Vol 80 - I hate that I made you read me

Happy Friday,

Ari’s back (as herself), Sulinna makes a move to U2, Gracie assembles the indie-pop Avengers for her tour & Miley gets her star ⭐️

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

🎶 New albums and EPs from Board of Canada, Latto, Kim Petras, Dexter and the Moonrocks, Paul McCartney, Kurt Vile, Iceage, ear, Jay Wheeler, Freya Skye…

♪ Notable singles from Ariana Grande, Ravyn Lenae, Baby J, Blood Orange, Skrillex, Barry Can’t Swim, Cara Delevingne, Quadeca, Keo, Jungle, Julia Wolf, 070 Shake…

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

#1 - It’s going to be a hot girl summer (9/10 top 10 this week feature a female artist). Ariana (Grande) is back with ‘hate that i made you love me.’

#2 - Ravyn Lenae drops in with ‘Handle,’ the lead single for her upcoming album Blue Island, which she announced this week.

#15 - Boards of Canada return with ‘You Retreat in Time and Space,’ taken from their new album Inferno, released worldwide today.

#23 - Skrillex teams up with Randomer, Blawan and MC Dricka for new single ‘Thistle,’ out today.

#44 - Barry Can’t Swim, now teaming up with Atlantic Records, debuts with the new label on ‘Return To Bhibo.’

#49 - Actor, artist & new Warner Records signee Cara Delevingne shares her major label debut with double release ‘Out of my Head’ & ‘I Forgot.’

#53 - Quadeca continues to push genre boundaries with his first song of 2026 ‘Dark Magic,’ fresh off his orchestral studio project Vanisher, Horizon Scraper.

#73 - Days after taking over Bowery Ballroom, Greta Van Fleet mark their return with ‘Play Your Games,’ their first release in nearly three years.

⭐ #85 - London-based rock outfit Keo release their first track of the year ‘That’s Me.’

#98 - Santa Anna’s latest southern pop fling Alana Springsteen releases her first album with the label — I HOPE THIS HELPS — focus track ‘same God’ sneaks into the top 100 new songs of the week, according to Spotify editors.

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

Lizzo, Vince Staples, Modest Mouse, Niall Horan, Malcolm Todd, Jalen Ngonda, Evanescence, Death Cab for Cutie, horsegiirL, Fitz and the Tantrums, DJ Seinfeld, zzzahara, Barry Manilow, The Red Clay Strays, Thomas Bangalter, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jo Dee Messina, Fink, Widowspeak, Poppy Ackroyd, Deer Tick, Of Montreal, Bedouine, Hammok, Converge, Sparklmami, Above & Beyond all have new projects expected to come out next week.

ROLE MODEL, Ravyn Lenae, Syd, Dan Auerbach, Ezra Collective, The Durutti Column, Panda Bear & Sonic Boom, Cornelius, Wild Pink, Francisca Valenzuela, Becky Hill, The Cramps, David Nail all announced new albums this week.

ROSTR partnered with the International Festival Forum (IFF) to become the official technology and media partner of IFF LA.

UMG’s largest shareholder, the Bolloré Group, urged the label to reject Bill Ackman’s $64B takeover proposal. Live Nation challenged the guilty verdict in the recent antitrust case. Harbourview acquired Stefflon Don’s pre-2024 catalog. Taylor Swift asked the court to dismiss a trademark infringement case brought against her by a Las Vegas Performer. BTS won Artist of the Year, KATSEYE won New Artist of the Year, and sombr won 3 awards at the AMAs. Miley Cyrus received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Last weekend, a Facebook page titled “R.I.P. Barry Gibb” garnered 1M likes, while the Bee Gees star is still very much alive. Cardi B shut down rumors that she is selling her Birkin bags on Poshmark. Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty is facing a lawsuit from customers over tariff surcharges. ROSTR unveiled a set of new features on artist profiles, including play counts & song credits.

Jazz Saxophonist Sonny Rollins passed away at 95.

• The Black Label lands $80M investment led by Tencent Music and Krafton

• YouTube will automatically label AI videos with new detection software

• Qobuz surpasses 1M active monthly users

• Warner Music, GZ Media pilot recycled vinyl testing

• Udio unveils details of its AI music app, Starstruck

• Ticketmaster expands into the Philippine market

• Universal Music Group and TikTok strike new global licensing deal

Group Chat

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

This diva 💅 (we love her)

Scientologist-owned horrid clout danger bar says whattt

Nothing says “we can all see it with our own eyes” quite like an AI-generated image.

Who is her publicist??? Send me their info.

Stayin Alive!

Favorite (or least favorite) music biz logo trend

• 🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ The move away from minimalism (temp Spot disco logo) (9%)

• 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Black + white management company logos (27%)

• 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 No logo (deterministic) (27%)

• 🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ When it's not optimized for circle cropping (janky) (18%)

• 🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ The less you care the more $ you make (18%)

🎸 Biggest tours announced this week: Gracie Abrams, Kehlani, The Chicks, Whethan, Arcángel, Asake, Dylan Gossett

Gracie Abrams announced an expansive 64-date tour across Europe and North America. She will bring a slew of talented openers including The Japanese House, Grace Ives, Rachel Chinouriri, Del Water Gap, Jensen McRae, Charlotte Lawrence, Holly Humberstone, Bella Kay, Samia & Jake Minch.

Dom Dolla will play his first Melbourne stadium show this September to kick off the AFL Grand Final long weekend.

Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi, Imagine Dragons will join Lewis Capaldi & Zara Larsson as headliners for the F1 Grand Prix in December.

Catch ROSTR at NIVA '26 next month including an exciting announcement from our CEO/Co-founder Mark Williamson 👀 - passes still available here.

🎟️ Festival Headlines:

• Portola unveiled its 5th edition lineup for this September in SF with headliners including Robyn, Dog Blood (Skrillex & Boys Noize), Swedish House Mafia, and Zara Larsson

• Noah Kahan has tapped Hayley Williams, Mt. Joy & other friends for his Out Of The Blue Festival in Cancún next January

• Chicago’s Riot Fest will be headlined by Alanis Morissette, Morrissey & Tool

• Tom Morello organized a new festival Power to the People, with headlining performances from Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews & Bruce Springsteen

• Levitation will feature performances from Bikini Kill, Smerz, Molchat Doma & more

Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Jay Wheeler has joined Kirk Taboada, Nigel Meiojas, Carlos Abreu, Ashley Ramos & Maca Litman’s roster at UTA for worldwide representation spanning live touring, brand partnerships, and filmed entertainment. The Latin artist’s breakout hit ‘La Curiosidad’ has surpassed 1.4B Spotify streams and is recently coming off a third Latin GRAMMY nomination for ‘Roma.’

Counter Records, the Ninja Tune imprint, has partnered up with Galantis, the project of Swedish producer Christian Karlsson, in a move Karlsson describes as his first career step outside the major label world. The partnership opens under a fresh creative alias, Galantis & The Devil's Tax Return, with debut single 'Stay Alive' arriving this week; the Galantis catalog has crossed 11B streams worldwide.

R&B artist Ella Mai has signed with Lauren Marker & De’Mont Callender of THE·TEAM for touring worldwide. The British singer - whose 'Boo'd Up' took Best R&B Song at the 2019 GRAMMYs - heads into a headline Do You Still Love Me? North American and European tour this summer with special guests Ama & Girlfriend.

Country veteran Jo Dee Messina has added Cameo Carlson of mtheory for management and Kylen Sharpe of CAA for booking to her team. The dual move arrives ahead of Bridges, her first new album in over a decade, due next month alongside a headlining tour.

Tel Aviv-born artist Noga Erez has landed at ACTIVIST with Bernie Cahill, Alex Deutsch, Matt Maher & Chris Ruff joining existing co-managers Asaf Gover (Booktook) & Krista Schmidt (Art In Progress). The musician, who performed at Coachella this year, will also unveil her feature documentary, Noga, at next month’s Tribeca Festival.

+180 signings on ROSTR this week

Julie Swidler is set to exit Sony Music after 18 Years, where she served as EVP of Business Affairs and General Counsel since 2008. The first woman to receive the Grammy Foundation's Entertainment Law Initiative Service Award, she's heading out at the end of June to start an advisory practice.

Sulinna Ong is departing Spotify to become Management Partner for U2 at Full Stop Management, joining Irving and Jeffrey Azoff. She previously held senior roles at Sony Music, Live Nation, and Deezer.

Frank Rogers steps up from Chief Creative Officer to CEO at Spirit Music. A producer with 46 No. 1 singles, he's been with Spirit Music Nashville since 2019 and will continue as President of Fluid Music Revolution.

Anna Kolander makes Partner at Activist Artists Management after 13 years with the company, having started as an assistant in 2013. She continues as day-to-day manager for The Lumineers.

Taz Sharp (ex-Levellr) joins Laylo as Dir. of Artists & Events, EMEA, leading the platform's UK/Europe expansion.

Other notable moves…

• Jay Moore named Chief Investment Officer at Too Lost, coming from VP, Head of Investments at Position Music; previously Chief Investment Officer at Ditto Music and earlier at Kobalt/AWAL.

• Ollie Fitzgerald (ex-COOL Music) joins WME as Executive, Music for Visual Media, based in London, reporting to Bradley Rainey.

• Todd Stepp returns to Provident Entertainment as SVP of marketing, digital, creative, and label services; previously VP there before a stint as SVP of Global Marketing at TPR.

• Basile Beaugendre moves up to Regional Head of TuneCore, Europe after running TuneCore France since 2019, while Cyrus Chen takes Regional Head of TuneCore, APAC following five years leading the Southeast Asia operation. Both report to CBO Brian Miller.

• Katie West named Managing Director at ARC Business Management, coming from Financial Controller at Red Light Management's London office.

• Ed Watson (ex-BBC Radio 1) joins Blackstar as Artist Strategy Dir., based in New York.

• Robbie Powell appointed GM of the British Airways ARC, AEG Presents UK's new 3,800-cap London venue opening June 16.

• Haily Harris joins Combustion Music as Creative Manager, coming from Wrensong Entertainment and Jody Williams Songs.

• Director, Finance (North America) at Universal Music Group in Los Angeles, CA

• Art Director at Roc Nation in New York, NY

• Music Marketer at A24 in New York, NY

• Senior Day-to-Day Manager at SUPERNATURE in London, England, UK

• Digital Marketing Manager at Noise New Media in Nashville, TN

↗ Find these and 350+ open roles at ROSTR Jobs