Vol 24 - Show me how you'd read me if tomorrow wasn't comin' for sure

Happy Friday,

This week’s newsletter takes you back to God’s Country with features from Sean Kingston, TikTok, The (Internet’s boyfriends) Beatles, Kesha & more.

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 Skrillex, Malcolm Todd, Sydney Rose, 2hollis, Elton John & Brandi Carlile, SYML, Rachel Chinouriri, Joe Kay, Djo, Scowl, Grace VanderWaal, Lou Phelps, Eladio Carrion, Black Country, New Road…

♪ Notable singles from Miley Cyrus, Ed Sheeran, Laufey, Sleep Token, Sexyy Red, Jessie Murph, GELO, PinkPantheress, Wet Leg, HAIM, Old Dominion, Momma, BossMan Dlow, ENHYPEN, The Beaches, Ciara…

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

#1 - Miley Cyrus releases 80’s inspired track ‘End of the World’ ahead of her upcoming album, Something Beautiful, dropping May 30th.

#3 - The Marías with a (surprisingly high?) placement for their track ‘Back To Me,’ which was one of two singles released today.

#8 - Skrillex lands with ‘VOLTAGE’ after dropping a surprise new 34-track album, his last with Atlantic.

#13 - Rod Wave delivers ‘Sinners’ for Michael B. Jordan’s new movie coming out later this month.

#15 - Djo is back with new album The Crux, including NMF track ‘Potion.’

#16 - Elton John and Brandi Carlile release new collab album Who Believes In Angels? ahead of their upcoming appearance as musical guests on SNL this weekend. ‘Little Richard’s Bible’ is featured in NMF.

#21 - PinkPantheress debuts first solo track of the year with ‘Tonight.’

#23 - Wet Leg are officially back with ‘catch these fists,’ their first music since 2022.

#25 - With a new track produced by Shane McAnally, Old Dominion ask if the person on your mind is ‘Me Most Nights.’

#34 - Lainey Wilson drops catchy new track ‘Bell Bottoms Up.’

#47 - The Beaches release anthem ‘Last Girls At The Party’ after announcing upcoming album No Hard Feelings.

⭐ #56 - Bruce Springsteen, who is probably just happy to be here, shares ‘Rain in the River,’ the first of many tracks off his newest project.

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Bon Iver, Mamalarky, Nell Smith, OK GO, The Mars Volta, Röyksopp, Spin Doctors, Ken Carson, Bickle, Jon Pardi, Trousdale, anees & THE DRIVER ERA all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Wet Leg, Obongjayar, Calum Scott, The Hives, BABYMETAL, Aesop Rock, Tim Minchin, S.G. Goodman, Adrian Quesada all announced new albums this week. News also broke this week that The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, is set to release a project called Tracks II: The Lost Albums.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

TikTok is running out of time in the US… here's what you should know.

Tony Bennett's daughters brought a new lawsuit against their brother, saying he abused his power over the late singer's estate. The upcoming Beatles movies from Sam Mendes releasing in 2028 have found their stars: Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr. Twisted Sister sold the band's remaining copyrights to Warner, including their names, image, likeness and trademarks. A court ruled that the discovery process can proceed in Drake's lawsuit against UMG over 'Not Like Us,' meaning that Drake can request access to Kendrick Lamar's contracts with the label.

TAMLA Records (originally founded by Berry Gordy in 1959) was relaunched under Capitol. Sony Music confirmed that Monument Records will fold eight years after being revived. Merlin sued Triller, claiming the company owed $2.5M from a 2020 licensing deal. The Korean Music Copyright Association introduced a new rule requiring creators to guarantee no AI use in song creation.

Somebody call 911… Sean Kingston and his mom might go to prison.

Latin Music in the US generated $1.4B in 2024. Interscope moved into 1st place in market share rankings of U.S. record labels with help from Kendrick, Lady Gaga and more. Kendrick Lamar's movie with the creators of South Park was delayed until 2026. After 4+ years, Chance the Rapper's legal battle with his former manager is heading to trial.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Peloton partnered with independent dance music label Armada Music

• Sony Music is among the first partners for Patreon's new podcast network

• BMG revenues rise 6.4% following €500M in signings and acquisitions

• Pophouse Entertainment raised over €1B for its debut fundraising

• Chinese company Kunlun Tech launched its latest AI music models

• South Korea’s largest music copyright collective has banned the registration of AI-generated songs

• SM Entertainment boosts its investment in superfans startup DearU

• Alan Chikin Chow launched a casting call for co-ed pop group he’s forming with HYBE America

Group Chat

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

Worst person to accidentally get added to a group chat

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Research A&R (19%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Viral marketing (19%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Sr Executive VP of Creative Digital Innovation (37%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Silver Lake Stats (25%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

The big news this week came out of Nashville where Billie Eilish & FINNEAS landed with Jason Owen of Sandbox Entertainment for management. Rumors had been swirling since they left Wasserman for WME last year on the touring side.

BABYMETAL signed with Capitol Records to become the first Japanese band to land a deal with the frontline label. The rock band will release their new album Metal Forth this coming June and are celebrating their 15th year anniversary as a group with a world tour.

Duncan Laurence, known for his hit ‘Arcade’ (1.3B streams and counting), signed with Sebastien LeTellier & Brad Cohen of Raw Material for management.

Swedish band The Hives signed with Play It Again Sam, the flagship label of PIAS. They’ll be releasing their new album The Hives Forever Forever The Hives in August and announced a forthcoming world tour.

Country artist Matt Schuster joined Dillon Goldberg’s FNGRPRNT management roster. 

Melbourne-headquartered UNIFIED Music Group added Matt Walters as a new manager to the team. Joining him on the move are his artists Emma Donovan and The Stamps.

Former outer/most agent Brendan Biesen joined the team at MINT Talent Group. He brings over clients Jaguar Sun, Manwolves, Pile, Barrie, The Slaps & more.

+175 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Mumford & Sons, Sex Pistols, Dua Lipa, Kesha, Wiz Khalifa, St. Vincent, late night drive home

Sex Pistols announced their first NA tour in two decades with Frank Carter joining as lead vocalist.

DJ and producer Mustard announced he will be opening for Kendrick Lamar & SZA's Grand National Tour, which kicks off April 19th.

Modest Mouse announced they'll "all float on, alright" (sorry) on their cruise festival next February. The Modest Mouse Presents Ice Cream Floats festival will feature performances from the band themselves, Kurt Vile, Mannequin Pussy & Built to Spill to name a few. The 4-day excursion will include Q&As with the band, movie screenings, live DJ sets & more.

Yesterday, Kesha & Scissor Sisters announced a co-headlining tour, which we can only imagine appeals to a very niche Venn diagram of music fans.

Alessia Cara postponed the US leg of her tour, which was scheduled to start tomorrow. She cited "so many factors" which were "completely out of [her] control."

Additionally, ZAYN cancelled his show in Mexico after suffering from food poisoning.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

Connecticut's Soundside Music Festival will feature headlining performances from Hozier & The Killers along with sets from Vampire Weekend, Weezer & more

Zenyara Desert Nights, which is an invite-only late-night festival series that intentionally runs the same weekends as Coachella, announced its lineup with Bob Moses, Vintage Culture, Mau P & more

All Things Go Festival announced it will expand to a 3-day event for its 11th edition this September

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

Tim Pithouse appointed GM at Def Jam Recordings. Encore Recordings named Jacob Fain as its Head of A&R, while Ned Monahan has been promoted to President. Legends and ASM Global have promoted James Harrison to VP of Programming, UK and Europe. Exceleration Music has appointed Matt Harmon as Head of Rights Development. Veteran touring agent Joanna Scott has joined entertainment consulting company Venue Coalition as VP of National Booking. MG Live promoted Sam Rogers to Director of Touring. Lee Zeidman, the president of Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, Peacock Theater and L.A. Live, has announced his retirement. UK-based Music Glue has opened a new Vancouver office to help North American artists sell direct-to-fan in Europe, led by Chief Product Manager Tom Maguire. Outback Presents added new Directors to its Board, see the full list here.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Music - Tour Marketing Executive at CAA in Los Angeles

• Music Endorsement Executive at Range Media Partners in Santa Monica

• Head of Partnerships Iberia at Xceed in Spain

• Digital Content and Marketing Manager at True Grit Management in Nashville

• Account Manager at Play MPE in Vancouver

↗ Find these and 230+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR