Vol 17 - I know there's somebody who reads me, somebody who really reads me

Happy Friday,

Say Drake 😁… love lands on NMF, artists match Chappell’s donation & Ed Sheeran, you can’t busk here!

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 The Lumineers, JISOO, The Wombats, Drake & PARTYNEXTDOOR, THEY., The War And Treaty, Coi Leray, Mereba, Mallrat, Alessia Cara, David Kushner, Winona Fighter, Truman Sinclair…

♪ Notable singles from Selena Gomez & benny blanco, Jack Harlow, Bon Iver, Zach Bryan, Addison Rae, Lucy Dacus, BLOND:ISH, Sam Smith, Gucci Mane, Fuerza Regida, Dierks Bentley…

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

#1 - Drake prays that ‘SOMEBODY LOVES ME’ off his and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s new album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U.

#2 - A brand new banger co-written by Amy Allen and Jack Antonoff ahead of the weekend - ‘Busy Woman’ off of Sabrina Carpenter’s Deluxe album release. Hard to lost when all 3 of them are GRAMMY winners.

#3 - Fiancés Selena Gomez and benny blanco release ‘Scared of Loving You,’ co-written with FINNEAS.

#5 - JISOO drops her debut EP outside of BLACKPINK, including track ‘earthquake.’

#7 - Bon Iver returns with an album announcement and lead single ‘Everything Is Peaceful Love’ alongside frequent collaborator Jim-E Stack.

#8 - A Super Bowl win for the Birds means Zach Bryan fulfills his promise of releasing ‘Dear Miss’ early — any guesses on who it’s about?

#14 - Canadian DJ and Producer BLOND:ISH drops a new banger, ‘Self Love.’

#17 - Sam Smith drops their first single of 2025, ‘Love Is A Stillness.’

#21 - ROLE MODEL shares his heartbreak with 4 new tracks on deluxe album Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye), including ’Sally, When Wine The Runs Out,’ written with THE Annika Bennett.

#30 - Daniel Caesar & Rex Orange County team up for a double track release, with ‘There’s a Field (That’s Only Yours)’ landing a spot.

#48 - Kylie Minogue teams up with Alok for ‘i dreamt i just fell in love,’ just in time for V-day.

#59 - Country newcomer and one of Spotify’s artists to watch in 2025 Hudson Westbrook continues to drop following his January EP with ‘Dressed Down.’

#74 - His first single in 2 years, Cautious Clay returns with ‘No Champagne (6am),’ now on Fantasy Records.

#75 - Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke team up once again for their new single ‘Back in the Game’. This marks their second collaboration, following 2016’s ‘Beautiful People,’ which was featured on Pritchard’s album Under the Sun.

#76 - Sister duo Tigirlily Gold released their new single ‘Forever From Here’ because you can’t do Valentine’s Day without a country love song.

⭐ #84 - R&R client jigitz releases ‘tell you straight’ after building up hype on the track the past few weeks online.

#91 - The War And Treaty drop ‘Love Like Whiskey,’ co-written by Miranda Lambert.

#95 - ‘OTW’ drops from rapper and basketball star Flau’jae’s new album Flau & B.

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Tate McRae, Lil Durk, Roddy Ricch, The Murder Capital, Tim Hecker, Sam Fender, Killswitch Engage, SAINt JHN, Dave East, Saya Gray, Mike Posner, Jesse Welles, Morray & IDER all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Bon Iver, benny blanco & Selena Gomez, Beirut, PUP, William Tyler & young friend all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

Kendrick Lamar’s streams jumped by 430% after his Super Bowl Halftime show performance (now the most watched SB performance of all time). Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter and Noah Kahan matched Chappell Roan’s pledge to support artists and each donated $25,000. The US Copyright office initiated an inquiry into PROs with concern about their licensing revenue distribution practices. Thousands of tickets to see Oasis this were cancelled by Ticketmaster amid a bot crackdown. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2025 nominees were announced this week and include Outkast, The Black Crowes, Billy Idol and more.

Ozzy Osbourne was sued for posting images of himself on Instagram. Don Henley and Irving Azoff were sued by a book dealer who says Henley and Azoff previously falsely accused him of selling illegally obtained Henley lyrics. A$AP Rocky declined to testify in his own defense at his firearm assault trial. R. Kelly’s 30-year prison sentence was upheld by the US Court of Appeals.

Netflix canceled the release of a six-part Prince documentary. Live Nation production is developing a comedy movie with Green Day inspired by the band called “New Years Rev.”

Kanye West’s continued abhorrent and antisemitic behavior led to his agent dropping him, his X account being deactivated, his Shopify store being taken down and him being sued by a former employee this week. 

editor’s note: In the wise words of Matthew Koma, F*** YE

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Live Nation partnered with Athletic Brewing Company as the official NA beer partner for over 100 venues

• Live Nation also partnered with Chelsea as their new sleeve sponsor

• Hallwood Media launched a JV with 9th St Records

• UMG launched the Music Industry Mental Health fund with Music Health Alliance

• AI music tech company DAACI and AI-powered music tagging/search solution company Cyanite announced a strategic partnership

• Sony Music Publishing renewed their partnership with Hello Group Publishing

• AP Music Royalties Funds acquired various rights to two of Status Quo's members’ catalog, Mojam’s catalog and Ed Drewett’s catalog

Group Chat

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

Some of our favorite halftime show tweets…

And then there’s this…

Editor’s note: The 2022 World Cup Final reached 1.5 Billion viewers.

This week’s poll…

Chappell's speech was...

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 On fucking point (55%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Some woke lib shit (7%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Everythinggggg (13%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ BUT-BUT LUCIAN'S MEMO!! (9%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I agree with Jeff Rabhan (16%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

Singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd landed with The Core Entertainment for management joining a roster that includes Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith & others.

‘I Took A Pill In Ibiza’’s Mike Posner signed with Raw Material for management as he prepares for his new album out next week.

Hyperpop/scene-core artist Rebzyyx signed with 3 Hats Music Publishing.

Alexandra Kay joined the BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville label roster. Last year, the singer hit the road opening for Morgan Wallen & Jelly Roll.

Range Music Publishing added 4 songwriters to their division with Darius Coleman, Alex Goose, James Maddocks & Simon Oscroft. 

Vincent Lima, who starts his world tour next week, signed with Island Records.

+180 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Halsey, Alabama Shakes (reunion tour!), Sturgill Simpson, Alessia Cara

Ticketmaster started canceling a number of Oasis reunion tickets it claimed to be purchased by bots, causing several ticket holders to lose their purchased tickets.

Vegas’ Sphere will host its first pop act, the Backstreet Boys, for a 9-date residency kicking off July 11th.

Zach Bryan will play the inaugural concert at Michigan Stadium, the largest stadium constructed in the US. The ~110K capacity venue will also host John Mayer, Ryan Bingham & others alongside Bryan in September.

Independent rapper Little Simz has been tapped to curate the lineup for the 30th anniversary of London’s Meltdown Festival. The festival will run from June 12-22 and feature a mix of free outdoor shows, ticketed concerts & additional workshops.

SNL 50: The Homecoming Concert is tonight and will feature performances from Cher, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Snoop Dogg & more.

Death Cab for Cutie will play four shows in Seattle, Chicago & Brooklyn to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their album “Plans.”

Paul McCartney played a surprise show at Bowery Ballroom in NY on Feb 11th where physical tickets were only available at the box office.

Police in India have had enough with the ‘Shape of You,’ stopping Ed Sheeran’s impromptu busking show in Bengaluru, claiming he lacked permission.

For every stop on Jack White’s No Name tour, a limited number of student tickets will be available for only $20 at each venue’s box office.

Winter Music Conference 2025 will be held in Miami this March and will feature input from artists like Aluna, LP Giobbi, Hayla & Sydney Blu.

Yet another Australian music festival, Souled Out, postponed until 2026, citing “ongoing challenges in the current market.”

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• EDC Las Vegas announced its 250+ act lineup including Dom Dolla, Kaskade, Slander, RL Grime, Martin Garrix, DJ Snake & more

• Milwaukee’s Summerfest announced a stacked lineup featuring headliners Megan Thee Stallion, Hozier, The Lumineers, Benson Boone & more

• Lana Del Rey, Nelly & Sammy Hagar will headline Stagecoach’s Palomino Stage this April

• Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival returns to San Diego with headliners Anderson. Paak, Khruangbin, Peggy Gou, Portugal. The Man & others

• The 9th annual benefit concert Love Rocks NYC will be led by artists Alicia Keys, Cher & Beck

• Maryland’s Ocean Calling fest will be headlined by Noah Kahan, Fall Out Boy & Green Day and also feature sets from Vampire Weekend, Weezer & more

• Tyler Childers & Sturgill Simpson will headline Oregon’s FairWell Festival in July

• Luck Reunion, Willie Nelson’s annual festival held at his ranch in Spicewood, Texas, will feature performances from Charley Crockett, Steve Earle, Taj Mahal & more

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

WMG names Alfonso Perez-Soto EVP, Corporate Development, focusing on Recorded Music and Michael LoBiondo SVP Corporate Development, focusing on Publishing. Laura Gonzalez has been appointed VP of Marketing for Disney Music Group. Tomás Talarico has been named MD of Warner Music Southern Cone, overseeing the record company’s business in Argentina and Chile while Guillermo Castellani steps down from the position. The International Bluegrass Music Association names Rebecca Bauer Marketing Director & Haley Grimm Admin Manager while promoting Elizabeth Dewey to Communications Director. 

Katherine Godwin joins Tape Room Music as Manager, A&R. Tim Wipperman has joined Humanable, a platform that helps protect creators’ music from GenAI, as the company’s first CEO. WMG has completed its full acquisition of Africori, the independent African distributor, with Yoel Kenan remaining as CEO, reporting to Temi Adeniji, MD of Warner Music Africa. Branden Bosler appointed VP of Artist Services and Biz Dev while Carine Abraham becomes Mtheory’s first day-to-day manager. Peermusic’s Frank Handy has been elected as AIMP’s National Chair. 

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Managing Editor (for News) at The ROSTR Group in Los Angeles

• Live Events Director at Top Drawer Merch in Los Angeles

• Director, Partnership Marketing - Music at Roc Nation in New York

• VP, Publishing (US & Latin) at BMG in Miami

• Marketing Executive at London College of Contemporary Music in London

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