Vol 26 - And I think to myself, what a wonderful newsletter 🚀 🦋

Happy Friday,

We’re also burnt out from the parties, but so is FYRE 2. This week our E.T. (Katy) kisses the ground, A24 rolling into music & Iser & Yim make moves.

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 Isabel LaRosa, Davido, Arcy Drive, Alex Isley, Michael Marcagi, Beirut, quickly, quickly, Julien Baker & TORRES, Sex Mask, Keri Hilson, EMJAY, DJ Gigola, Westside Gunn, Sawyer Hill & Victor Thompson…

♪ Notable singles from Lana Del Rey, JID, Addison Rae, Yeat, Sam Barber, Key Glock, Dom Dolla & Kid Cudi, Sleepy Hallow, Artemas, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, DESTIN CONRAD, Mercer Henderson & Wisp…

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

#1 - No NMF cover for Morgan Wallen, who gives us another single from his upcoming album with ‘I Ain’t Comin’ Back’ with Post Malone.

#3 - Leon Thomas joins forces with Halle on new single ‘RATHER BE ALONE.’

#12 - Davido and Victoria Monét collab on ‘Off Me’ off his new album 5ive. The track is co-written with Michaël Brun and more.

#18 - Alex Isley lands with ‘Mic On,’ produced by KAYTRANADA off her new project WHEN.

#37 - Hailee Steinfeld performs ‘Dangerous’ from the new Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan film Sinners.

#49 - First female OVO signee, Naomi Sharon, releases her new single ‘The Only Love We Know,’ produced by Jordan Ullman of labelmate Majid Jordan.

#58 - Jon Bellion and Pharrell Williams drop ‘HOROSCOPE.’

⭐ #79 - Jazz house powerhouse dublon taps TABLE & Deza for new track ‘Salve’ off new album Nectar.

#83 - Ashley Cooke drops ‘the f word,’ the kind that can’t be taken back.

#91 - Keri Hilson is back with her first album in 15 years, We Need To Talk: Love, featuring NMF track ‘Say That.’

#92 - Maren Morris wants some personal space in ‘Bed No Breakfast’ off of her upcoming album Dreamsicle.

#93 - James Bay and Sheryl Crow team up for ‘You and Me Time.’

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Viagra Boys, Tennis, Deerhoof, Beach Bunny, Self Esteem, Samia, d4vd, Roy Woods, Wishy, James Arthur, DESTIN CONRAD, Ghost, Jensen McRae, Coco Jones, Lyn Lapid, Goose, Gigi Perez, Jenna Raine & Tucker Wetmore all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Young Thug, Addison Rae, Dierks Bentley, Benson Boone, Royale Lynn, Nas, Bush & James McMurtry all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

In a trip shorter than the video for Taylor Swift’s ‘All Too Well (10 Minute Version),’ Katy Perry made it to space on Tuesday and took the opportunity to sing Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World.’ She also tried to announce the setlist for her upcoming Lifetimes tour with a butterfly-shaped piece of paper, but the in-rocket video tech wasn’t working. After landing back on earth and kissing the ground, she said she felt “very connected to life… and love.”

Spotify experienced an outage that affected thousands of users globally on Wednesday, with the streamer denying a security hack. UMG warned Drake to “be careful what you wish for” after the rapper updated his lawsuit to include the label’s promotion of Kendrick’s Super Bowl performance. The Who parted ways with their drummer (Ringo Starr’s son) who has played with the band since 1996 after an argument over his playing at a show in March. The Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing (TICKET) Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives this week, one step closer to going into effect.

Interscope Geffen A&M resurrected the Lost Highway label imprint in Nashville. Deezer recently revealed that 18% of tracks being uploaded to the platform are fully created by AI. Former OneRepublic bassist Tim Myers announced his run for a California House of Representatives seat. Sabrina Carpenter released a limited edition vinyl for ‘Espresso’ filled with actual coffee. Time’s The 100 Most Influential People of 2025 list was released this week and includes Ed Sheeran, Hozier, ROSÉ, Snoop Dogg and more.

Lil Nas X was hospitalized after losing control of the right side of his face. Sean Kingston was taken back to jail after failing to pay the $100K bond after his fraud conviction. Becky G and her mom launched a home collection with Walmart. A semi-biographical TLC stage musical ‘CrazySexyCool’ is set to premiere next Summer. The NewJeans legal battle continues. Nick Carter faced his 4th sexual assault lawsuit. Diddy’s lawyers requested a 2 month delay of his trial date, which is currently set for May.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Indie film powerhouse A24 ventures into the music scene

• Ultra International Music Publishing has rebranded as Payday Publishing

• Vobile, a global provider of digital content protection and transaction services, has acquired content identification technology company Pex

• Pythagoras Music Fund acquired the catalog of renowned rock producer Kevin Shirley

• Brazilian authorities crack down on JustAnotherPanel for alleged fake streaming activity

• YouTube Music could be separated from YouTube Premium in South Korea

• Luminate formed a partnership with South Korea’s KreatorsNetwork, an artist services company focused on bringing K-pop labels to a global audience

• Vobble launched a Kickstarter campaign for its children's audio player

Group Chat

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

Coachella Mojave tent headliner or Spotify global editorial lead?

Some totally non-AI related fun we had this week. Should we do more of these?

What's on Bernie's "Fighting Oligarchy" rider?

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Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

American indie-pop band Foster The People landed with new management this past week signing with Tyler Goldberg & John Scholz of JET Management. The duo was on official hiatus from 2021-2024 until they dropped their latest album Paradise State of Mind over the summer.

Nashville singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun signed with Janet Weir (Maren Morris, Ryan Hurd) of Red Light Management. Oladokun is hitting the road this summer with appearances alongside Gary Clark Jr. and Shakey Graves.

'Sweet Disposition''s The Temper Trap could be back for a tour soon after joining Sara Bollwinkel & Fred Zahedinia’s at Wasserman Music for touring (NA/SA). The Aussie band has been busy teasing new music & making guest appearances with John Summit recently at shows.

Singer-songwriter Peech. locked in a record deal with TAMLA Records & Capitol Christian Music Group (Capitol CMG). He just released his debut single with them 'Don't Miss Your Moment' today.

London-based management firm FRAME Artists, whose roster includes Coachella favorite Chase & Status, added electronic artists SHY FX & Bless You to their roster this week.

+145 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Ice Cube, Stevie Nicks, ENHYPHEN, Saba, 2hollis, Matt Maltese

Coachella Weekend 1 wrapped up last Sunday. Gaga brought an opera to the desert, Charli brought out Troye, Lorde & Billie, Boone flipped with Brian May. Country was alive and well with Shaboozey and Post Malone. Latin artists made a huge splash with Junior H bringing out Peso Pluma and Tito Double P, Becky G showing out twice as a surprise guest & duo CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso making their desert debut. Weezer & Green Day brought nostalgia to the forefront, as did Zedd with an extended version of ‘Clarity’ to round out Sunday night.

Everyone point and laugh. Two months out from its supposed start date, FYRE Festival 2 has been postponed. While no new date for the festival has been announced, tickets were surprisingly refunded to customers (you deserve to lose your money for this).

The Weeknd shared on his Instagram that he is hosting a "ferris wheel takeover" for Coachella's second weekend in promotion of his upcoming film Hurry Up Tomorrow.

Linkin Park will headline the UEFA Champions League final show at Munich Football Arena this May.

With permission from the NYPD, Forest Hills Stadium's 2025 concert season will go on following disputes with the surrounding neighborhood regarding noise issues and street shutdowns.

HAIM announced 2 surprise hometown shows in Los Angeles next week.

Carrie Underwood wrapped her 3+ year residency at Resorts World Las Vegas this week. With 72 shows, Underwood has the longest-running Las Vegas residency of any solo female country music artist.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• All Things Go Festival announced its lineup with headliners including Noah Kahan, Doechii (her first festival headline show), Lucy Dacus, Clairo, Kesha & The Marías

• Janelle Monáe, RAYE & The Roots will headline Newport Jazz Festival this August

• Cardi B & FKA Twigs were announced as headliners for LadyLand, an annual queer-focused music festival hosted in Brooklyn

• The first-ever Outloud Music Festival will feature headliners Kim Petras & Trixie Mattel in Boston this June

• John Mayer & Kings of Leon will headline Pilgrimage Festival in Tennessee this September

• Def Leppard & Mötley Crüe announced a new destination festival in Mexico called Rock The Tides this November

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

Formerly of CAA & WME, Zach Iser & Caroline Yim were named partners & agents at UTA. Chris Koon was appointed EVP of Finance for Big Machine Label Group. Downtown Music has promoted Tom Allen to CTO and appointed Richard Leach as President of Curve and Downtown Royalties & Financial Services. Warner Music Nash promotes Katherine Firsching to Director and Blair Poirier to Manager, Commercial Partnerships. Island Records promotes Matt Palazzolo to SVP, Head of Analytics. WMG taps Armin Zerza as EVP/CFO. Beatchain, the AI-driven A&R & artist services company, appointed Holly Hutchison, Umesh Luthria and Nick Hamman as regional brand ambassadors for North America, Asia and Africa.

EMPIRE Publishing hires GRAMMY-winning producer !llmind as Sr. VP of A&R. Kevin Foo was promoted to Managing Director, Southeast Asia at Sony Music. UMG’s Interscope Geffen A&M is relaunching Nashville-based Lost Highway Records, with Robert Knotts and Jake Gear set to lead the label. Defected has appointed Steven Braines as its new Head of Events. Tim Jorgensen has joined Opry Entertainment Group’s Austin team as VP of Ops. 5B Artist Management announces multiple promotions and new hires, alongside the launch of Pink Motel, its new creative and marketing agency - see the full list here.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Product Designer at Openstage (Remote)

• VP, International Marketing at Firebird in London

• Freelance News Writers Wanted at The ROSTR Group (Remote)

• Sr. Day-to-Day Manager at Right Click Management in Los Angeles

• Managing Director at ONErpm in Nashville

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