Vol 43 - I wish I knew how to read ya

Happy Friday,

Bieber dupe takes Vegas, no GRAMMYs for Morgan, Camp Flog Gnaw unveils via wordsearch & somebody called 911 on Sean Kingston.

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 sombr, Laufey, Royel Otis, BigXthaPlug, Deftones, Offset, Mariah the Scientist, Wolf Alice, Dominic Fike, Kingfishr, Khamari, Kid Cudi…

♪ Notable singles from Twenty One Pilots, Feid, Mac DeMarco, Ruel, Flo Milli, Carly Rae Jepsen, Daniel Cesar, Doja Cat, Kings of Leon & Zach Bryan, Balu Brigada…

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

#1 - sad boy season incoming as sombr’s highly anticipated debut album I Barely Know Her has arrived alongside top-slotted ‘i wish i knew how to quit you.’

#12 - Royel Otis drop new album hickey with NMF track ‘who’s your boyfriend,’ co-written with Amy Allen, Blake Slatkin and more.

#27 - Old Dominion release album Barbara (co-produced with Shane McAnally) with NMF track ‘Good Night Music City.’

#39 - Daniel Caesar’s new single ‘Call On Me’ is out today, the track will be included on his upcoming album Son of Spergy, set to release in October.

#40 - Kid Cudi is back with his 10th studio album Free as he lands on NMF with ‘Mr. Miracle’ co-written & produced by Justin Tranter & others.

#49 - Fresh off of his ‘Happen To Me’ TikTok dancing, Russell Dickerson drops new album Famous Back Home, with NMF track ‘Love That I Love You’ co-written with Ashley Gorley, Casey Brown and Chase McGill.

#54 - Ballet dancer turned Indiana University graduate Mikayla Geier keeps the success of her latest single ‘piano in the sky’ going with the release of a 2-pack single, landing ‘dirty shirley’ on NMF.

#67 - Rudimental and Rag’n’Bone Man collab on ‘Nights Like These’ off of Rudimental’s new album RUDIM3NTAL.

#80 - Matt Geroux-produced single ‘My Side Of Town’ from Josh Ross squeaks into the top 100 new songs this week (according to Spotify.)

⭐ #81 - The new-era BROCKHAMPTON, WHATMORE, released their latest single ‘go!’, released via new venture Alta Music.

#93 - Sir Chloe lands with focus track ‘Kiss’ off her new album Swallow the Knife, also out today.

#95 - Spotify darling Sigrid is back with ‘Fort Knox’ ahead of new album There’s Always More That I Could Say.

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Sabrina Carpenter, Blood Orange, Wolf Alice, The Beaches, Belinda Carlisle, The Beths, Margo Price, CMAT, Nova Twins, Modern Nature, The Hives, Flyte all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Daniel Caesar, Florence + The Machine, FKA twigs, Brian Eno & Beatie Wolfe, bar italia, Carly Rae Jepsen (anniversary), Klein, Polygon Window, Westerman, The Replacements (reissue), Makaya McCraven, Paz Lenchantin all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

Lead singer of Mexican Regional music group Enigma Norteño Ernesto Barajas was fatally shot in a parking lot in Mexico. UMG CEO Lucian Grainge responded to Drake’s legal moves, calling the rapper’s claims “nonsensical.” The FTC accused ticket broker Key Investment Group LLC of illegally purchasing over 379K tickets on Ticketmaster, including over 2.2K for the Eras Tour. The CEO of Del Records, Ángel del Villar, was sentenced to a $2M fine and 2 years in federal prison for working with a Mexican concert promoter linked to drug cartels. Less than 2 weeks ahead of his sexual assault trial, LA Reid is moving forward without an attorney. The man facing charges for the killing of an American Idol music supervisor and her husband’s case was transferred to a mental health court. Morgan Wallen’s team confirmed that his album I’m the Problem will not be submitted to the GRAMMYs. Lil Nas X was reportedly arrested and hospitalized after assaulting a police officer while walking around LA in his underwear.

Michael Franti and his management team parted ways after Franti was accused of sexual abuse. Sean Kingston was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for his $1M wire fraud conviction. Someone pretending to be Justin Bieber made his way onto stage to perform ‘Sorry’ during a DJ set from Gryffin in Vegas last weekend. An Ozzy Osbourne documentary was pulled from airing on BBC. Neil Young left Facebook to protest the site’s policies of AI chatbot’s comms with kids. SZA is the new artistic director for Vans. After Taylor Swift was a guest on New Heights, the podcast episode hit 13M YouTube views in 24 hours. Keith Urban partnered with Australia’s Tamworth Country Music Festival to create the ‘Keith Urban Rising Star Scholarship.’ CBS and the American Music Awards extended their partnership for 5 years.

No, Diddy and Gloria Estefan did not have a secret tunnel connecting their homes in Florida…

The Living Wage for Musicians Act will be reintroduced in US Congress next month. Steven Tyler’s sexual assault trial was pushed back to 2026. Priscilla Presley is battling her former business partners over finances and the death of her daughter Lisa Marie. Tems joined the ownership group of San Diego FC. A new edition of the Beatles’ Anthology documentary will stream on Disney+ in November. Ricky Martin will receive the 1st ever Latin Icon award at the MTV VMAs on September 7. David Geffen responded to his estranged husband’s lawsuit against him. After disregarding multiple court deadlines and orders, country artist Jimmie Allen is liable for sexually assaulting and filming a woman in a Vegas hotel in 2022. BTS Movie Weeks starts on September 24. Purple Rain co-star Apollonia sued the Prince estate for trying to steal her name in trademark proceedings. Tamar Braxton revealed a recent health scare.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Radio royalty rates increase as industry strikes new deals with ASCAP and BMI

• Virgin Music Group signs global partnership with Michael Goldstone and Thaddeus Rudd’s Mom+Pop

• Tips Music acquires Studio Radha’s catalog

• Slipknot in talks to sell catalog for $120M

• MSG Entertainment posts 17% decline in Q2 2025 revenue

• Moises unveils AI studio to assist musicians in creating stems

• Spotify moves to ease tensions in Turkey with plans for local office and introduces personalizable DJ-style transitions for subscribers

• Korea’s CJ ENM and Japan’s Hakuhodo join forces to develop music IP for global markets

Group Chat

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

✍️

Late addition — hope he’s ok ❤️

Choose your fandom fighter

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Lana Del Rey (45%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Ethel Cain (20%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Gracie Abrams (10%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Audrey Hobert (20%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Malcolm Todd (5%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

After splitting with longtime manager Walter Kolm last month, Colombian star Maluma has found a new agency home at WME after signing with Cesar Figueiredo, Ashley Gonzalez, Rob Markus & Richard Lom worldwide. The Latin artist has 24 #1 singles on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart and even helped voice Disney’s Encanto.

Mr. EGOT himself, John Legend (alongside his production company Get Lifted), has signed with David Zedeck, Sam Kirby Yoh & Jay Gassner of UTA for global representation. The platinum voice is in the midst of his Get Lifted 20th Anniversary Tour, in celebration of his GRAMMY award-winning debut album.

Melly Mike, known for his Indonesian-boat-roacing hit (iykyk) ‘Young Black & Rich’, signed with Henley Halem of Vector & Von Faniyi of GAV for management.

22-year-old indie-pop artist MICO locked in a deal this week with Columbia Records. The Toronto singer is currently gearing up for his major NA & EU tour kicking off next month.

Brazilian drag queen and singer Pabllo Vittar signed with The Orchard for distribution & Emma Banks + Beckie Sugden of CAA for touring (EU). She has six studio albums, two of which are double platinum, and has over 35M followers across social media. 

Panamanian DJ Dímelo Flow announced a new distribution partnership with Stem, going fully independent with the company and taking control of his masters. The reggaeton producer is behind hits with Bad Bunny, Ozuna, Daddy Yankee & others.

From Netflix’s Building The Band, Siren Society has signed with Rebin “Rebstar” Shah & Dave Gordon of Today Is Vintage for management. The foursome recently released their new single ‘If It Was Me’ earlier this month. 

+160 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Doja Cat, Dijon, Joey Bada$$, Olivia Dean, Louis Tomlinson

A man assaulted a woman at RÜFÜS DU SOL’s Rose Bowl show last weekend. A video posted shows the man repeatedly hitting the woman after a drink was accidentally spilled on him. The Australian trio denounced the violence, exclaiming this “type of behavior is completely unacceptable anywhere, and the fact that this happened at one of our shows was devastating to learn about.” The suspect has since been arrested by the Pasadena Police Department. Fans took to social media to express their disappointment in the safety and security of the show, which was the group’s biggest to date with 60K attendees.

Burning Man CEO Marian Goodell shared that following adjusted ticket pricing tiers, reduction in headcount, charitable contributions & more, the Nevada festival is on its way to financial recovery.

Live Nation’s efforts to expand into sports districts has been marked by a new 6K-seat development in Salt Lake City. Built in partnership with Smith Entertainment Group, the new venue aims to capitalize on the traffic from Utah’s basketball and hockey teams with its prime downtown location.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, Live Nation unveiled the country’s first mid-sized venue with fully integrated production capabilities and touring-grade infrastructure. The ship-shaped venue called TIDES will offer both “international and local artists a professional platform to grow their fan base,” explained President of Venue Development Asia Stephanie Bax.

Miranda Lambert & Parker McCollum’s Texas benefit concert held last weekend raised $8.5M+ for flood relief. George Strait, Jason Aldean, Matthew McConaughey & more made an appearance.

3-day camping festival Mundi Mundi Bash sold out with nearly 15K people set to attend this weekend. This milestone marks the largest ticketed music festival held in remote Australia.

❌ Cancellations:

• Without specifying why, Doechii dropped out of her 3 upcoming festival performances slated for this week including All Points East, Forwards & Rock en Seine; FKA twigs announced she will replace the rapper’s All Points East slot

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Tyler, The Creator shared the stacked lineup for Camp Flog Gnaw via a word search, revealing acts A$AP Rocky, Childish Gambino, Clipse, Clairo, CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, 2 Chainz, Men I Trust & more

• Pitchfork Music Festival London announced its final slew of artists for the November event including Two Shell, Du Blonde, Hannah Jadagu & more

• Miranda Lambert will headline the inaugural Boots In The Park Orange County festival this October; Ian Munsick, Justin Moore, and Will Jones are set to play amongst others

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

MCA welcomes back Stephanie Wright as Executive VP/Head of A&R, where she will lead the A&R team and oversee creative direction. Amuse appoints Steeve Führ as CFO. Big Loud Records has announced marketing leadership changes, promoting Brianne Deslippe, Morgan Sweat, and Amy Beard, and appointing Corey Brewer, Jen Danielson, and Alex Henderson to new executive roles. Songwriters advocate Ross Golan joins Recording Academy as Co-Chair of Songwriters & Composers Wing. Day After Day Productions unveils multiple promotions, two new divisions (Casinos/Corporates/Colleges and Theater/PAC/Symphony), and brings on Jordan Burger as consulting senior agent — details here. Meta’s head of music operations, Dan Simpson, has been elected chair of the DDEX board.

Warner Music Nash has restructured its radio department, elevating Andy Flick to Sr. Director, Syndication & Market Strategy, and naming Paige Elliott National Director, Radio. Kaileen Smith joins Red Creative Group as Director of A&R. The Wall Group launches Nashville office with Morgan Feldman as Managing Director. Your Culture has named Isabella Mimi as Creative Strategy Lead, where she’ll oversee long-term artist strategies, client growth, creative output, and special projects. LOCASH-founded Galaxy Label Group has announced Cheryl Broz’s promotion to VP of Ops alongside the hiring of Mitch Mills as National Director of Promotion. Southern State Artist Management adds manager Greg Falchetto.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Head of Music Partnerships- Auction/Memorabilia at Fandiem (Anywhere)

• A&R at Bourne Creatives in Los Angeles

• Ticketing Director at Belly Up Aspen in CO

• Head of Finance and Ops at Too Young Ltd. in Spain

• Senior Manager, Digital Content & Social Media (Artist Specific) at Roc Nation in LA or NY (Remote)

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