Vol 44 - Reading me like you're supposed to do (Uh-huh)

Happy Friday,

Sting gets stung, Orgy Dome came and went, Taylor’s next era & someone please slide into our Spotify DMs.

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 Sabrina Carpenter, Blood Orange, Zach Top, Margo Price, Joey Bada$$, CMAT, Myd, TWICE, Pinkshift…

♪ Notable singles from The Kid LAROI, Skepta & Fred again.., BENEE, Geese, Alabama Shakes, Ella Mai, The Beaches, Nova Twins…

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

#1 - Sabrina Carpenter drops highly anticipated new album, Man’s Best Friend, with NMF track ‘Tears’ co-written with Amy Allen and John Ryan.

#8 - Alongside a Challengers-inspired music video, The Kid LAROI unveils ‘SHE DON’T NEED TO KNOW’ following months of teasing online.

#15 - Rock trio Alabama Shakes return after a decade with ‘Another Life.’

#34 - Bella Kay releases a follow-up to her viral hit ‘The Sick’ with ‘Lonely.’

⭐ #36 - Justine & Graham of After release their 2nd single since signing with Mom+Pop for records — ‘Outbound’ — produced by Alex Craig & Max Epstein (of Wisp notoriety.)

#45 - Major Lazer, Diplo, Busy Signal and Kybba drop ‘GANGSTA.’

#46 - 9 member K-Pop group TWICE release new album ENEMY with NMF track ‘Up to you.’

#47 - Motown client PLUTO drops ‘Party All Night’ in tangent with an album and headlining tour announcement.

#57 - JYP/Republic’s GIRLSET (fka VCHA) are back with a new name & a new song, ‘Commas.’

#66 - Bedroom indie pop artist Rin shares her debut project fawn with ‘nice & slow’ landing.

#92 - 22-year-old country rocker Preston Cooper delivers his debut album Toledo Talkin’, with the titular track landing on NMF.

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Big Thief, David Byrne, SG Lewis, Rob Thomas, La Dispute, El Michels Affair, Saint Etienne, Suede, Shame, Ivy all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Mavis Staples, Patti Smith, Fall Out Boy (anniversary), Bright Eyes, Elias Rønnenfelt, Chat Pile & Hayden Pedigo, Ben Gallaher, Sharp Pins all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

beatBread co-founder and CEO Peter Sinclair passed away at 50. Sending condolences and love to Peter’s family and all of our friends at beatBread ❤️. Fraudsters are releasing AI songs under real musicians' names on streaming services and iTunes; they seem to be targeting indie artists. After he was arrested last week, Lil Nas X was charged with four felonies, including three counts of battery against a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer; after pleading not guilty, he addressed fans on Instagram. A judge granted Drake’s team redacted access to Kendrick Lamar’s UMG contract. Middle Tennessee State University renamed its College of Media and Entertainment after Scott Borchetta. Spotify is introducing a new feature called messages to drive users to share and discuss more content. The former Wiggles CEO Luke O’Neill sued Wiggles Holdings Pty Ltd, blue Wiggle Anthony Field and general counsel Matthew Salgo.

A court in Berlin convicted a 16-year-old of assisting a foiled terror plot that targeted Taylor Swift’s Vienna concerts last year. Sting was sued by his former Police bandmates over alleged lost royalties. Will Smith was accused of using AI to create images of fans in a video of his current tour. Prince’s estate responded to Purple Rain co-star Appollonia’s lawsuit, saying it has no problem with her using her stage name. Rauw Alejandro was sued for allegedly sampling tracks without licenses from DJ Playero, a reggaeton legend. Missy Elliott settled a long-running copyright lawsuit with a music producer claiming to have co-written some of her ‘90’s hits moments before the trial was set to start. Suno filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Anthony Justice and 5th Wheel Records in June.

Taylor + Travis FOREVER!

Netflix’s hit musical KPop Demon Hunters premiered at the box office, hitting almost $18M in ticket sales. Miley Cyrus gifted dad Billy Ray an original song for his birthday, featuring Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham. Charli xcx will play a medieval musician in upcoming film 100 Nights of Hero which premieres at the Venice International Film Festival on September 6.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• The Weeknd is seeking $1B in financing backed by catalog

• MCA partners with Jessie Jo Dillon to launch Gatsby Records

• YouTube makes ‘hype’ available globally

• Spotify expands integration with Instagram

• Australian industry heavyweights launch the Volume Foundation

• Ticketek acquires New Zealand ticketing business Eventfinda

• Indie Music streaming service Vocana enters public beta

• NIVA backs Portland’s moratorium on large venues

• CTS Eventim reveals H1 financials

• TikTok unveils marketing push for music discovery

• Listening Party now integrates multiple DSPs within a single event

• Apple Music partners with TuneIn to amplify radio stations

• Beatoven launches Maestro: a GenAI music model built on licensed, fair training

• Anthropic reaches settlement in authors’ copyright lawsuit over piracy claims

Group Chat

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

Whose idea was it to post this…

haha

The LA industry showcase-y thing you're most stoked on

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 EARLY by ROSTR (59%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ that live stream tiktok competition thing (6%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ whatever fashionably early teased the other day on IG (12%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ those $30 ($40?) sofar shows (12%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ the monday night thing at bardot (12%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

Country artist Julia Cole signed with Jess Tomlins & Martha Earls of Neon Coast (Kane Brown, Restless Road) for management. The artist has had her track ‘Day Late & A Buck Short’ going viral recently & also locked in a deal with broke records. 

Fresh off her Lollapalooza set, 20-year-old singer flowerovlove has signed with Cara Lewis of Cara Lewis Group (NA) & Josh Javor of WME (EU) for touring. The rising pop artist has been steadily dropping singles and opening for the likes of Olivia Rodrigo & Halsey.

Belfast-based rock/electronic band Chalk signed a record deal with recently-announced ALTER Music. The group, originally formed while studying film and even won an Academy Award, just dropped their brand new single ‘Pain.’

Pop/rock outfit Jack’s Mannequin is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a new label home in ONErpm - ready for their re-imagined orchestral version of debut album Everything In Transit. 

Nashville’s Sons Of Legion joined Matthew Morgan’s UTA touring roster this week. The duo has been picking up heavy steam on social media recently gaining nearly a million followers on IG in the past two months.

The Catskills Queen, Hannah Cohen, signed with Michele Ceazan-Fleischli & Lana Miller of Like Management. Her new album Earthstar Mountain featured help from Clairo, Sufjan Stevens and some magical mushrooms. 

+115 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Ariana Grande, Halsey, Playboi Carti, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Xavi, JID

Ariana Grande announced her first tour in 7 years with stops across North America and London in support of her 2024 album Eternal Sunshine.

Oasis played their first U.S. show after 17 years at Chicago’s Soldier Field last night.

Ticketmaster shared its report on UK festival preferences. Data was sourced from surveying >2K adults who had attended a festival in the past 5 years. Some takeaways:

• 43% of parents see festivals as a genuine alternative to a traditional family holiday

• 67% of fans say sustainability impacts their ticket choices

• 25% of festival-goers discover new festivals through social media

• The most popular ticket type is a day pass, with 47% of attendees purchasing

• Faster entry, shorter queues, or calmer spaces were big reasons for upgrades at 39%

• Nearly 1 in 3 attendees have gone by themselves to a festival

Read more findings here.

Unfortunately found this out from my grandma, but Burning Man’s infamous Orgy Dome was completely destroyed by the dust storm that ravaged the festival grounds. The Orgy Dome shared the news via an Instagram post, and the Internet did its thing…

Lil Wayne and Gracie Abrams separately paused their concerts mid-performance to congratulate Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce on their engagement.

Weeks after AFL Grand Final announced Snoop Dogg as its 2025 headliner, Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young called on the Senate to remove Snoop, calling him a “slur merchant,” and encouraging the football league to back “Aussie talent” instead.

Hanson-Young argued it was hypocritical for the league to pay $2M for an international act known for “his misogynistic, homophobic music” when Adelaide Crows forward Izak Rankine was suspended 4 weeks after making a homophobic slur on the pitch.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon defended the decision to book the rapper, reiterating the performance would be a family friendly spectacle.

❌ Cancellations:

• KNEECAP cancelled all upcoming US dates, citing the October run’s proximity to their court hearing in London. They promised a tour would still happen, teasing “something very special for U.S. fans next week […] It’s top secret for now”

• Jessie J cancelled her upcoming US and Europe shows to undergo a second surgery to treat her breast cancer

• South Carolina’s Field & Stream Music Fest was cancelled due to circumstances beyond the festival organizers’ control. Last year’s festival was cancelled due to Hurricane Helene. Festival headliners included Miranda Lambert, Lynyrd Skynyrd & Eric Church

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Lollapalooza announced its headliners for Argentina, Brazil & Chile including Sabrina Carpenter, Tyler, The Creator, Chappell Roan, Skrillex, Lorde, Doechii & more; India unveiled its lineup as well, featuring headliners Linkin Park & Playboi Carti

• The 10th season of “Fortnite Festival” unveiled the (fittingly) virtual band Gorillaz will headline the in-game event

• Peso Pluma, Turnstile, The Killers, Sabrina Carpenter & others will headline Bogotá’s Estéreo Picnic next March

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

Grammy-nominated producer, manager, and veteran agent David Gaar has joined Atomic Music Group (AMG) as Director of the company’s new Performing Arts division. The Kennedy Center has tapped Stephen Nakagawa as its Director of Dance Programming. Michelle Escoffery steps in as chair of Newcastle Gateshead Music City, created in partnership by Generator and The Glasshouse International Centre for Music. Black River Entertainment has promoted Kellie LaJack to Director of National Promotion. Neil Vance, a veteran manager who has guided the careers of Dustin Lynch and Tyler Rich, has joined Quartz Hill Music Group as Manager. HYBE AMERICA names Jenni Pfaff Chief People and Transformation Officer.

Downtown build their Nashville footprint with Global VP of A&R Bryan Mooney at DA&LS and Director of Digital Accounts Strategy, Americas at Fuga Sam Cope. Katie Studley joins Spotify as Head of Nashville Editorial. The Academy of Country Music promotes Taylor Wolf to Executive Director of ACM Lifting Lives, its philanthropic arm. Theresa Wolters joins MusiCares as Executive Director. Muserk, the AI-driven rights management platform, has added Jeanine Davis and Jeremy Swain as software developers, Molly Tiemann and Emily Kelly as administrators, and promoted Collin White to CTO and Truman Kitos-Lindsey to Director of Rights Management.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• VP, USA – Label Solutions at Believe in NY or LA

• VP, Global YouTube at BMG in London

• Director, New Digital Business & Innovation at UMG in Santa Monica

• Business Development Manager at DISCO in UK (Remote)

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