Vol 58 - Give me something, somewhere to read (we know a place)

Happy Friday,

ROSTR x NIF Voter Guide + WRAPD 2025 are here, Gulf Shores mayor shuts down festivals, this year’s most impersonated artists & Timmy EsDeeKid allegations.

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 21 Savage, Fred again.., Nas & DJ Premier, FLO, Rico Nasty, Softcult, nano, Tanerélle, Hunxho, HUMBE, Judeline, threetwenty…

♪ Notable singles from Mumford & Sons, Gavin Adcock, Gorillaz, Emei, Samara Cyn, fakemink & Fimiguerrero, DJ Suzy, PnB Rock, camoufly, Cloonee, Lekan…

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

#1 - With little warning, 21 Savage dropped his 4th solo studio project WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS? with ‘I WISH’ claiming the top slot.

#6 - Mumford & Sons release ‘Prizefighter,’ co-written with Justin Vernon/Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner and co-produced with Aaron Dessner.

#10 - R&B British trio FLO encourage you to check your ‘Recently Deleted’ on the deluxe version of their GRAMMY-nominated album Access All Areas: Unlocked.

#31 - Lukas Nelson drops ’A Certain Someone,’ co-written with Anderson East and Foy Vance.

#37 - Indie Swedish electronic artist DJ Suzy shares melancholic, pulsing track ‘White Rabbit,’ about making a past love disappear and moving on.

#43 - Rico Nasty shares her deluxe album LETHAL-ER with 5 new tracks including ‘BLACK LACE,’ which lands at #43 on the playlist.

⭐ #67 - Indie-dream pop-shoegaze duo Softcult drop their EP Queen of Nothing & land the title track on NMF, out this week via Easy Life Recs.

#72 - PnB Rock posthumously releases ‘How Would U Feel’ on what would have been his 34th birthday.

#85 - Greylan James delivers ‘Hold It Down (the after demo),” a reflective closing chapter to his viral Water At A Wedding hit, co-written with Blake Pendergrass.

#98 - Katelyn Tarver drops ‘The Price,’ co-written with Sasha Sloan, teasing her third album arriving Spring 2026.

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Niontay, Theo Bleak, Monster Magnet, Peter Criss all have new projects expected to come out next week.

21 Savage, CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, 4 Non Blondes, PUP (live album), Trisha Yearwood, Jeremy Ivey all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

The ROSTR x NIF Voter Guide and ROSTR WRAPD 2025 are here!

Classical and Gospel singer Jubilant Sykes was stabbed to death in his home this week. The Mavericks frontman Raul Malo passed away at 60. Usher and Big Sean invested $1M into a Detroit entertainment incubator. The Quebec minister introduced a bill to tighten ticket resale rules in Canada. Taylor Swift responded to “absurd and legally baseless” claims that she stole lyrics from a woman’s poetry while writing Lover, Folklore, Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department. KATSEYE were named TikTok’s global artist of the year. The man who grabbed Ariana Grande at a recent ‘Wicked’ premiere in Singapore was kicked out of a Lady Gaga concert in Australia. Beyoncé will co-chair the 2026 Met Gala with Sabrina Carpenter, LISA and Doja Cat on the host committee.

Timothée Chalamet addressed rumors that he’s the UK rapper EsDeeKid.

Country Duo Maddie & Tae announced their breakup after 15 years. Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter were the top impersonated artists of 2025; the hackers targeted their fans to scam them with fake tickets, merch and VIP experiences. A judge denied the security guard who unsuccessfully sued Cardi B a new trial. Tekashi 6ix9ine is heading back to jail after violating parole. Pink Floyd announced pop-up stores across the UK, EU and US to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘Wish You Were Here.’ UMG expanded its retail stores to NYC and London.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• beatBread surpasses $100M in deal funding

• SongTools forms strategic partnership with ONErpm’s OFFstep

• Indie label Dead Oceans undergoes major rebranding

• Trust Records partners with Bad Brains

• Warner Music India partners with Rthyms.Life

• Five tours pulled in more than $300M over the past year, according to the latest Boxscore chart

• ABBA Voyage has generated upwards of £2B for the UK economy

• Hangout has added a fully licensed Generate Music AI feature

• Tomorrow’s Warriors has announced a mentoring partnership with Fontana

• Rostrum Pacific secures $150M to fund catalog acquisitions

Group Chat

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

What the hell 😂

Not everyone is thrilled (love you Will)

deadAir (love you Jesse)

100 thousand fucking percent clocked, music biz (love you music biz)

The biggest DSP wrapped red flag...

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️ d4vd (33%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Drake (6%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Morgan Wallen (22%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Not posting yours (6%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️ Diddy (33%)

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Paul Simon, David Byrne, PinkPantheress, Rilo Kiley, Aly & AJ

The Cure frontman Robert Smith tapped My Bloody Valentine, Garbage, CHVRCHES & Mogwai amongst others for the 2026 Teenage Cancer Trust benefit concert series.

Diana Ross was announced as the headlining performance for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.”

India is planning to construct a 20K capacity indoor entertainment venue in Mumbai as the country focuses on boosting its touring capabilities.

Germany’s federal government will allot ~€3M to improve noise protection for venues and festivals around the country that are under threat due to noise complaints.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Electric Forest unveiled a stacked lineup with Kaskade, Chris Lake, Sammy Virji, ISOxo, ILLENIUM & more topping the bill

• Detroit’s Movement Festival announced phase one of its lineup with Danny Brown, Carl Cox, Barry Can’t Swim, Nia Archives, Mochakk & more

• Untitled Group has partnered with Asian promoter Applewood to debut a K-pop festival in Australia called Hello Melbourne

• Empire Of The Sun shared Disclosure, The Flaming Lips, Magdalena Bay, Del Water Gap, DJ Tennis & others will perform at their destination festival Chrysalis in Cabo next May

• Arizona’s Boots In The Park will feature headliner Keith Urban next March

• Budapest-based Sziget festival will be headlined by Florence + The Machine, Lewis Capaldi, sombr & Twenty One Pilots

• Gavin Adcock, Zach Top & Kane Brown will headline Country Thunder Florida

❌ Cancellations:

• Gulf Shores’ mayor Robert Craft shared the city will not host neither Morgan Wallen’s Sand In My Boots festival nor Hangout Festival next year

• Due to “hostile economic forces,” Dry Cleaning rescheduled their upcoming 2026 North American dates

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

After dropping her debut album rosie this time last year, ROSÉ has now signed on for a touring deal with Lucy Dickins at WME worldwide. She’s up for Record Of The Year at the GRAMMYs alongside Bruno Mars.

On the heels of ‘What’s Up?’ going viral this year, rock band 4 Non Blondes will release a new album through label Kill Rock Stars next year. As part of the deal, frontwoman Linda Perry is also slated to release a solo album in 2026.

Sony Music Publishing has been busy this holiday season after signing a flurry of new talent including BigXthaPlug, Odeal, Max McNown & SIENNA SPIRO.

After five years without management, Moses Sumney, critically acclaimed artist across music, film, TV, and stage, joins Soft Shock with Cameron Parkins, Arjun Pulijal & Michelle Jubelirer joining his team.

8-time GRAMMY nominee Terrace Martin signed a global publishing admin deal with peermusic. The new agreement will also cover him for worldwide neighbouring rights.

Nashville-based Jameson Roper joined Future History Management this week where he will oversee all North American activity for the company. In addition to bringing over longtime client Bilmuri, Roper also signed Wage War for management.

+130 signings on ROSTR this week

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

A&R veteran Craig Kallman has been appointed Chief Music Officer at WMG. Jeff Sosnow promoted to President of Warner’s Reprise Records. Believe acquires ampd Method and appoints founder Darya Pourshasb to lead its global marketing efforts as Chief Marketing Officer. She Is The Music has named Laura Segura as its new Executive Director following her five-year run at MusiCares. Integrity Music has tapped Brad Moist as its new VP of A&R & Development, overseeing talent scouting, artist growth, and creative strategy.

RockForce names Chris Schuman and Shawn Worlow as Co-Presidents. 2PM Sharp has brought on Caroline Fields to oversee the launch of its new Nashville office. Rebecca Allen has been named Chief Artist and Strategy Officer at Universal Music Group UK. Jordyn Reese joins Fellowship Artist Management, bringing client Minus the Bear and working alongside Blaze James in signing and developing new talent.

Capitol CMG Publishing elevates David Gutekunst to EVP, Kent Draughon to SVP of Admin & Ops, Katie Barolak and Terryl Padilla to Sr. Director, Creative and Jessica Marion to VP, Marketing & Song Promotion. Warner Chappell has centralized its global sync ops under EVP Rich Robinson, bringing catalog, frontline, and production music together with Gavin Caroll and Kailey Tenn reporting in.

CAA has promoted Jack Belkin, Carly Damelio, Ella Fernandez, Rhys France, Todd Matsumoto, and Sydney Weltman within its global touring department.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Head of Commercial at The ROSTR Group in LA🔥

• Tour Marketing Director at Outback Presents in Nashville

• Sr. Sales Executive, Performing Arts at Opendate (Anywhere)

• Director, Regional Sales at Live Nation in Portland

↗ Find these and 415+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR