Vol 52 - High maintenance, I got the right news for you

Happy Friday,

Benson Boone to the moon 🚀, sombr vs geriatrics 👵, unlicensed Lizzo 🎵 & Bad Bunny’s here to stay 🏈.

Have thoughts on this week’s news? Just hit reply.

🎶 New albums and EPs from Daniel Caesar, Leon Thomas, Demi Lovato, Miguel, Mac Miller (anniversary), Lily Allen, Alice Phoebe Lou, The Chainsmokers, INJI, Artemas, Grupo Frontera, Hether, Sadie Jean…

♪ Notable singles from Megan Moroney, Skrillex & ISOxo, EJAE, Megan Thee Stallion, Tyla, Mumford & Sons & Hozier, Polo G, Foo Fighters, Lewis Capaldi, Sampha, ian, The Neighbourhood, Hannah Jadagu, Samara Cyn…

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

#1 - Prolific R&B singer-songwriter & producer Leon Thomas drops new EP PHOLKS with ‘My Muse’ taking the first slot.

#4 - Megan Moroney makes it official with ‘Beautiful Things,’ the track she’s been teasing across her sold-out tour.

#6 - Megan Thee Stallion drops ‘LOVER GIRL’ ahead of upcoming album Megan: Act III.

#8 - South African star Tyla releases ‘CHANEL,’ with the accompanying music video featuring her in various archival Chanel pieces.

#10 - Mumford & Sons team up with Hozier and producer Aaron Dessner on ‘Rubber Band Man.’

#11 - Dubstep & trap wizards Skrillex & ISOxo ‘Fuze’ together on the brostep track that kicked off their b2b at ISO’s inaugural San Diego festival Niteharts earlier this month.

#13 - The collab we never knew we needed - Shakira + Ed Sheeran and Beéle on ‘Hips Don’t Lie - Spotify Anniversary Version.’

#17 - After performing his first headline show this week at The Troubadour, Noah Rinker drops his titular track off new EP The Pines.

⭐ #24 - Turkish dance pop singer-songwriter INJI shares her debut album SUPERLAME with ‘TEEN ANGST’ landing on NMF.

#42 - We’re back in The Neighbourhood with ‘Private;’ the alt rock band has reunited for their first album in 5 years via new label Warner.

#64 - New BMG client Lily Allen surprises with West End Girl, her first project in 7 years, with ‘Pussy Palace’ slotting in the back half of the playlist.

#71 - Your favorite fairy Alice Phoebe Lou reveals she is a ‘Mind Reader’ on new album Oblivion.

#77 - Building the hype for their live return at Coachella next year, Major Lazer release ‘BRUK DOWN’ with Parris Goebel, America Foster & SadBoi

#79 - Oslo’s oskar med k follows up his viral hit ‘Make Me Feel’ with more of his signature synths on ‘Spellbound.’

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

Florence + The Machine, The Charlatans, Daniel Avery, Cat Burns, Guided By Voices, Witch Fever, Creeper, Anna von Hausswolff, Claire Rousay all have new projects expected to come out next week.

ROSALÍA, The Neighbourhood, deadmau5, Lily Allen, Madison Beer, Vampire Weekend (live), AJ McLean, Tiga, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (live), Ashley Cooke, Depeche Mode (live), Oneohtrix Point Never, Cody Jinks (anniversary), Panic! At The Disco (anniversary), Chet Faker, Mini Trees, Donato Dozzy & Neel all announced new albums this week.

Garrett Lee passed away earlier this week. Sending love to our friends at jump.global 💙. Veteran music exec Jeff Cheen passed away at 80. Co-founder of Soft Cell, David Ball, passed away at 66.

Bandsintown hit 100 million registered fans. LA public radio outlet KCRW cut 10% of its staff last week, including well-known DJs. TikTok laid off about 15 employees in its US and Latin American music divisions, with more layoffs expected in other markets. Spotify now lets users search for and follow venues with its Concerts Near You feature. Diddy’s lawyers filed an appeal for his conviction and 4 year prison sentence. While many have showed strong support for Bad Bunny’s upcoming Super Bowl halftime performance and the NFL are committed, a petition is calling for George Strait to perform instead.

NIVA and NITO vs. Ticketmaster

The 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame nominees include Taylor Swift, Kenny Logins, LL Cool J, David Byrne and more. Temu’s attorney’s asked a judge to dismiss MF Doom’s estate’s claims against the company. Growing up, YUNGBLUD thought Rod Stewart was his grandfather. Lizzo is being sued for teasing a track with an uncleared sample on social media to poke fun at Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign. Slipknot are suing the alleged cybersquatter who registered domain slipknot.com in 2001. South Korean company KiTbetter is bringing their hybrid physical-digital KiTalbum to the US in 2026.

• Ticket fees in New York have surged by 36% since 2016

• AXS partners with Japan’s Lawson Entertainment

• Warner Music Australia partners with Cadillac

• Milk & Honey launches Record Label

• Laylo drops new report analyzing 200M+ fan moments across tours, festivals & events

• YouTube is rolling out new tools to monitor AI likeness

• rightsHUB launches new tool to optimize metadata collection

• Ticketmaster to implement major operational changes in response to FTC lawsuit

• Ticketing alliance FEAT unveils anti-scalping policy for Europe

• Latin music approaches $500M in mid-2025 revenue, says RIAA

• Warner partners with Merwas on new Middle East Label

• Live Nation announces ticket upsell initiative

• Artist House Music and Studio Hub launches in NY

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🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Florence + The Machine, Foo Fighters, 5 Seconds of Summer, Conan Gray, Brandi Carlile

Benson Boone will give a one-night special performance at Kennedy Space Center’s Rocket Garden in Florida on Nov. 29th. The event will be live-streamed on TikTok.

Our parent company ROSTR’s new showcase series EARLY debuted last Thursday in Los Angeles. Check out the photo gallery from the event here.

Travis Scott put on the biggest recorded rap concerts ever in both India and South Africa, drawing over 125K fans to his b2b nights in Delhi, and playing to >75K fans at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.

The Recording Academy will host its GRAMMY House pop-up experience at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt next October, the first time the event will be held outside the US.

Rolling Loud is returning to Australia after a 7 year hiatus with Gunna confirmed to be performing the two 1-day festivals in Sydney & Melbourne.

Primavera Sound confirms the festival will return to both Argentina & Brazil in 2026, marking the first time in 3 years the brand will be organized in South America.

Kenny Chesney announced his return to Sphere with 5 new dates next June.

Bon Jovi revealed they will be back on the road with 4 stops at Madison Square Garden and a brief UK run next July. Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi will be performing live for the first time following his vocal cord surgery in 2022.

Wu-Tang Clan announced they will return to Australia in 2026 for what will be their final performances in the country.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Founders Perry Avgerinos and Noah Schwartz announced the debut of Wahoo Fest, an initiative blending live music, community, and support for cancer research; the lineup includes St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Josh Meloy, Zinadelphia and more, and will take place next Feb in Jupiter, FL

• Charlie Puth is joining Chris Martin, Anitta & more on the lineup for Brazil’s Global Citizen Festival Amazônia taking place next week, which aims to raise $1B to protect and restore the Amazon rainforest

• Bulgaria’s FEST Team is organizing the debut of Phillgood, a new 3-day festival happening next Summer, with The Cure, Gorillaz & Moby announced as headliners

• Phoenix’s Better Together will be headlined by Dom Dolla, ODESZA, Duke Dumont, MK & Jungle this November

• After cancelling its 2025 edition, Sick New World festival announced its return next year with System of a Down headlining both the Las Vegas and Fort Worth, TX shows

• Tyler Childers & The Lumineers are set to headline Railbird Music Festival in Kentucky next June

• The inaugural Boots On The Bayou Festival unveiled performances from Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton & Parker McCollum amongst others

❌ Cancellations:

• Ethel Cain abruptly ended her Paris performance after 3 songs, later apologizing and alluding to an emotional breakdown mid-performance

• Brandy stopped mid-performance at her Chicago co-headline show with Monica, explaining she was extremely dehydrated and felt faint

• The Cult shared they will be taking a hiatus after wrapping their current NA tour to “recharge [their] spiritual batteries” as well as record new music

Kpop Demon Hunters singer & songwriter EJAE signed with Kirk Sommer, Sarah Tehrani & Mary Hannon of WME worldwide after leading as main character Rumi in the smash hit film. The soundtrack has surpassed 3B streams already since coming out in June.

Longtime manager of Marc Anthony, Felipe Pimiento, has left Magnus Entertainment to start new company Pimiento Entertainment in Miami. There he’ll continue to manage Anthony and plans to work with a very select group of artists building their own brand.

Another Kpop star and member of BLACKPINK, LISA, landed with Cristina Baxter, James Rubin & Tom Windish at Wasserman Music for touring this week. In 2024, she launched her own management company LLOUD CO., signed with RCA Records for her debut album Alter Ego & was a series regular on the HBO show The White Lotus.

Grupo Frontera, the massive American regional Mexican band, signed a worldwide distribution agreement with The Orchard for both new releases and their existing catalog. The news comes alongside the launch of their label BorderTown Records via which the band released their third album through yesterday.

Welsh pop punk band Neck Deep signed with Jason Mageau & Andrew Jarrin of Culture Wave/Red Light Management this week. The five-piece just wrapped a nationwide tour supporting The Story So Far and are now headed to Europe for more dates celebrating 10 years of their album Life’s Not Out To Get You.

After spending a decade as Roc Nation’s ‘Head of Rock,’ Blaze James has set up new shop The Fellowship Artist Management, based in LA. There he'll continue to manage acts like Coheed and Cambria, High Vis, Militarie Gun and more.

+100 signings on ROSTR this week

Dr. Richard James Burgess MBE will become chair of UK music rights organization PPL on taking over from John Smith, who is stepping down after nearly a decade. Michael Bryan has exited his role as Global Head of Country Music at Apple Music after five years with the company, closing what he described on LinkedIn as “one extraordinary chapter” after nearly six years, three roles, and four managers. Warner Chappell Nashville has promoted Eric Reid to Jr. Manager, A&R, where he’ll identify and develop talent, pitch songs, support songwriter onboarding, and assist with songwriting camps. Rehan Manickam has joined Bamboo Artists as Director of A&R, U.S., based in Los Angeles, where he will lead artist signings and development while collaborating with Nils Gums, Christina Chung, and Kareem Yafi to grow the company’s U.S. presence. Lisa Yang has joined WMG as EVP, Global Head of Strategy, after 16 years at Goldman Sachs.

London-based management and publishing company Karma Artists has appointed _Jess Miller to Sr. Creative & Operations Manager and Anne Sandig to Sr. Manager. Peachtree Entertainment has expanded its executive team with Chris Johnson as VP of Production and Chris Thomas as SVP of Development. Amy O’Connor joins Play It Again Music as Director of Digital and Streaming and Molly Reinold as Creative Director. Sam O’Connor joins MRG Live as Sr. Talent Buyer. Brenna McKamey joins Jay Siegan Presents as Production Coordinator, Creative & Events.

CMA has promoted Michael Farris to VP, Business Strategy and Insights, Kate Watson to Senior Director, Industry Relations, Jeff Leet to Director, Brand Integrity, Lindsey Morrison to Sr. Manager, Community Engagement, Richard Xiong to Insights Senior Analyst, and Kennedy Strickler to Communications Project Manager, and added Mary Spaulding as Content Production Manager.

• Sr. Director, Audience Development at UMG in NY

• Sr. Product Designer at Create Music Group in Vancouver

• Sponsorship Sales Director at Dynamic Talent International (Remote)

• Director of A&R at broke records in LA

• Director Accounting at Live Nation in Beverly Hills

↗ Find these and 400+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR