Vol 27 - "This is the best newsletter of my life"

Happy Friday,

💃 Lorde dances, UMG Nashville rebrands, deadmau5 bids farewell & Stagecoach goes yeehaw 🤠

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 d4vd, SAULT, HAIM, Coco Jones, DESTIN CONRAD, BabyChiefDoit, Jensen McRae, Jenna Raine, BRONCHO, Tucker Wetmore, WesGhost, Tennis, Viagra Boy, John Morgan…

♪ Notable singles from Lorde, Benson Boone, Young Thug & Future, Kali Uchis, Shaboozey & Jelly Roll, Gigi Perez, Megan Thee Stalllion, HAIM, Samia, PinkPantheress, ian, Myles Smith, Linkin Park…

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

#1 - Lorde is back - dancing in NYC to the release of her track ‘What Was That’ co-produced by Daniel Nigro & Jim-E Stack.

#3 - d4vd drops ‘Is This Really Love,’ co-written and co-produced by Ryan Tedder.

#6 - What could be better than a ‘complete edition’ album release from Shaboozey featuring a collab with Jelly Roll, ‘Amen?’

#14 - PinkPantheress is in full release cycle as another single lands with ‘Stateside’ co-produced by The Dare.

#15 - Sammy Virji drops ‘Nostalgia,’ with Isley Cross on vocals following his teasing of the track during his Coachella sets.

#23 - Linkin Park drop new anthem and the most Linkin Park-named song ever ‘Unshatter.’

#24 - In typical fashion, SAULT unveils another surprise album 10 as T.H. finds its way to NMF. In other news for the band, frequent collaborator Little Simz is suing member Inflo for $2.2M from a personal loan.

⭐ #25 - Cool kids umru & underscores drop ‘Poplife' - which they debuted with Zane Lowe yesterday morning.

#26 - Presenting the newest addition to your cardio playlist, ‘Tell Me Where U Go’ from Clean Bandit, Tiësto and Leony.

#28 - Ayra Starr and Wizkid release ‘Gimme Dat,’ co-written with Wyclef Jean and many more.

#32 - Zara Larsson drops ‘Pretty Ugly,’ produced by Margo XS and MNEK.

#53 - Diplo drops ‘Bullet’ featuring VAVO and Priscilla Block ahead of his appearance at Stagecoach this weekend.

#54 - Julia Michaels lends her distinctive voice and songwriting prowess to ‘Air’ with Griffin and Excision.

#62 - Canadian hyperpop legend 8485 teams up with Danny Brown on ‘G.I.R.L.’

#84 - Jessie J is back with her first single in years, ‘No Secrets.’

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

The Schedule

Notable upcoming releases

Blondshell, Esha Tewari, Yung Lean, Model/Actriz, Key Glock, Aly & AJ, HARDY, Briston Maroney, Fuerza Regida, Lucius, Pet Symmetry, KiNG MALA, Destroyyyyer, Samantha Crain, Låpsley, Xavier Omär, Car Seat Headrest & Eric Church all have new projects expected to come out next week.

HAIM, The Swell Season, Hayes Carll, Slaughter to Prevail, Yaya Bey, Jade Bird, ENHYPEN & Sofi Tukker all announced new albums this week.

ICYMI

Industry news that mattered this week

UMG Nashville rebranded to Music Corporation of America (MCA). Kendrick Lamar was named a brand ambassador for Chanel. Earlier this week, Fyre Music Streaming Ventures LLC was formed after a media entrepreneur licensed some rights to the “postponed” festival’s name and trademarks. Now, Fyre Fest founder Billy McFarland announced he’s putting the full brand up for sale. Joe Seiders, drummer for the New Pornographers, was arrested for possession of child pornography and subsequently kicked out of the band. Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records want to dismiss the $100K+ lawsuit filed by Lydia Harris, ex-wife of the label’s co-founder Michael Harris. Snoop also confirmed a new creative partnership between his Death Row Pictures and NBCUniversal. After firing him last week, The Who re-hired Zak Starkey, saying that communication issues had been dealt with.

Lil Durk is hoping his murder-for-hire charges over a 2022 shooting will be dismissed because the lyrics that allegedly referenced the shooting were written 6 months before it even took place. Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour sued a website for allegedly selling counterfeit merchandise. Eminem’s publisher dropped its lawsuit over ads from a Detroit car dealership using the rapper’s music. Classic Rom-Com 10 Things I Hate About You is being adapted into a musical with Carly Rae Jepsen set to co-write the score. This year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees will be revealed live on ‘American Idol’ this Sunday April 27.

Deadmau5 has played his last Coachella…

WMG sued cookie chain Crumbl for alleged repeated copyright infringement via TikTok and Instagram. Diddy lost his bid to delay his May trial. Usher was accused of being rude to a French hotel staff member for not opening a door for him. The Tennessee Board of Parole recommended a pardon for Jelly Roll who previously spent time in prison for drug dealing and aggravated robbery so that he can travel internationally to perform. Jack Black joined the cast of Weezer’s upcoming movie. Gloria Estefan and her daughter Emily will write the lyrics and music for upcoming musical BASURA, which follows the journey of Paraguay’s Recycled Orchestra.

small print

Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Spotify broadens AI Playlist beta

• YouTube debuts ‘Ask Music’ feature

• Meta introduces ‘Edits’, a competitor to TikTok's ‘CapCut’, with plans to expand music options, including 'royalty-free' tracks

• Live Nation and Apple Music announced new expansions in Japan

• TikToker Kelley Heyer filed a lawsuit against Roblox over ‘Apple Dance’ emote

• Etsy sold ‘Reverb’, its music instrument marketplace

• Audius launched ‘Agency’ to connect musicians with developers

• Warner Music teams up with Anjula Acharia to launch joint venture label 5 Junction

• PopIndia, a subsidiary of Reservoir, is preparing to acquire publishing and recording catalogs while also signing emerging local talent

Group Chat

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

Little known fact…

Q anon have entered the chat

Help pollstar choose new award categories

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Best Agent Poach (Majors Only) (44%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Best Pollstar Live Panel Confrontation (13%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Best Tattoos (Company Award) (9%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Best Paradigm Breakaway Boutique Agency (25%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Road Warrior of the Year (9%)

Fresh Ink

Interesting artist signings

Diplo’s off and running with Warner Chappell Music after announcing a new global admin deal for publishing. His catalog includes hits like ‘Where Are U Now’ & ‘Paper Planes.’

Yellowcard is making a comeback with a new album release for the first time since 2016. The band announced they signed with rock label Better Noise Music & the untitled LP will be produced by Travis Barker.

OVO’s Popcaan joined Ira Goldenring, Marty Diamond & Shay Royale’s roster at Wasserman Music for touring.

Jagwar Twin signed with Jade Ehlers of Cre8te for management. The American artist is set to play a future medieval DJ Set at the LA Renaissance Pleasure Faire this weekend.

LA-based singer-songwriter Roe Kapara has teamed up with Tim Leftwich & Caleb Brown of 1717 Management.

Mother Soki, who is having a TikTok moment for some soundclips going viral, signed with Rae Wayland & Don Robertson of Avalanche Artists for management.

Recently buzzing folk trio Folk Bitch Trio signed with Jagjaguwar for records. The band is slated to play select shows across the EU & NA this spring & summer.

+115 signings on ROSTR this week

The Live World

Tour, festival and other live news

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Foster The People, Hans Zimmer, Parcels, Santa Fe Klan, Felly

Indio, California will have one last hurrah this weekend with Stagecoach 2025 kicking off today. The country music festival will be headlined by Zach Bryan, Jelly Roll & Luke Combs.

And just in case you forgot it’s happening next year, Coachella revealed its dates for 2026 with the first weekend taking place April 10-12 and the second April 17-19.

Kendrick Lamar & SZA started their Grand National Tour in Minneapolis last Saturday featuring a massive 52-song setlist.

Lady Gaga added both LA and SF dates to her Mayhem Ball tour, which kicks off this Saturday in Mexico City.

Meanwhile, Katy Perry’s upcoming concerts in Guadalajara, Mexico have been cancelled because the construction of the new Arena Guadalajara will not be completed in time. The shows were set for May 1st and 2nd.

As part of REVERB’s Music Decarbonization Project, they released their findings on The Climate Impact of Concert Travel, which surveyed 35K+ concert-goers in over 170 cities in North America to better understand the climate impact and opportunities around fan travel.

Lil Wayne is set to headline Madison Square Garden for the first time on June 6th in celebration of his newest album Tha Carter VI.

The Latin Recording Academy announced the 26th annual Latin GRAMMY Awards will be held in Las Vegas this November.

The 16th edition of the annual dance industry conference IMS Ibiza took place this week.

Australia’s renowned Bluefest confirmed it will return in 2026 following one of its strongest years post-COVID. The festival brought in >109K attendees over 5 days last week.

Passion Pit announced an 8-night residency in New York starting April 29th.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• III Points unveiled the first acts for the Miami festival including DARKSIDE, Barry Can’t Swim, Peggy Gou, Mk.gee, Denzel Curry & more

• Riot Fest announced the lineup for its 20th anniversary with Green Day, blink-182, Weezer & Jack White

• Tyler Childers & Chris Stapleton will headline the first inaugural Healing Appalachia Festival, the largest recovery-based festival, in Kentucky this September

• Parker McCollum & Cody Jinks will headline the new Tanglefoot Music Festival taking place this September in Texas

On The Move

New hires, exec moves and other people news

After nearly two decades at UMG Nash, where she served as SVP of Digital Business & Creative Development, industry veteran Dawn Gates has departed to launch her own venture—Seven Note Enterprises, a consulting and management firm. Naim McNair has been named SVP of A&R for Columbia Records. Virgin Music Group has promoted Hannah Thompson-Waitt to Sr. VP of Commercial Strategy. Liv Lyons joins London-based music law firm Russells Solicitors as Partner.

Darkroom Records brings on Nina Lee as Head of Publicity and Communications. AEG Presents promotes Trent Allison to Sr. Director of Sales and Special Events for venues in GA and TN. ASCAP has promoted Nicole George-Middleton to the role of Executive VP & Head of Creative Membership. LeAnn Bennett has joined Black River as VP, Label Services. Curb Records has elevated Allyson Gelnett (Massey) to National Director of Promotion & Strategic Initiatives. Live entertainment promoter Messina Touring Group has promoted six of its team members across various departments - see who here.

Dope Jobs

Interesting jobs in music

• Director of Sync at Avex Music Group in West Hollywood

• Sr. Director of Digital Marketing & Fan Acquisition at The Core Entertainment in Nashville

• Director of Marketing & Ops at Hundred Days Records (Remote)

• VP, International Marketing at Firebird in London

• Product Designer at Openstage (Remote)

↗ Find these and 250+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR