Vol 71 - You always find some kind words for a subscriber

Happy Friday,

Primary snaps up Kobalt, Chance the Rapper wins $35, artists joining LinkedIn and Diplo is running to a city near you.

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

🎶 New albums and EPs from RAYE, Charlie Puth, Yeat, Melanie Martinez, Robyn, Slayyyter, Ty Myers, Fcukers, Elmiene, Central Cee, Tom Misch, Chief Keef, Fetty Wap, Flea, Cannons, Kota the Friend, NEEDTOBREATHE, Model/Actriz, oskar med k, Medium Build…

♪ Notable singles from Miley Cyrus, Paul McCartney, Suki Waterhouse, Jungle, ZAYN, Bladee, Tkay Maizda, Jim Legxacy, Switchfoot, Lamb, Gelli Haha, Amelia Moore…

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

#1 - RAYE drops highly anticipated album THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE., featuring NMF track ‘I Know You’re Hurting.’

#4 - Yeat and Elton John, sorry, Elton John, wait… what? The unexpected pair team up on ‘Lose Control,’ part of Yeat’s newest body of work ADL.

#12 - All roads lead to Central Cee for his new album out now with track ‘WAGWAN’ landing on NMF.

#13 - Set to play Lollapalooza this year, favored British rapper and singer Jim Legxacy drops his first track of 2026 ‘idk idk.’

#15 - Paul McCartney shares his first new music since 2020 with ‘Days We Left Behind,’ the lead single from his forthcoming solo project The Boys of Dungeon Lane ahead of playing 2 nights at The Fonda in Los Angeles.

#17 - Jungle are back, sitting in a similar, but much sweeter pocket in ‘Carry On,’ the first track from their next album Sunshine, which was announced this week in tandem with a hefty AU/EU/NA tour.

#60 - LA-based indie act Lamb, known for her experimental and textural sound, shares her third record ‘Fort.’

#66 - I dare you to listen - Switchfoot returns with new music after several years with single ‘Wake Up, Mr. Crow.’

⭐ #86 - If Magdalena Bay and Remi Wolf were candy left out in the sun, Gelli Haha is the gorgeous, gooey aftermath. Her bonus track ‘Klouds Will Carry Me To Sleep’ off her debut album Switcheroo is a maximalist, sugary, acid trip that will raise your blood sugar and make your eyes dilate.

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

Arlo Parks, Swae Lee, Thundercat, Charley Crockett, Earl Sweatshirt & MIKE & SURF GANG, Sam Barber, A Place to Bury Strangers, Omah Lay, Paul Cauthen, Joe Pernice, Common Holly, deary, sunn O))), Bruce Hornsby, Charles Joseph Smith all have new projects expected to come out next week.

Paul McCartney, Jungle, Sublime, Barry Manilow, Myles Smith, ERNEST, Downtown Boys, Dailey & Vincent, mary in the junkyard, Fire-Toolz, Aja Monet, Bedouine, Tokischa, Ben Chapman, Braxton Keith all announced new albums this week.

Primary Wave officially acquired Kobalt. Spotify laid off 15 podcast staffers. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a music piracy lawsuit filed by the major labels against telecom company Cox Communications and ruled that Cox can’t be held responsible for user infringement. AI company Moises released a report claiming that professional musicians lead AI adoption. HYBE stock fell after a weaker-than-expected attendance of BTS’ comeback concert in Seoul. Chance the Rapper defeated his ex-manager’s $3.8M lawsuit, winning only $35 in his countersuit. A suspect pled guilty in the first-ever U.S. criminal prosecution for streaming fraud. Deezer saw net profit for the first time in 2025. Netflix partnered with Warner Music to produce artist documentaries. The woman accused of shooting at Rihanna’s house pled not guilty to attempted murder.

Usher doesn’t have anything negative to say about Diddy…

Joey Fatone will produce a documentary series about the dark side of boy bands. Barry Manilow is cancer-free. Bad Bunny wants his legal fees reimbursed after defeating the ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ sample lawsuit. Nicki Minaj was sued for $275K for allegedly failing to pay a production company. Duffy will finally tell her story after being kidnapped and raped in 2011 in an upcoming Disney+ documentary. Suge Knight will release a memoir on August 4th titled ‘Your Pain Is My Joy.’ FKA Twigs sued Shia LaBoeuf over an “unlawful” NDA from their lawsuit settlement in 2020. Desiigner was arrested on a domestic violence charge.

• Updates on companies, acquisitions, takeovers and more

• Apple Music debuts concert listings powered by Bandsintown

• UnMute debuts as UK’s first roster for disabled artists

• Domain Capital closes $768M entertainment fund

• Seeker Music raises $267M in asset-backed securities deal

• Firebird secures majority stake in Goodlife Management

• Spotify introduces SongDNA and artist profile detection features

• Feature.fm expands enterprise reach across indie music sector

• Sony expands Nordic operation with acquisition of dance label One Seven Music

• Ontario moves to ban ticket resales above face value

• Deezer unveils “Deezer for Business”

• ElevenLabs opens music marketplace for users to monetize AI-generated tracks

Group Chat

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

Are we fckd?

A two-fer

They do be late, they do.

What were you like in the 90s?

• 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 A lot happier, frankly (44%)

• ⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Doing a lot of drugs (0%)

• 🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Not even close to being born yet (28%)

• 🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Praying for an all-in-one platform that would help me do my job better as a music business professional (28%)

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Lily Allen, Myles Smith, Jack Harlow, CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, Earl Sweatshirt & MIKE, Pixies

Diplo shared 2026-2027 dates for Diplo’s Run Club, making stops in NYC, LA, Seattle, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco & Philadelphia.

The Killers are set to headline the UEFA Champions League Final Kick Off Show in Budapest this May.

Céline Dion will perform a short residency in Paris at the 40K-capacity La Défense Arena through September & October this fall.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• KATSEYE will headline 88rising & Goldenvoice’s Head In The Clouds in Pasadena this August; other performers include XG, Rich Brian, Tiffany Day & more

• New Jersey’s Sea.Hear.Now unveiled Mumford & Sons and The Strokes as headliners for its September festival

• Ozuna, Nicky Jam, Junior H & Anuel AA will headline Baja Beach Fest in Miami this August

• March Madness Music Festival (a real thing) will be headlined by Post Malone in Indianapolis next week

❌ Cancellations:

• Tennessee’s Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival is taking a hiatus this year, but organizers promise to return next year with “something bigger, something better, something brighter”

21-year-old Miles Caton who gained recognition for his role as Sammie in Sinners this past year, has landed with Nathan James at Little Worry for management. The BAFTA Rising Star Award winner recently signed with Columbia Records and delivered his first single with them, ‘Don’t Hate Me’ last week.

Country music staple ERNEST locked in a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music. The GRAMMY nominee has penned 13 #1’s, including hit ‘I Had Some Help’ for Morgan Wallen & Post Malone. His third full-length album is expected to drop this summer. Lykke Li also joined the WCM family ahead of her sixth album coming out next month.

Australian Mack Geiger signed a deal with RECORDS Nashville and Columbia Records, bringing his 90s country-influenced sound stateside. His latest track ‘String By’ hit 20 million streams and #3 on Spotify's Viral 50 USA.

Former competitive swimmer Cody Simpson returned to music after six years, signing with BMG in partnership with Range Music. The Australian competed in the 2022 Commonwealth Games (gold and silver medals) before retiring after missing the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification. First singles ‘Baby Blu’ and ‘When It Comes to Loving You’ are dropping March 27th, with production help from Harrison Borts.

The age of AI artists is upon us as Ne-Yo’s Pacific Music Group has agreed to a deal with Timbaland’s ‘part human’ artist TaTa Taktumi via his company Stage Zero. In his words, “Tata represents a shift towards hypercreativity. It opens the door for a new generation of artists…”

Florida-based duo Modern Cult signed a record deal with recently-launched Parallel Vision in partnership with Big Loud Rock. Their debut single ‘Be My Friend’ dropped today, produced by Cage The Elephant’s Brad Shultz.

+215 signings on ROSTR this week

THE·TEAM bolstered its London office with two new agents and promoted five from within. Belinda Law joins as VP and agent and Ishsha Bourguet comes on as agent. On the promotions side: Carly Goldberg to director and agent (NYC), India Lawson to senior manager and agent (London), Seven Jarrett to manager and agent in festivals, Lauren LoLordo to manager and agent in performing arts (Chicago), and Sean Merlin to manager and agent in tour marketing.

UTA announced 35 new partners, with seven in music - Christian Bernhardt, Alisann Blood, Brandi Brammer, Jules De Lattre, Sara Schoch, Elisa Vazzana & James Wright.

Warner Records Nashville has elevated six executives across its leadership team. Patrick Sabatini becomes EVP of Operations and Business & Legal Affairs; Kristen Williams steps up to EVP of Radio & Commercial Partnerships and Victoria Mason is now EVP of Marketing, all reporting to Chair & President Cris Lacy. Brooke Hardesty moves to SVP of Digital Marketing, Rohan Kohli to SVP of A&R, and Austin Jenkins joins as SVP of A&R.

HEY NOW Records has already filled out its radio promotion team. Brooke Diaz comes on as VP of Promotion, a Big Machine veteran and two-time CRS award winner, while Bill Lubitz and Jane Staszak join as National Directors for the West and East Coasts respectively.

Viviana Suarez has been named VP of Latin Touring, LATAM at Live Nation, a move that signals the company's continued push to deepen its footprint in the region. Suarez comes from Cárdenas Marketing Network, where she served as Booking Director overseeing more than 200 international shows, and previously led touring and logistics at Seitrack US.

In other parts of the industry:

• James Simmons joins CAA as an agent in Global Touring out of London, coming from WME where he worked with Mumford & Sons, Little Simz, James Blake, and Rex Orange County.

• Carlos Alcala has been named Director of A&R at Ultra Records, where he'll bring experience working with Tiësto and Kaskade.

• Josh Posner has been named VP of Business Development at Breakaway, while continuing as Head of Music Talent at Bustle Digital Group.

• Heather Vassar has been appointed SVP, Nashville at The Orchard, reporting to President & COO Colleen Theis. She launched EMPIRE's Nashville division and helped break Shaboozey, CeCe, and Wyatt Flores. She'll continue to run her own venture, Casual Media Partners.

• Harry Woosley joins Crossover Touring's agent team as the boutique agency opens a new Chicago HQ, bringing Clay Street Unit and Grammy-winner Bronwyn Keith-Hynes along with him.

• Miranda McDonald and Jimmy Rector were both promoted to SVP of Promotion & Regional Marketing at MCA Nashville.

• Benjamin Lampman was promoted to VP of Touring at SGPS/ShowRig Inc.

• Mara Sidweber takes on a dual role as VP of Promotion & Strategy at Music City Power Company and national promotion at Galaxy Label Group.

• Jessica Boardman, Ellie Heisler, and Michael Lawhead and associate April Hua have joined the entertainment group at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Heisler, Lawhead, and Hua all come from Nixon Peabody.

• Elfie Lawson joins London-based entertainment PR agency DawBell as Account Director within its corporate division, bringing over seven years of experience across music, entertainment, and technology PR.

• Director, Music Commerce at 88rising in Los Angeles, CA

• Produced Content Director at TPR. in Nashville, TN

• Director, Case Services & Customer Resolutions at Sound Exchange in Washington, DC

• Associate Artist Manager at Red Light Entertainment in New York, NY

• US Sales Executive at Openstage in United States

↗ Find these and 320+ open roles at Jobs by ROSTR