Vol 59 - But none of these newsletters are me, not today, no mañana

Happy Friday,

TikTok seals the deal, Wiz Khalifa’s kush gets him in trouble, lawyers using AI & your favorite 2025 saga.

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 Polo G, River Tiber, Beltran, Prunk & Ryan Nicholls, YFN Lucci, Theo Bleak, rommulas, STÜM & X & Ivy, Loose Lips, Amindi, Dom Dias…

♪ Notable singles from Kali Uchis, cortex, ThxSoMuch, Rin & Esha Tewari, Junior Mesa, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Lilly Palmer & DANNY AVILA & ROWN…

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

#1 - After numerous leaks online, Kali Uchis drops fan-favorite demo ‘Muévelo,’ which was originally cut from her 2024 album ORQUÍDEAS.

#3 - Anyma taps KPop Demon Hunter EJAE for ‘Out Of My Body’, which serves as one of the lead singles off his deluxe edition of The End Of Genesys coming next year.

#8 - Rin & Esha Tewari tag team on bittersweet ‘winter’s excuse’ to soundtrack cozying up by the fireplace this holiday season.

#22 - After a quiet 2025, indie Canadian producer River Tiber releases his EP Spirals with ‘Not the Same’ landing on the playlist.

#54 - Toronto-born Jessie Leith Munro drops ‘Just Life.’

#55 - With songwriting support from Chris Tompkins, Daniel Ross and Jessie Jo Dillon, Jacob Hackworth releases new track ‘Bad As I Do.’

⭐ #77 - UK R&B newcomer cortex continues to feed his fans with another double pack ‘Golden Boy / Romance’ dropping.

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

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

It’s our last newsletter of the year! Happy Holidays to all of our readers ❄️🎁.

The ROSTR Behind The Awards Report is here! And a bonus for you - check out the top 10 record labels with the most noms for female artists.

Billboard laid off staffers following cuts at Variety and Rolling Stone. TikTok signed a deal to sell its business in the US to Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX. Wiz Khalifa was sentenced to nine months in prison in Romania for allegedly smoking weed on stage last year. After being sued by surf company Lost Surfboards, a court ruled that Lady Gaga can still use the ‘Mayhem’ logo on her merch. Donna Summer was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Lizzo celebrated the dismissal of fat-shaming claims from her ex-dancers in their lawsuit against her. UMG proposed divesting Downtown’s Curve platform to appease the European Commission’s objections over their purchase of Downtown. YouTube will stream the Oscars starting in 2029; the company will also now stop providing data to Billboard after Billboard revealed changes to their US chart methodology. One of Diddy’s accusers’ lawyer got in trouble with a judge for using AI and citing inaccurate case law in court filings. Jane’s Addiction officially broke up. Dionne Warwick was sued by a rights management firm that negotiated Doja Cat’s use of the track ‘Walk On By.’ Trey Songz was arrested for allegedly assaulting a man at a Times Square nightclub. Jelly Roll was granted a pardon by the Governor of Tennessee for his past crimes.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Beggars Group ownership transferred to Trust + now owns majority share of XL Recordings

• BMG and TikTok expand partnership

• Beatchain partners with AFROSON1C X to launch WAVVI in West Africa

• Rostrum Pacific secures $150M to accelerate music catalog growth

• PRS For Music delivers its highest royalty payout ever

• Cherry Red acquires Gull, State and Uproar Entertainment catalogs

• HYBE announces new management partnership to support African talent

• Decentralized finance platform Tix launches to support live events

• Classical streaming platform Symphony.live acquired by Acoustics Space

Group Chat

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

the tater tots are shaking rn

get ‘em russ

lolll

agree. this ai music thing is getting out of control.

i’m so very tired.

How to get people to look at your ROSTR profile...

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Be straight (0%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Be white (0%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Be a guy (47%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Manage an artist who slept with an underage girl who then ended up in the trunk of a car (53%)

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Alex G, Alabama Shakes, Romeo Santos & Prince Royce, Flatland Cavalry, Iron & Wine

Live Nation continues its international expansion, acquiring a majority stake in Chile’s 15K-capacity Movistar Arena as well as agreeing to operate the 12K-capacity Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. Meanwhile, in our own backyard, LN has partnered with live entertainment company Venu to become the exclusive tenant for Texas’ 20K-capacity The Sunset Amphitheater at McKinney.

Bay Area producer Non Plus Ultra announced b2b shows before Super Bowl weekend at SF’s Pier 80 with Diplo & Calvin Harris playing the first night, and T-Pain & Sean Paul following the next day.

Saudi Arabia’s Event Investment Fund & Legends Global have formed a JV that will operate venue projects in the nation including exhibition and convention centers and entertainment venues.

Bahrain are set to open a 3.5K-capacity indoor venue Terminal 4 with John Mayer as the first performer.

The NBA announced Shaboozey, Ludacris & Cortis will headline the Crossover concert series for the upcoming All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles next February.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Lorde & David Byrne are amongst the list of performers announced for New Orleans Jazz Festival 2026

• Nashville’s inaugural Freely Fest will feature performances from The Killers, T-Pain, Dominic Fike, Janelle Monáe & Avery Anna

• Another inaugural Nashville 2-day gathering Deep Tropics Equinox announced performances from Of The Trees, Ivy Lab, it’s murph & more

• Julieta Venegas, Rawayana, and more will headline the Spanish edition of Vive Latino next September

• Wilco’s Solid Sound festival will be headlined by The Breeders & Gang Of Four

• Robert Earl Keen & Flatland Cavalry will headline Troubadour Festival in Texas next March

❌ Cancellations:

• Bondi Beach’s NYE party has been cancelled following the recent mass shooting; expected to bring in 15K attendees, the event had HoneyLuv, Kölsch, TSHA & others slated to perform

• The Rolling Stones called off their plans for a EU/UK tour due to commitment issues from guitarist Keith Richards

• New Zealand festival owner John Minty announced Splore 2026 will be its last edition – citing a trend of low ticket sales as the reason

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

Previously with 724 Management, singer/songwriter Bebe Rexha signed with Simonne Solitro & Alexis Fisher of Timeline Management. The pop artist has been a part of four songs that’s crossed the billion-stream mark on Spotify and is expected to release new music soon.

Nashville’s Margo Price locked in a global publishing deal with Warner Chappell. After releasing her debut project back in 2016, the artist/writer/producer has been busy, including her most recent release, Hard Headed Woman, which earned two 2026 GRAMMY nominations.

Electronic powerhouse MK landed at WME in NA/SA with Stephanie LaFera, Jonas Schumann & Kyle Bandler signing on. He’s slated to start 2026 with a bang on New Year’s Day in San Diego, along with dates going into March.

Bipolar Sunshine, who has had his share of hits with tracks like ‘Middle’ alongside DJ Snake & Gryffin’s ‘Whole Heart’, joined the Kobalt & Maison Arts publishing roster. 

After announcing that Amy Greig joined One Fiinix Live weeks ago, veteran agent Zac Peters (formerly of Runway) now follows alongside his roster of artists which includes Kelli-Leigh & Jamie Lawson.

+80 signings on ROSTR this week

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

WMG has promoted Eric Wong to EVP of Recorded Music, broadening his responsibilities while he remains President of East West Records US and President of Warner Music Canada. Veteran music executive Alain Lanceron has been named Chairman Emeritus of Warner Classics & Erato. Divo, one of South India’s leading digital media and music companies and majority owned by Warner Music India, has appointed Ashok Parwani as its Head of Music. Create Music Group–backed label Broke Records has appointed Edward “Q” Brickell as Head of Legal Affairs. PIAS has announced that Nick Hartley will retire as group COO and CFO at the end of 2025.

UTA has announced 19 promotions in its Music division across its Los Angeles, New York, Nashville and London offices.

Sphere Entertainment Co. has appointed Felicia Yue as EVP and CTO. Island Records has promoted Caroline Ellis to VP, A&R, continuing her A&R work with artists including Chappell Roan and Suki Waterhouse. The ASCAP Foundation has appointed Patricia Leonard as Executive Director. Results Global, a Nashville-based full-service marketing agency, has added Kelly Ridgway as Global Marketing Lead/Head of the NYC Office and Abbey Kovacevich as Manager, Marketing and Communications.

The Music Venue Trust has named Chris Prosser and Jane Beese co-chairs following changes to its board of trustees. Boomtown Festival promoted Toby Gwazdacz to the newly created role of Managing Director. Musicians On Call, the nonprofit that brings live and recorded music to patients’ bedsides, has appointed Michael Solomon as Chair of its National Board, with Lee Perlman named Vice Chair and Deb Reiner serving as Secretary. Back Blocks Music has promoted Elizabeth Cook to Creative Director, and has added Megan Clemens as Director of Digital Marketing and Laine Lonero as Marketing Coordinator.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Tour Marketing Director at Outback Presents in Nashville

• Sr. Sales Executive, Live Music at Opendate in IN

• VP, Tour Finance & Strategy at SUPER (Anywhere)

• SVP, Global Digital Marketing at BMG in London

• Head of Commercial at The ROSTR Group in LA

Find these and 370+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR.