Vol 14 - Fat Newsy & Fresh

Happy Friday,

TikTok is back, awards are in season & a case of "brazen thievery.”

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 Teddy Swims, Central Cee, FKA twigs, Jordan Adetunji, Kane Brown, JoJo, Ty Myers, flipturn, Young Franco, Larkin Poe…

♪ Notable singles from Sexxy Red & Bruno Mars, Tate McRae, Djo, Travis Scott, J Balvin, Kygo & OneRepublic, Chloe Qisha, Matt Maltese, Sophie Powers, JP Saxe, Rise Against, Danny Ocean, nimino…

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

#1 - Bruno Mars continues his star-studded feature run with Sexyy Red’s ‘Fat Juicy & Wet.’

#3 - Tate McRae’s ‘Sports car’ is co-written by Julia Michaels and Ryan Tedder (also a producer).

#5 - Stranger Things actor Joe Keery returns as his musical alias Djo with ‘Basic Being Basic’ following the viral success of his track ‘End of Beginning.’

#7 - The latest release from J Balvin celebrates his partner Valentina Ferrer and their son ‘Rio.’

#12 - Lord Huron team up with Kristen Stewart for some spoken word on ‘Who Laughs Last.’

#18 - As the singer/designer says, everything Sophie Powers does is ‘Goals.’

#22 - JP Saxe drops ‘Safe’ and transforms his release show into a benefit concert for LA fire relief efforts.

#29 - Hotly tipped & new Amazon Music Artist to Watch for 2025, Good Neighbours release their first single of the year with ‘Ripple.’

#43 - Kesha performs ‘Dear Me’ from the Original Documentary “Diane Warren: Relentless.”

#57 - Alessia Cara bets it all on you in her new release ‘Slow Motion.’

⭐ #74 - Hannah Cohen drops with new music for the first time in 6 years with ‘Earthstar.’

#85 - Another Amazon Music Artist to Watch in 2025, Graham Barham kicks the year off with ‘LIE TO ME’ via Disruptor Records.

#88 - Heidi Montag arrived on NMF with ‘Top’ from Superficial 2: Heidiwood Edition.

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

The Weeknd, MIKE, Lil Durk, EST Gee, Crica Waves, Maribou State & Cymande, L.S. Dunes & Lilly Hiatt all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Yung Lean, Self Esteem, quickly, quickly, The Doobie Brothers, Viagra Boys, Röyksopp, Descendents, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Killswitch Engage, Scowl & Eem Triplin all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

TikTok is back up in the US… for now. APG sued Create Music Group, accusing the company of “brazen thievery” of APG’s music. The complaint alleges “Create convinced artists and songwriters to sign ‘bogus’ contracts, despite already being signed with APG.” AI music generator After being sued by the majors, Suno is now being sued by GEMA for copyright infringement. Napster faced backlash from distributors and record labels who accused the company of late royalty payments. Kendrick Lamar announced SZA as a guest for his upcoming Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show performance. The GRAMMYs announced performers for next weekend’s show, including Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Charli xcx, RAYE and more.

The Oscar nominations were announced this week, and it’s the first time since 1968 that two musicals have been nominated for Best Picture (‘Wicked’ and ‘Emilia Pérez’). Additionally, Timothée Chalamet is nominated for best actor in a leading role for his portrayal of Bob Dylan, Monica Barbaro for best actress in a supporting role for her portrayal of Joan Baez, and Edward Norton for best actor in a supporting role for his portrayal of Pete Seeger in ‘A Complete Unknown.’ Best Original Song nominees include tracks from ‘Sing Sing,’ ‘Emilia Pérez, ‘The Six Triple Eight,’ and ‘Elton John: Never Too Late.’

The Songwriters Hall of Fame announced its class of 2025, which includes George Clinton, Ashley Gorley, the Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston, Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons, and more. Tekashi 6ix9ine sued LA Fitness claiming that the chain is responsible for a brutal attack on him in 2023. After Limp Bizkit sued UMG over claims of unpaid royalties, a judge ruled that the band cannot void their contract. Chris Brown sued Warner Bros. for defamation over docuseries ‘Chris Brown: A History of Violence.’

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Music.AI raised $40M in a Series A funding round

• Soundstripe acquired sync-tech startup The Rights

• Sony Music Publishing opened an office in Thailand

• ESNS and Soundcharts announced EMERGE - an AI platform for sync

• Meta unveiled new video editing app, Edits, to rival CapCut; Threads is developing the ability to add music to posts

• Roc Nation partnered with South Korean fintech company Musicow to launch the 1st Music Equity Service Provider in the US

Group Chat

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

Well done AvA 👏 (better you than us lol)

Will someone pls tell the music biz we don’t decide who trends 😂

TikTok A&Rs next week:

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Quick pivot to RedNote A&R (45%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 2 month sabbatical in Bali (12%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Dump their savings into XRP (18%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Still refuse to care about IG Reels or YT Shorts (20%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Wait did they suggest SUBSTACK as a replacement 🤣 (5%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

Rising Latin artist Gabito Ballesteros signed with Prajin Music Group for management alongside current Latin clients Peso Pluma & Tito Double P.

4-time GRAMMY nominee & singer-songwriter Jon Bellion joined the Make Wake Artists management roster.

Known for blending rock & electronic music, Australian band Pendulum signed with Red Light Management.

London-based Nectar Woode, who recently made an appearance on Elton John’s Rocket Hour radio show, landed with label Since ’93 & RCA Records.

After recently signing with UTA for touring, Chezile, whose song ‘Beanie’ went viral last year, now has landed with Mick Management.

Folk-pop artist Newton Faulkner teamed up with Cooking Vinyl to release his forthcoming album due out Q3.

+150 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Nine Inch Nails, Morgan Wallen, LCD Soundsystem, Billy Idol & Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Nine Inch Nails announced their first tour in 3 years. The Peel It Back Tour will see Trent Reznor and the band visit EU in June and NA in August.

RÜFÜS DU SOL announced they will play an LA benefit show on March 6th at the Hollywood Palladium before kicking off their 2025 tour.

And if you’re unable to attend FireAid, here are the various places you can watch the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum shows.

Anyma is extending his Sphere residency with 4 more dates in late Feb & early March.

Leading live ent co Venu closed on a $300M amphitheater in McKinney, Texas. The 46-acre Sunset Amphitheater will have a 20K capacity and open Spring 2025.

Glastonbury opened its Emerging Talent Competition, which gives new UK and Ireland-based acts of any genre a chance to earn a slot on a main stage at the festival.

Australia’s Splendour in the Grass festival, on the other hand, will not be returning for 2025, following the unprecedented cancellation of its 2024 event.

A Greener Future, an org helping the global live sector become greener, revealed certifications for “the first and most comprehensive standard for sustainability in the live event sector.” See the list int’l festivals that were acknowledged in 2024 here.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Tomorrowland 2025 announced its 600+ lineup including major dance acts like Martin Garrix, Armin van Buuren, David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia & more

• Iowa’s Hinterland music fest announced Tyler, The Creator, Kacey Musgraves & Lana Del Rey as headliners

• SXSW announced its 3rd round of Showcasing Artists including Jack’s Mannequin, Sofía Reyes, Samara Cyn amongst others

• Jelly Roll & Lainey Wilson are set to headline Kentucky’s Railbird Music Festival

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

BMG names Johannes von Schwarzkopf CSO and member of the Exec Board. Duetti, a music investment company focused on indie music rights, hires Sachin Premnath as General Counsel¹. Sony Pub’s newly launched Thailand office will be led by industry veteran Tatchara Longprasert as GM. Kate Vastano joins the Senior Leadership Team at Sound Talent Group. Peachtree Entertainment names Dustin Labbe SVP of Talent Booking for the NE region. 

Micah McNair named Creative Director at Black River Entertainment. Andrew Fortin named President of Neste Live. 19 Entertainment, the Sony Pictures Television (SPT) company, welcomes Joey Arbagey as EVP of Music. Warner Music Hong Kong appoints Robin Ch’i as Managing Director. Collin Citron joins 2b Entertainment in LA. Betsy Newman named EVP of Berklee. BMLG adds Tim Reynolds as VP, Digital Marketing. Ryan Golden becomes GM of San Diego’s Pechanga Arena.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Head of Digital (Artist Specific) at Roc Nation in NY

• Director, Marketing (Pop/Alternative) at Position Music in Burbank

• Head of A&R at Mind of a Genius Records in LA

• Senior Manager, Influencer Partnerships at Wasserman in London

• Product Marketing Manager at DISCO (Remote US)

 ✨ Find these and 200+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR

Too Long / Did Read

Interesting, often long, stuff to watch, read, or listen to

💻 MIDiA x Splice Sounds of 2025

📊 Which Music Was Underappreciated in It’s Time? A Statistical Analysis - Stat Significant