Vol 56 - Look in the inbox, and I'm like 'so hot, so smart, so witty'

Happy Friday,

AI goes major, hot festival lineups, Osbourne family receives toenails & sharing what we’re grateful for 🍂

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 Tate McRae, Demi Lovato, Summer Walker, Tems, Odeal, ERNEST, Tobias Jesso Jr., De La Soul, Stray Kids, Oneohtrix Point Never, The Hellp, Nemzzz…

♪ Notable singles from BigXThaPlug & Post Malone, The Kid LAROI, Key Glock, CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, Labrinth, Kevin Jonas, Absolutely, Maisie Peters, Esha Tewari, Danny L Harle, Mad Tsai…

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

#1 - Tate McRae is ‘NOBODY’s GIRL’ on her deluxe album SO CLOSE TO WHAT???

#5 - In ‘A PERFECT WORLD’ The Kid LAROI figures everything out; the singer announced his sophomore album BEFORE I FORGET due in January.

#19 - Nigerian singer Tems shares her first new music of the year with 7-track project Love Is A Kingdom and 'Big Daddy' landing on NMF.

⭐ #20 - LA duo The Hellp ‘Live Forever’ with their return of new album Riviera, migrating from indie-sleaze to a more mature project.

#33 - CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso enter their new era with single ‘GIMME MORE’. The music video follows the duo from their victorious night at the Latin GRAMMYs to a chaotic, euphoric after-party in Las Vegas.

#42 - "Euphoria" composer & producer Labrinth continues to ramp up for his 4th studio album COSMIC OPERA ACT I, this time with new single 'IMPLOSION.’

#47 - The first-ever GRAMMY winner for Songwriter of the Year (and current nominee), Tobias Jesso Jr., releases his first album in 10 years, with track ‘Bridges’ landing a spot on NMF.

#57 - Ne-Yo goes country with new track ‘Simple Things’ via 10K Projects after his Grand Ole Opry debut and presenting at the CMA Awards earlier this week.

#66 - Kesha drops ‘Butterscotch’ to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Animal + Cannibal.

#67 - Although not formally addressing any rumors, Jhené Aiko may be giving out some hints with her new single ‘Break.’

#76 - Kevin Jonas debuts as a solo artist with ‘Changing’ via Hollywood Records.

#88 - Overmono’s new single ‘Paradise Runner’ is a sharp, high energy dance cut powered by a sample from Monifah’s 1996 R&B classic ‘All I Want.’

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Jessie J has a new project expected to come out next week (Thanksgiving holiday in the US usually means a lighter week for project releases).

The Kid LAROI, Danny L Harle, DJ Premier & Nas, MAVI, Peaer, Hudson Westbrook, Absolutely, Converge, Filmore, Alan Vega (re-issue), Cloudy Heart all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

No issue next week because of Thanksgiving in the US - we’ll be back in your inbox on December 5th!

If you didn’t hear, the NIF & ROSTR GRAMMY Voter Guide is coming. FYC spots are filling up fast - for more info and opportunities, click HERE.

Americana artist Todd Snider passed away at 59. Stone Roses bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield passed away at 63. A collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and Dust-to-Digital Foundation made thousands of rare American recordings available online. ABKCO sued paint maker Behr for using the Rolling Stones ‘Paint It, Black’ in an Instagram ad without a license. Eminem sued Swim Shady, an Australian beachwear company for using a name too similar to his trademarked pseudonym. C.J. Wallace, the son of The Notorious B.I.G., countersued for defamation after being accused of participating in a sexual assault act with Diddy. Slipknot sold their catalog to HarbourView. The man who grabbed Ariana Grande at a recent ‘Wicked: For Good’ premiere was sentenced to 9 days in prison. See all of the CMA winners HERE.

Spotify will offer more song credit information to include more roles involved in the creative process. Nelly wants the lawyer of a former St. Lunatic bandmate to repay $78K+ in legal bills over the lawsuit about the rights to Country Grammar. A judge held Tory Lanez in contempt of court after the singer said “I’m a millionaire. I don’t care.” Lil Nas X appeared in court for his police battery case. Paris Jackson had a setback in her fight against the executors of Michael’s estate. Ángel Del Villar will stay out of prison while he appeals his conviction for associating and doing business with Mexican drug cartels. Eminem will produce a Thanksgiving Halftime Show for the Detroit Lions through 2027. Disney+ dropped the trailer for the upcoming Beatles Anthology series refresh. A woman sent Ozzy Osbourne’s family her toenails, claiming to be his daughter after his death.  

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

👀 Warner Music Group updates:

• Full-year profits came in lower

• Partnered with Udio to launch a licensed AI music creation service

• Signed a new deal with Stability AI

Also:

• Mushroom Music enters sub-publishing deal with peermusic

• Suno raises $250M in latest round of series C funding

• Create Music Group and The Circuit Group launch $500M investment fund

• EU poised to deliver ‘warning’ on UMG’s $775M Downtown acquisition

• FreshTunes announces new integrations focused on the creator economy

• Dynamite Songs acquires 150 Tracks via several new deals

• Ticketek & Google Cloud partner to reimagine 'the Fan Experience'

• Amazon Music launches new “Share To TikTok” feature

• TIDAL announces new upload feature for indie artists

• TikTok drops new ‘Bulletin Board’ broadcast channels for creators

Group Chat

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

Postponing all client releases until Lizzy is back from maternity leave

Need this.

(di)Vine coming back means...

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ I can't rn (15%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Major label digital teams are doing the "it's happening" gif meme (38%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️ Washed A&Rs figuring out how to monetize hungry artists on diVine Live (31%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Performative & woke anti-AI content (15%)

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Waxahatchee & MJ Lenderman, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Father John Misty, Perfume Genius, INJI

The Weeknd’s 4 year tour run of After Hours ‘Til Dawn has grossed >$1B. This makes the Canadian star’s tour the highest grossing for solo male act in history.

Washington, D.C. is constructing a 65K capacity stadium, which is on track to be the second-most-expensive stadium in the world. Across the pond, AEG Presents UK announced its newest venue British Airways ARC, will open in 2026. The 3.8K capacity venue is part of a $1.7B renovation of Olympia, a 138 year-old event space in Kensington.

The UK government will ban concert ticket resales above face value in an effort to crack down on scalpers – a change artists like Dua Lipa, Coldplay & Sam Fender have lobbied for.

Ticketmaster has expanded its footprint in Brazil and LATAM, acquiring ticketing company BaladAPP, which will give promoters access to >6M registered users.

Jam For Good announced The Revivalists will headline a special benefit concert for kids battling cancer in Boulder, Colorado next February.

Post Malone, Jack White & Lil Jon will perform across the 3 NFL Thanksgiving Day halftime shows.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Iowa’s Hinterland announced another stacked lineup with KATSEYE, Lorde, Mumford & Sons, and Kali Uchis as headliners

• Kilby Block Party announced headliners Lorde, The xx & Turnstile

• After postponing due to torrential rains, Camp Flog Gnaw announced a new slew of performers in Blood Orange, Kali Uchis, fakemink & Geese after Clairo, Don Toliver, Men I Trust, sombr & others cancelled

• Empire Of The Sun announced destination festival Chrysalis, which will consist of a curated artist lineup, art installations & more in Cabo

• Love Supreme Jazz Festival will be headlined by Ezra Collective, Samara Joy & Loyle Carner

• Florida’s Welcome to Rockville will feature headliners Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, My Chemical Romance & Bring Me The Horizon

• Lainey Wilson, Zach Top, Brooks & Dunn, and Gavin Adcock were announced as headliners for Country Thunder Arizona

• Fuerza Regida will headline the 5th edition of Chicago’s Sueños Fest

• Zootown Music Festival announced The Lumineers & The Chicks as headliners

❌ Cancellations:

• After their free concert was shut down over safety concerns in Melbourne, Amyl and the Sniffers used their show fee of $35K to cover bar tabs for 7 local pubs in the area

• YUNGBLUD shared he will continue with his 2026 Australian tour dates following the cancellation of his remaining 2025 shows

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

CAA is calling Drake’s phone - to the tune of Alex Mebed, Darryl Eaton, Mitch Rose & Sam Reisman worldwide. Formerly at Wasserman (Brent Smith), the superstar has jumped ship with his highly anticipated album ICEMAN expected soon.

On the heels of celebrating 10 years of EMOTION, Carly Rae Jepsen has signed with Cristina Baxter of Wasserman Music for touring (WW ex-CAN). The pop star recently announced she’s pregnant and that she’s made some ‘big album progress.’

‘Group-7’ viral trend creator Sophia James has landed in the hands of new management at Left/Right with Michael Falotico & Will Hubbard. Her recent track ‘So Unfair’ has been getting heavy rotation across channels and been featured in places like Rolling Stone & NY Times. 

Electronic powerhouse TOKiMONSTA has been rinsing her new club tracks and has now signed a new publishing deal with PayDay Music Publishing.

Platinum singer-songwriter Clinton Kane, now releasing independently after a stint with Columbia Records, has joined Pat Magnarella’s PMM for management.

Agent Andrew Friedman has launched new booking agency Stage Left Global based in Philadelphia. His roster includes Sam Greenfield, Michael Wilbur, Sungazer & others.

Former Runway agent Amy Greig has made the move over to One Fiinix Live alongside her roster of anamẽ, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, archie & more.

+185 signings on ROSTR this week

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

beatBread has appointed former CD Baby and Downtown exec Tracy Maddux as interim CEO following the passing of co-founder and CEO Peter Sinclair 💜 Bruce Moran has been announced as Live Nation’s new Executive Chairman of Latin America Touring. Leho Nigul, previously WMG’s SVP of Engineering, is named CTO, overseeing technology strategy and product roadmap. London and NY based company Transgressive has appointed Alex Clark as its sync and licensing manager. Big Loud Rock grows its Promotion department, appointing Brien Terranova and Dave Derkowski as Sr. Directors under SVP Dave Barbis.

Following an $11.3M raise, ATC Group appoints James Patterson as COO and Cliff Fluet as non-executive director. Aisha Salem-Howey named General Counsel at UAE’s Music Nation. Kabiru Bello, Head of A&R, EMEA at Warner Music, is leaving the music company. Kele Currier, ASCAP’s Assistant VP of Strategic Services, is retiring after a 33-year career and more than a decade with the Nashville Membership team.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Director, Brand Partnerships at UMG in NY

• Label Manager at Cuttin’ Headz (Remote)

• Director of Marketing and Digital Strategy at Handmade Records in LA

• Head of Artist Partnerships, US at Tixel in LA

↗ Find these and 500+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR