Vol 45 - I wanna write you a newsletter, baby

Happy Friday,

ROAM launches new empire, Cardi B wigs out, Radiohead back on tour & Bieber swags out (again).

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, Big Thief, Avenoir, Jonah Kagen, Goldie Boutilier, SG Lewis, Lizzo, Elmiene, grandson, AJR, Henrik, Cece…

♪ Notable singles from Lady Gaga, Don Toliver, Lola Young, Latto & Ice Spice, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Drake & Cash Cobain, The Last Dinner Party, Miguel, The Kid LAROI, Tame Impala…

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

#1 - Spotify held the top spot for the last-minute delivery of JB’s SWAG II (he was perhaps on dad duty). ‘LOVE SONG’ (from disc 1) grabs the placement.

#16 - Tame Impala drops ‘Loser’, his second single of the summer, while recruiting friend Djo/Joe Keery for the music video.

#20 - After 7 years, Alec Benjamin drops ‘The Knife In My Back,’ co-written with Linus Wiklund & Noonie Bao and produced by Sam de Jong.

#22 - ‘Last Forever’ arrives as the second single from LANY’s forthcoming album SOFT, a 10-track project landing Oct.10.

#23 - After a beachside LA pop-up to promote the album, SG Lewis has delivered Anemoia as ‘Baby Blue (feat. Oliver Sim)’ lands on NMF.

#25 - 14x platinum producer Buddah Bless unveils his second track as a featured artist ‘Owe Me’, alongside help from Kodak Black.

#38 - flowerovlove continues her breakout year with new single “I’m Your First,’ out now via Capitol.

#40 - Brandi Carlile announces her first solo album in 4 years, Returning To Myself, with the title track releasing today.

⭐ #63 - hemlocke springs returns with her first original music since 2023 with ‘the beginning of the end,’ a nod to finding some normalcy in her life.

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Ed Sheeran, Twenty One Pilots, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, King Princess, Parcels, Algernon Cadwallader, Silverstein, Dance Gavin Dance, Adam Buxton, The Hidden Cameras, Jens Lekman all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Tame Impala, Miguel, Brandi Carlile, XG, Blawan, Sparks, Kelly Moran all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

Arrival Artists and ATC Live announced a partnership to create new global booking agency ROAM. In a new ‘Music In The Air’ report, Goldman Sachs predicted streaming prices will increase every 12-24 months. Sony-owned merch company Ceremony of Roses sued bootleggers over fake Benson Boone merch. The sale of Spin Magazine fell apart after the wire transfer from buyer AirTab to finalize the deal never went through. Searches for Fifth Harmony on Spotify jumped by 665% after 4/5 of the group reunited onstage at a recent Jonas Brothers show. Resale platform Viagogo sold a man tickets to a Deftones concert, including a scanned copy of another man’s passport ID and told him to use the document if door staff asked him for ID. The Weekend’s ‘Blinding Lights’ passed 5B streams on Spotify, becoming the 1st track to ever do so. Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter also set new Spotify records.

Three contestants from the 2023 HYBE x Geffen Records’ Dream Academy competition show were confirmed as members of an unnamed new group set to debut in 2026. Fugees rapper Pras Michel had emergency surgery for colon cancer last week, delaying a court hearing for his conviction on illegal foreign lobbying and conspiracy charges. A lawsuit over Pitbull song ‘I Feel Good’ ended in a settlement. Paul Mescal plans to do his own singing throughout the upcoming four Beatles biopics as he portrays Paul McCartney. Cardi B was found not liable in a $24M lawsuit where a security guard accused Cardi of attacking her in 2018. More details emerged in the Sting vs. Copeland/Summers lawsuit. The TikToker behind the Charli xcx ‘Apple’ dance reached a settlement with Roblox after claims that the platform used her choreo without her permission.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Dynamite Songs acquires catalog of Grammy winner Keith Harris

• LIVE’s annual report signals a record year for live music in the UK

• Vinyl records and CDs will be exempt from US tariffs

• StubHub reports 3% revenue growth, hitting $827.9m in H1 2025

• Bandcamp introduces curated subscription service, Bandcamp Clubs

• Nordic collecting societies close Polaris Hub

• DEAG posts bump in ticket sales in H1 2025

• UNIFIED Music Group launches Ground Floor accelerator program

• PRS For Music prevails in lawsuit related to royalty distributions

• Divo Music introduces new sub-label, Loopd

• Suede targets Chinese market with Modern Sky deal

• Spotify and Nike expand their ‘Make Moves’ campaign globally

• Youth Music launches new fund supporting young people with disabilities

• web3 music-rights startup Aria Protocol secures $15M in funding

• WMG says UK restructure aims to elevate British artists worldwide

• Downtown Music assures VMG deal would come with ‘data protection’

• Eternal Research launches pre-orders for its Demon Box instrument

Group Chat

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

WELCOME BACK

Some of yall reading this right now

Who's most likely to abuse Spotify Messages?

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🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Katy Perry (26%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

After recently wrapping up his Requiem World Tour, Keshi has landed with Steve Bursky of Foundations for management. The company earlier this year also added on superstar Chappell Roan to its roster. 

American-Ghanaian artist MOLIY signed a global publishing deal, covering her catalogue and future works, with Warner Chappell Music. Her 2024 ‘Shake It To The Max (Fly)’ track gained tons of traction on TikTok and went to #1 on the US and UK Afrobeats Singles Charts. 

The pitch-perfect Charlie Puth joined the UTA roster this week for global representation in all areas. The singer-songwriter has amassed more than 35B streams, including all-time hit ‘See You Again’ with Wiz Khalifa. 

Manchester-based rock band Corella signed with FLG, the Frontiers Label Group imprint this week. The quartet boasts a growing fanbase as the label looks to help usher in the next wave of breakthrough talent in the rock space. 

Indie-pop newcomer Eden Joel inked a publishing deal with Concord Music in partnership with Big Family. Originally from Nashville and raised around the music industry, Joel has spent the last three years as a touring musician with artists such as Stephen Sanchez, Mercury, Briston Maroney and others.

Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba, who gained a global spotlight after collaborating with Megan Thee Stallion on ‘Mamushi’, signed with Warner Music Japan and 300 Entertainment. He plans on relocating to LA and is headlining his first US concert this month at The Roxy.

+120 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Radiohead, Tame Impala, Ed Sheeran, Earl Sweatshirt, Zara Larsson, bbno$, UMI

Radiohead announced their first tour in 7 years. The English rock band will perform 4 nights each in London, Berlin, Madrid, Bologna & Copenhagen this November and December.

A death at Burning Man is now being investigated as a homicide. Original reporting mistakenly declared a man fatally ran into the structure that the festival annually burns in effigy.

LIVE’s annually published report revealed Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” which included 15 shows in the UK, injected a £1B boost to the economy. The BBC noted that ~1.2M people attended Swift’s UK run.

Farm Aid’s 40th anniversary will be available to livestream on CNN on September 20th. Margo Price, Dave Matthews Band, Kenny Chesney, and more will play alongside founders Neil Young, John Mellencamp & Willie Nelson.

Your Shot – an Australian DJ competition aimed to democratize DJing – will debut in both New York and Los Angeles. The program will give 200 participants a 6-week course of expert-led instruction culminating in a festival-style event where they will perform in front of industry professionals and talent scouts. The program reports that 62% of previous participants now regularly perform around the world.

❌ Cancellations:

• Doja Cat announced she is dropping out of Austin City Limits, stating the performance conflicted with her work on her upcoming project Vie

• Sex Pistols & Frank Carter postponed their upcoming North American shows due to guitarist Steve Jones breaking his wrist

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

After 15 years at Warner, Tony Harlow will step down as CEO of Warner Music UK this October, while WMG reshuffles leadership at Atlantic and Warner UK to tighten US–UK collaboration. Sony Music has named Christopher Södergren as its first EVP of Direct-to-Consumer Strategy & Ops. Cindy Gu has been named GM of Southeast Asia at Virgin Music Group, where she’ll oversee ops across Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

London-based Distiller Music Group has announced James Moodie as its new MD. Anne Rohosy steps in as Chief Commercial Officer at Gibson. Big Machine Label Group has elevated four members of its international division and added one new hire, with its all-female team continuing to lead the label’s global efforts across key markets including the UK and Australia. Jordi Tello named MD at Sony Music Publishing Iberia. NSAI has promoted Maxwell Trotter to Sr. Songwriter Relations Rep, alongside two additional staff promotions and two new hires. Mother Artists has appointed Sarah Besnard as a booker, where she’ll work alongside co-founder Natasha Gregory on her roster.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

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

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

• Label Manager at Three Six Zero in Stockholm

• Day to Day Manager at Red Light Management in NY & LA

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