Vol 46 - A perfect picture in the frame, some news don't ever fade

Happy Friday,

Spotify goes lossless, merch bootleggers beware, Live Nation’s ticket exclusivity & our Hilary Duff dreams are back.

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 Ed Sheeran, Twenty One Pilots, Hazlett, mark william lewis, King Princess, CORTIS, Mimi Webb, snuggle, Parcels, Rachel Chinouriri…

♪ Notable singles from Drake, Julia Wolf & Yeat, Demi Lovato, Polo G, Rauw Alejandro, Rex Orange County, Cautious Clay, Carter Vail, Cavetown…

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

#1 - Ed Sheeran drops his new album Play with ‘Camera’ taking this week’s top slot on the playlist, co-written by heavyhitters Andrew Watt, David Hodges & Louis Bell.

#13 - Hazlett drops last night you said you missed me, with ‘queen of the season’ landing on NMF.

#16 - Originally premiering on BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record, Rex Orange County is back with ‘Take A Drive,’ along with writing & production help from Pharrell.

#18 - King Princess releases new album Girl Violence featuring ‘Jaime’ which lands on the big list this week.

#19 - JADE drops her debut solo album That’s Showbiz Baby!, with NMF track ‘Unconditional.’

#34 - Damiano David, Tyla and Nile Rodgers team up on ‘Talk To Me.’

#56 - Irish newcomer Dove Ellis makes his debut with ‘To the Sandals,’ inspired by a failing shotgun marriage in Cancún, just before hitting the road to tour with Geese.

#58 - Co-written with Ella Langley and more, Danielle Bradbery releases ‘Dent.’

#88 - Back with their first release in 4 years, Limp Bizkit drop ‘Making Love to Morgan Wallen’ for the Battlefront 6 video game soundtrack.

⭐ #94 - Tipped Nordic artist Saga Faye unveils her debut EP East Of The Sun with ‘I Wonder’ landing on NMF.

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Cardi B, Lola Young, Toro y Moi, Benny Sings, Nation of Language, NewDad, Black Lips, Motion City Soundtrack, Wednesday, Múm, The Favors, Sarah McLachlan all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Gorillaz, Kali Uchis (deluxe), glaive, Whitney, Malibu, Armand Hammer & The Alchemist, Sigur Rós (anniversary), Chris Baio & Fort Romeau, Ragana & Drowse, Jessy Lanza, Sword II, Animal Collective (anniversary), Steve Gunn, Mae Estes, Revis, Andrew Bird (anniversary), Tortoise, Trisha Yearwood all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

ROSTR and IQ Magazine broke down the data on 2025 European Summer Festivals.

US recorded music revenue reached $5.6B in H1 2025, with 0.9% YoY growth. StubHub is pursuing an IPO. Live Nation is prepared for the possible loss of ticketing exclusivity amid the company’s upcoming antitrust trial. HYBE Latin America launched a Regional Mexican label, S1ENTO Records. Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash declared bankruptcy, owing $25M+. Reservoir Media acquired Miles Davis’ catalog. A body was found inside of an impounded Tesla in Hollywood that is registered to artist d4vd; the identity of the body is unknown. Here are all of the winners from this year’s MTV VMAs. A 29 year-old man was charged with robbing Macklemore’s house in Seattle in June, along with a few well-known athletes’ homes. A judge reduced a $1.7M reward that lawyers were paid out (while their clients only received $53K) from their 2023 class action suit against Napster.

Priscilla Presley’s former business partners updated their claims in a lawsuit against her, calling her a “calculated sociopath” who “exploited the Presley name.” Twenty One Pilots sued Temu over cheap merch knockoffs. Colombian singer Beéle denied leaking a sex tape of influencer Isabella Ladera. Mexican authorities are investigating a threat made by a criminal group against Mexican Regional Music singer Junior H. Fat Joe said he lost millions of dollars when Nike and Reebok cancelled his sneaker deals with them in the early 2000’s. Mark Ronson’s memoir Night People releases September 16. GloRilla filed to dismiss a lawsuit that accused her of stealing the phrase “all natural, no BBL.” Trey Songz settled a lawsuit that claimed he sexually assaulted a woman at a Miami nightclub on New Year’s 2018.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Spotify announces long-awaited lossless audio streaming

• Big Family Music unifies operations, partners with Stem

• The Orchard launches OPEN, a new physical distribution network

• New fully-licensed streaming service Coda Music launches

• Merlin launches on indie-centric platform Nina Protocol

• TempleLive venues go dark in Cleveland and beyond

• Discogs announces new analog music listening initiative Dis/Connect

• Independent sync agency H W Sync launches

• Serenade completes transition from NFTs to physical ‘smart formats’

• Wits University in South Africa launches AI & African Music project

• Spotify unhappy about Unwrapped allowing users to sell data

• Stability AI aims at brands with new AI audio model

• Belong, the music-centric challenger bank, raises $1.5M round

Group Chat

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

Just a cheeky meme innit

Who's the real drama?

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Downtown Music CEO (12%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Drake's lawyers (18%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Cardi B (0%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Americans (58%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Spotify editorial (12%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

Lizzie McGuire Hilary Duff is back. In anticipation of her return to music, the actress & singer has signed with Atlantic Records. It was also announced that Duff will be part of a new series documenting her life, as fans will “ride shotgun as she balances raising a family, recording new music” and more.

Nigerian singer-songwriter Asake has landed with new management at Alexa Rae Perkins’ Double Eleven. The Afrobeats artist has amassed over 5B streams and his latest album, Lungu Boy, ranks among the top 20 most-streamed Nigerian albums of all time.

Shaboozey and his label EMPIRE have joined forces to launch a new indie label, American Dogwood. The first signee is Nashville’s Kevin Powers, who is releasing ‘Move On’ next week in collaboration with Shaboozey and will serve as his opener on tour this fall. 

SBTRKT, the English dance music artist, has joined Spencer Pinson & Erik Selz’s newly-formed ROAM agency roster (NA, SA). He just wrapped sold-out DJ tours in Asia & NA, plus has a KAYTRANADA ‘Space Invader’ remix cooking up, expected to release this month.

Argentinian duo CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso signed for touring (WW ex-NA) with UTA this week. They have been busy with appearances on NPR’s Tiny Desk, festivals like Lollapalooza & Coachella, while also dabbling in the fashion world.

Jazz-house’s dublon, who is a classical trained violinist, pianist and drummer, has locked in a record deal with Technicolour, the Ninja Tune imprint. His new single via the pact ‘Euro’ just dropped and he kicks off his tour later this month.

+125 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Lady Gaga, Tame Impala, The Weeknd, Bailey Zimmerman, Laufey, Sons of Legion

As you saw, ROSTR & IQ Magazine analyzed ~50 European summer festivals, here are some of the takeaways:

• Wasserman remained the top agency for artist bookings with CAA and WME in 2nd and 3rd

• Chappell Roan & Olivia Rodrigo tied for the most headlining slots with 9 each; Queens of the Stone Age were 2nd with 8

• 28% of headliners had been active artists for 11-20 years by this summer while 25% had been active for 0-10 years

Bad Bunny revealed he left the US off his world tour due to concerns of ICE raids.

Carín León will be the first Latino artist to headline Sphere next September over Vegas’ Mexican Independence Day celebration. Additionally, The Eagles announced an extension to their Sphere residency with dates in January 2026.

Farm Aid might be cancelled if there is no resolution to the labor strike at University of Minnesota. Event organizers explained their “artists, production team and partners have made clear that they will not cross a picket line […] the farm and labour movements are inseparable, and we believe strongly that the University must return to the bargaining table in good faith.”

Teddy Swims was confirmed as the NRL Grand Final headliner in Sydney. The performance will coincide with a 12-date arena run through Australia.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Tempe, Arizona’s Innings Fest announced blink-182, Twenty One Pilots, and Mumford & Sons as headliners

• David Byrne, Robert Plant, Flying Lotus & more will headline Big Ears in Tennessee

• Netherlands’ music showcase ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag) announced its lineup including ZeMe, Becky Sikasa, Turbo Trans Turisti & more

• Garth Brooks will headline Milwaukee’s Summerfest next June

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

Monti Olson has re-joined BMG as its EVP for Publishing in NA, tasked with strengthening its publishing ops and catalog expansion. Seeker Music celebrates five years by promoting Steven Melrose to Chief Creative Officer and appointing Todd von Mende as CFO, expanding its executive team. Polydor Label Group announces significant leadership promotions, appointing Jodie Cammidge as MD and promoting other key leaders following major chart success. Bruce Allen Talent appoints Paul Haagenson, former Live Nation Canada President, as President, as founder Bruce Allen transitions to Chairman, starting in October. The NMPA has elected Ralph Peer II as Chair of its Board of Directors, with Reservoir Media CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi named Vice Chair following Irwin Z. Robinson’s retirement. Music industry veteran Matt Zeidman joins SALXCO with a mandate to expand the roster and help drive strategic initiatives. Rachel Powers has been elevated to VP at Messina Touring Group, moving up from her role as VP of Marketing.

Alex Frank takes on the role of Chief Brand Officer at 237 Global. Goldman Sachs MD Lisa Yang is leaving after 16 years, and rumor has it she’s been tapped by Warner. ASCAP appoints John Pershing as SVP and CTO. Bryce Buckner and Eric Bindman are promoted to Partners at Prodigy Artists, signaling the next chapter in the company’s expansion and influence in the industry. Another Planet Entertainment and Teragram Presents tapped Jordan Anderson as Sr. Talent Buyer at The Bellwether in LA. Lauren Burchett, Kylie Goudreau, and Helena Capps have joined the Academy of Country Music’s Industry Relations & Awards team in new leadership and management roles. Harris, Huelsman, Barnes & Company names Melissa Marsh Sr. Client Manager and promotes Amanda Remo and Ryan Spradlin.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Director, Rights Management at UMG in Nashville

• Executive Assistant to CEO at Electric Feel Ent. in Miami

• Controller at Mom + Pop Music in NY

• Sr. UI/UX Designer at Create Music Group in Vancouver

• A&R Manager (Severance Records) at Big Loud Rock in Nashville

↗ Find these and 310+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR