was dedicated to guest judge Liam Payne. The finalists for HYBE’s Latin music boy group were revealed. Former member of K-Pop group NCT Taeil was sentenced to 3.5 years in Korean prison for his role in the gang rape of a Chinese tourist. KAROL G and Tiësto defeated a copyright lawsuit for their track ‘Don’t Be Shy.’

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis is launching a new investment firm

• Warner Music & Bain Capital team up on $1.2B fund to buy song rights

• Big Machine teams up with ex-Republic exec Joel Klaiman to launch new label

• Universal Music Greater China links up with David Tao’s Great Entertainment

• Warner Music Finland acquires Skorpioni’s catalog

• Spotify ECHO unveils showcases highlighting Indian classical & folk music

• AI music startup RoEx grows with new SDK and Boombox partnership

• Your Music Marketing rebrands as Ctrl+Reach as it expands in the US

• Indie labels Hopeless Records and Fat Wreck Chords join forces

• Boiler Room faces artist protests over new ownership chain

• Tems launches ‘Leading Vibes’ to empower African women in music

• Tomorrowland strikes deals with TikTok and Apple Music

Group Chat

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

What else is approved by god?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 European music biz summer-long PTO (41%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Bieber's latest paparazzi run-in (7%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Katy Perry x Orlando Bloom getting divorced (7%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Americans taking 1 day off in July (21%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Bonnaroo's full refund + survey combo (24%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

BMG has been busy recently with a flurry of signings including adding GRAMMY-nominated Brazilian star Alok & platinum-selling British artist Tom Walker to the publishing roster. They also just announced OneRepublic is joining them on the records side, their first label home outside of Interscope in almost twenty years.

‘Show Me Love’’s WizTheMc has joined Ishsha Bourguet, Jacob Simone, Chris Jordan & Josh Kline’s touring roster at UTA. He recently signed with Manchester-based NQ for management and followed up his hit with ‘Take My Mind’ last week.

American rock band Palaye Royale has also formed a new team with Jason Gibbs and Shawn Dailey at Red Light Management taking over alongside Marty Diamond, Larry Webman & Jake Zimmerman at Wasserman for touring in NA.

Red Light also made noise after announcing Remi Wolf teamed up with managers Christine Stauder & Kevin Morris there.

The London-based writer-producer Danny L Harle announced he signed with XL Recordings after recently working with Caroline Polachek, Charli xcx, Dua Lipa & more. He linked with his ‘dream collaborator’ PinkPantheress for his first release on the label, ‘Starlight.’

Former TKO agent Imran Xhelili joined the IAG agent team this week bringing along with him clients Citizen Soldier, Archers, Arankai & more. 

Also finding a new home from TKO is Daniel DeFonce, who has landed at Pinnacle Entertainment. He takes with him All Shall Perish, AngelMaker, PeelingFlesh & others. 

+90 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Paul McCartney, Blood Orange, The Rapture, KATSEYE, Ryan Castro, P1Harmony

Oasis reunited for the first time in over 16 years, kicking off their world tour in Cardiff last Friday.

The Rapture announced their first headline tour in over 15 years. The fall tour will see the band visit North America and Europe.

NIVA urged the FTC and DOJ to divide Live Nation and Ticketmaster, calling the live music ecosystems “two major threats to live music.” In a letter to the federal government, NIVA proposed Live Nation break into four separate entities including ticketing, promotion, advertising/sponsorship & artist management.

During the ongoing investigation into Live Nation, the concert conglomerate endorsed a 20% cap on resale tickets in efforts to “improve fairness in ticketing.” However, resale platforms like StubHub and VIVID have stated caps like these would put them out of business.

A growing number of artists have withdrawn from Manchester’s Radar Festival following Bob Vylan’s controversial Glastonbury set and subsequent removal from the Radar lineup including Hero In Error, The Scratch & ĠENN. Both the artists and festival organizers have faced enormous external pressure, with organizer Catherine Jackson-Smith explaining she “cannot express clearly enough that [she] wanted Bob Vylan to perform at [the] festival,” but the decision was made to avoid the entire program’s jeopardization.

❌ Cancellations:

• Usher cancelled all 12 dates of the Australian leg of his current tour. No explanation was given, but it was confirmed ticket holders would be issued refunds.

• Kelly Clarkson postponed the opening of her Vegas residency just hours before her first performance. The singer explained her voice needed to recover after extensive rehearsals.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• John Summit announced the first-ever Experts Only, a 2-day EDM festival in NYC featuring performances from Kaskade, Cassian, LP Giobbi, AYYBO & more

• ISOxo & Knock2 unveiled their inaugural Niteharts festival, which will take place in San Diego this October, and feature performances from Skrillex, Zedd & others

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

UMG has appointed Kayla Schmandt to the role of VP, Digital Strategy, Africa, Middle East, and Asia (AMEA). Pophouse Entertainment, the Stockholm-based private entertainment investment firm, names Jessica Koravos as its new CEO. Tom Greene named CEO of Apple Corps, the company overseeing The Beatles' business and legacy. The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) taps David Joseph as incoming CEO. Chrysalis Records has promoted Tina McBye to the position of SVP, Commercial Music Ops where she will report directly to COO Alison Wenham. Neon Coast, the progressive artist development and management company founded by Martha Earls, has added Tyler Corrado as Artist Manager and Dawson Simmons as Management Coordinator, expanding the team behind acts like Restless Road, Dylan Schneider, and Nightly.

AI platform Suno has hired Paul Sinclair as Chief Music Officer. Megan McCaffrey has joined Lost Highway and Capitol Records Nash as Regional Director of Promotion while Luke Jensen has been promoted to VP. Dion Brant appointed President and CEO of AEG Presents Asia Pacific. Wasserman brings on Emily Kennedy as VP, Biz Dev, Pop, Michael Delle Donne as VP, Digital Partnerships and Lydia Barry as VP, Marketing & Communications. VENU names longtime Live Nation exec Terri Liebler as President of its newly launched Growth and Strategy division and named Tom Ashley President of Real Estate and Development. SMP Latin has announced that Monica Jordan will serve as their new VP, Creative A&R. Arcade Talent has appointed Simon Dunmore as its new Head of Artist Development.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Vice President, Audience at UMG in NY

• Senior Manager, Pricing & Ticketing at Wasserman in London

• Sr. Director, Security Software Engineering at Live Nation (various locations)

• Senior Day-to-Day Manager at ATC Management in Nashville

• Ads Manager at Mind of a Genius Records (Anywhere)

↗ Find these and 290+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR