Vol 79 - All these pretty stories in the foreground of my inbox

Happy Friday,

Spotify rolls out Reserved, all-women All Things Go, TikTokers hiring hitmen & Harry’s hairy stage situation.

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 Bleachers, fakemink, 6LACK, Xavi, Bladee, LE SSERAFIM, Maisie Peters, Alvaro Diaz, Luvcat, Lamb, Christian Nodal, McCoy Moore…

♪ Notable singles from Olivia Rodrigo, Charli xcx, Blondshell, Vince Staples, Lola Young, KETTAMA, mary in the junkyard, Baauer, The Band CAMINO, Maris…

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

#1 - Olivia Rodrigo continues the rollout of her 3rd studio album with ‘the cure.’

#2 - Lola Young drops ‘From Down Here,’ co-written with James Blake, Jameela Jamil and Dom Maker.

#7 - KETTAMA shares the first single since his debut LP last year ‘Comes and Goes.’

#14 - Kygo and Dan Tyminski team up on tribute to Avicii, ‘Heaven On Your Mind.’

#17 - Drain Gang founder Bladee drops his latest album Sulfer Surfer and lands ‘Versailles Flow’ on Spotify’s NMF.

#23 - Fresh off her debut Coachella appearance, LA’s Blondshell releases ‘Heart Has To Work So Hard’ — her first release since dropping her album Another Picture in 2025.

#36 - Diplo-cosigned LA native Lamb shares her debut EP c r e a t u r e s with Murda Beatz-produced ‘tarmac’ landing on NMF.

#55 - fakemink gets ‘All Eyes On Me’ on NMF alongside the release of his debut album Terrified.

⭐ #59 - Hotly-tipped 20 year-old Mumbai artist the sound chalk makes lands his first NMF track ‘CSM for bullshit’ released with Seven Blair Angels & pato6p.

#81 - Topaz Jones taps Mick Jenkins for ‘11:49,’ his first release since 2022, alongside a new music video.

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Boards of Canada, Paul McCartney, Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts, Willie Nelson, Latto, Kurt Vile, All Them Witches, Violet Grohl, Francis of Delirium, David Torn, Guided by Voices, Iceage, Shinedown all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Anderson .Paak (soundtrack), Moses Sumney (soundtrack), JAY-Z (soundtrack), ear, mgk & Wiz Khalifa, feeble little horse, Vybz Kartel, Niko Moon, Dari Bay, Haruomi Hasono, Ibeyi, Play Time, Son Lux, Xiu Xiu, John Carpenter, Ed Askew, Westside Cowboy, Jaco Jaco all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

ROSTR entered a full-platform partnership with experiential company Please & Thank You.

Spotify introduced Reserved - concert tickets held for fans based on listening; Spotify and UMG announced licensing agreements for fan-made covers and remixes. Bulgaria’s Dara won the 2026 Eurovision song contest on Saturday. Pete Townshend partnered with Primary Wave on name, image and likeness rights. Primary Wave also acquired the Hipgnosis Artwork Archive, which includes album art from Led Zeppelin, Queen and more. The Library of Congress inducted 25 new entries into the National Recording Registry, including Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’ and Taylor Swift’s ‘1989.’ Shakira was acquitted of tax fraud in Spain and will now be refunded almost $65M by the country’s treasury. Ella Langley was the big winner at the 2026 ACMs on Sunday; the awards were hosted by country legend Shania Twain.

Here is the full list of 2026 BET Awards Nominees.

A TikTok influencer was charged with conspiracy to murder after attempting to hire a hitman off the dark web to kill former Why Don’t We member Jack Avery. Paul McCartney reportedly turned down the opportunity to be roasted on Netflix. George Clinton sued UMG for over $1.1M in alleged withheld royalties in 3+ years. The Jonas Brothers are launching their own podcast series with iHeartMedia called “Hey Jonas!.” Kylie Minogue revealed that she beat cancer for a 2nd time in 2021.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Splice and ElevenLabs partner to develop new AI-powered tools

• FUGA and Insomniac Music Group extend global distribution partnership

• Three Six Zero launches sports management division

• BMI to acquire cue sheet management specialist Soundmouse

• The Orchard expands in Southeast Asia with DAO deal

• Apple Music introduces new live stream series, Club Live

• AI-powered production platform Tamber officially launches

• Spotify cuts subscription prices in India

Group Chat

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

This diva…

Aww

Dying

Lmfao

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: The Smashing Pumpkins, John Summit, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Don Omar, Blondshell

Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture & Tourism will invest $1.7B towards construction for Sphere Abu Dhabi, the first Sphere venue to be built outside the US. It is expected to open in 2029 with a 20K-capacity for conferences, combat sports, product launches and more.

Harry Styles' "Together Together" tour is adjusting its stage after receiving flack for 10-foot structures obstructing expensive VIP seats at its Amsterdam leg.

London Stadium shared plans to >2x its hosting capacity to boost competition with other venues in London. The venue will submit a planning application to request an increase from 10 concerts to 24 starting next year. With an increase in residency-style touring, the bid also includes upping from 3 consecutive nights to 4 for an act.

Netflix & AEG are working on a K-pop Demon Hunters world tour. Although the band from the film HUNTR/X is not confirmed to be performing, the event will be "a live experience that will bring elements of the two-time Oscar-winning film to life in spectacular ways.”

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• All Things Go NYC unveiled an all-women festival lineup with headliners Zara Larsson (her first headline billing), Lola Young, Brandi Carlile, MUNA & Carly Rae Jepsen

• Next year, EDC will expand across two consecutive weeks in what they are calling "Dusk Till Dawn." EDC Dusk is planned for May 14-16 with EDC Dawn confirmed for May 21-23. Not only with the experience go beyond the festival grounds and throughout Vegas, headliners will have the choice to perform on either Dusk or Dawn weekends

• Motorsports and music festival GRIDLIFE Midwest will return this June with performances from Crankdat, Tape B & INZO

• K-Pop group ATEEZ have been confirmed as headliners for BST Hyde Park on June 28th

❌ Cancellations:

• Kanye's debut in India has been cancelled days ahead of his New Delhi performance over safety and security concerns. He was set to play at 70K-capacity Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

After a long-term relationship with Warner Chappell, MNEK has now locked in a publishing deal with Sony Music UK. The British writer/producer/artist has his sophomore solo album coming soon and has recent credits including co-writing Zara Larsson's GRAMMY-nominated 'Midnight Sun' and producing 14 tracks on FLO's debut album Access All Areas.

The enigmatic music collective adore agreed to a record deal with Warner Records, in partnership with Big Beat. The group arrives with co-writing credits spanning Young Thug to Chappell Roan and a 2024 RIAA Gold single, 'did i tell you that I miss you.' Their first release under the deal, 'Feel It All Again,' will feature in the Tribeca Film Festival short Violet and Marlow Rob a Bank. 

BMG has signed Australian multi-instrumentalist Tash Sultana to their first global label partnership, covering future recordings and their back catalog - which reverts to the company in 2030. The self-produced, live-looping phenomenon has amassed billions of streams and sold hundreds of thousands of tickets worldwide, with Gold-certified, ARIA Award-winning debut Flow State and ARIA #1 Terra Firma among their acclaimed releases.

Producer, writer, and artist Eric "Aukoustics" Austikalnis has signed a publishing deal with Position Music. A key architect of the modern country/dance crossover sound, his credits include the US Gold and internationally Platinum-certified 'Faith' with Galantis and Dolly Parton, lovelytheband's Alternative Radio hit 'sail away,' and Galantis and JVKE's 'Dandelion,' named one of Billboard's top dance songs of 2021.

Japanese trio Number_i, which consists of Sho Hirano, Yuta Jinguji, and Yuta Kishi, has signed a record deal with Atlantic Records in the U.S., already recording new material in LA with a release expected later this year. Both of the group's albums debuted at #1 in Japan, and the signing follows their earlier WME representation deal as they look toward a full international push.

+155 signings on ROSTR this week

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

Brad Banducci is stepping down as Group CEO of Ticketek Entertainment Group at the end of May, with COO Cameron Hoy appointed as his successor. Banducci joined just over a year ago from Woolworths as part of a deliberate growth mandate.

Liz Cost will exit Sony Music Nashville at the end of June after nine and a half years, most recently as VP of International Marketing and Artist Development. She oversaw global marketing strategy across the full roster - Luke Combs, Kane Brown, Megan Moroney and others - and co-headed the label's Digital Marketing & Artist Development team.

Breakaway has named Veenerick "Veen" Vos van Liempt EVP, Brand Partnerships & Revenue, based in New York. He will lead all revenue operations across sponsorships and partnerships.

IDOL has appointed Evan Whikehart as General Manager for North America, covering both the US and Latin America and set to launch D2C services in Q3 2026. Whikehart previously built Secretly Distribution's Label & Shared Services division, directing campaigns for Hayley Williams, Sufjan Stevens and The War On Drugs.

Secretly Distribution has hired Hannah Angst as Director of Label and Shared Services, joining after six years at The Orchard, and promoted Jacqui Resur, a 20-year company veteran, to VP of Client Relations.

Barry Weiss's RECORDS has promoted Andrew Saltman to SVP, Artist Development, where he will run a unified marketing and digital team across RECORDS and RECORDS Nashville and Sara Gil to General Manager, overseeing operations across both offices including deal negotiations and release planning.

Other notable moves…

• Sony Music Publishing has promoted ZaZa Kazadi to Senior Director of A&R, UK & Europe, focused on hip-hop, rap, R&B and Afrobeats in London.

• FKP Scorpio has appointed Chiara Morello as International Promoter in Amsterdam, joining from AEG Presents where she served as Director of Touring across large-scale international campaigns.

• RESULTS GLOBAL promoted Aden Henke to Account Manager, Cami Cradock to Marketing Operations Specialist and Samantha Parrish to Digital Marketing Specialist, while adding Katherine Birschbach as Account Director, Cara Fallon as Social Media Manager and Alex Hendl as Marketing and Communications Coordinator.

• HEY NOW Records has named its marketing team with Melissa McGreevy as Sr. Director of Digital Marketing, Samantha Kane as Director of Marketing and Aidan Brown as Digital Marketing Coordinator.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Director of Business Operations at HYBE America in Atlanta, GA

• Director, Strategic Digital Marketing at Blue Raincoat Music in Los Angeles, CA

• L&D Manager at Believe in New York, NY

• Merchandise & Content Marketing Manager (Insomniac) at Live Nation in Calabasas, CA

• Personal Assistant for High Level Musician at ACLMTE in Nashville, TN

↗ Find these and 340+ open roles at ROSTR Jobs