Music News

Photo Credit: Rubby Pérez / Instagram Merengue singer Rubby Pérez has died after sustaining injuries during the Jet Set Club roof collapse in the Dominican Republic. He was performing on stage at the time. The Jet Set Club was a converted cinema and hosted large dance events, though authorities have not yet identified what caused the structural failure. At least 124 people died in the collapse of the roof, with 150 others reportedly injured. The death toll is expected to rise as authorities an

Photo Credit: Edison Research A new study from Edison Research finds ad-supported streaming has more listeners than its paid, ad-free counterparts. For decades, music on the radio was the most accessible and free way to listen to music. But radio stations have traditionally been supported by ads, so listeners were well accustomed to hearing them between songs. The only way to get an “ad-free” experience was by purchasing an album on vinyl, tape, or CD. These days, thanks to streaming services

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. speaks during Grammys on the Hill in support of the expanded No Fakes Act. Photo Credit: The Recording Academy Federal lawmakers have reintroduced the No Fakes Act, which is drawing strong support from in and well beyond the music industry. Senators and representatives from both sides of the aisle reintroduced the legislation today. We’ve covered the years-old bill (which, looking to tackle AI deepfakes, would establish bolstered voice and likeness prote

A live performance from Quavo, who, along with Hybe America and Quality Control, is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit from sculptor Daniel Arsham. Photo Credit: Jørund Føreland Pedersen Hybe America, its Quality Control subsidiary, and Quavo are facing a copyright lawsuit for allegedly infringing on a visual artist’s work in social media posts. Daniel Arsham, touted as “one of the most well-known contemporary artists in the world,” submitted the unique action to a New York federal court

Photo Credit: Jim Herrington The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville is prepping a new exhibit titled ‘Dolly Parton: Journey of a Seeker.’ The exhibit will open to the public on May 20 and will be available through September. The new exhibition is intended to celebrate Dolly Parton’s career, highlighting her journey as a singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Some of the highlights from the exhibit include personal artifacts such as costumes Dolly wore, m

Photo Credit: Spotify It’s The White Lotus Effect: Streams of Billy Preston’s “Nothing From Nothing” spike on Spotify following its feature in the season finale. Each season of HBO’s The White Lotus leaves fans reeling and streaming, first with the show’s iconic theme song, and most recently with the season 3 finale on Sunday night. Between the music and the products, it seems like everyone wants to feel a part of that White Lotus aesthetic — something the media is calling “The White Lotus Eff

YouTube is now testing an AI instrumentals generator as well as a feature that matches Shorts clips to music. Photo Credit: Kelly Sikkema YouTube is officially testing AI-generated instrumentals as well as a Shorts soundtrack-matching feature. Creator Insider, billed as “an informal YouTube channel” operated by the platform’s “Creator technical team,” revealed those new offerings in a brief video. On the instrumentals side, the “gradually” expanding AI-music support appears straightforward e

Photo Credit: Spotify Spotify unveiled major advertising updates at its Spotify Advance event in NYC earlier this month. The detailed changes led to online speculation that Spotify Premium members would begin receiving advertisements—sparking calls for cancelation if that happens. Spotify has flatly denied the rumor. Spotify Advance detailed several new changes to how Spotify will deliver ads on the audio platform. They include a new programmatic marketplace that enables real-time bidding for

Photo Credit: HBO / Max Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers have subpoenaed Warner Bros. seeking raw, unedited footage from the HBO docuseries, ‘The Fall of Diddy.’ His lawyers sent the subpoena back in March to Warner Bros. asking for “all recordings, including raw and unedited footage” from the interviews with two accusers who appeared in the series. The docuseries aired on HBO/Max in January. The subpoena also contains a demand for any notes or journals the accusers gave the documentary’s producers

Photo Credit: DMX by Mika Väisänen / CC by 3.0 The DMX Estate secures a victory in an ongoing lawsuit challenging their sole ownership of the late rapper’s copyright and IP rights. DMX’s estate has secured a major victory in an ongoing lawsuit that challenges the estate’s sole ownership of the late rapper’s copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property rights. The judge issued a decision and order on Monday (April 7) that rejects the claims by DMX’s ex-wife, Tashera Simmons, that she

The reintroduced TICKET Act is riding a fresh wave of congressional support. Photo Credit: Claudio Schwarz Riding a new wave of bipartisan support, the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act (TICKET Act) is one step closer to becoming law. Lawmakers made this latest round of approval official during a House Energy and Commerce committee markup today. Nearly all the involved representatives voted in favor of the reintroduced TICKET Act, which is also picking up steam in the Senat

A federal lawmaker is criticizing the latest TikTok sale deadline extension. Photo Credit: Solen Feyissa Is the latest extension to the TikTok forced-sale deadline “a clear violation of the law”? At least one member of Congress believes so, and he’s expressing “deep reservations” as a result. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) just recently voiced that pushback in an open letter to President Trump, who last week extended the cutoff for ByteDance to divest from TikTok in the U.S. Prior to this extens

Photo Credit: National Police of the Dominican Republic At least 44 people have died while over 100 were being treated for injuries after a roof collapsed at a Dominican Republic nightclub. Rescue crews have been searching for potential survivors in the rubble at the Jet Set club in Santo Domingo after a roof collapsed, killing at least 44 people. More than 100 others have been treated for injuries. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the roof collapse. “We presume that many of them are s

Photo Credit: David Shankbone / CC by 3.0 Cassie Ventura is set to testify against her former partner Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs using her real name instead of the ‘Victim 1’ designation. She will tell the court about her relationship with the rap mogul during his upcoming trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. She is one of four victims who are set to testify in court at Comb’s trial—and the first to make public allegations against the rap mogul. Ventura sued Diddy in November 2023 for wh

Photo Credit: Scooter Braun and Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def Recordings enters a distribution partnership with Hybe America, led by Scooter Braun. The agreement sees Hybe distribute So So Def’s catalog while the two work together on releases for upcoming talent. Since the 1990s, Dupri and So So Def have worked with stars like Mariah Carey, Usher, Nelly, Xscape, Bow Wow, and Jagged Edge. Dupri also notably mentored Braun when he entered the music industry over 20 years ago. “Every

Photo Credit: Rory Kramer Blink-182 is set to hit the road again after their blockbuster 2024 tour. Mark Hoppus, Tom Delonge, and Travis Barker have announced their ‘Missionary Impossible’ tour supporting the release of their latest album, One More Time…. This is the first album in over a decade that features the original trio back in the studio. The upcoming shows will lean into Blink-182’s punk roots, with a setlist packed with classics spanning their entire catalog. The multi-city trek is p

Berlin, Germany. Photo Credit: Fernando Pascullo GEMA has reported a 4.3% year-over-year (YoY) revenue increase for 2024, when its live music collections spiked by nearly 17%. The German society revealed these and other figures in an English-language summary of its 2024 annual report, which points to €1.33 billion (currently $1.45 billion) in total revenue for the year. Behind that sum – and thanks in part to a cost-rate decrease – GEMA made north of $1.23 billion/€1.13 billion (up 4.7% YoY)

Mock deal terms in beatBread’s Deal Comparison Tool, with an ‘Expected Case’ for content performance during the deal term (photo: beatBread) For those artists and indie labels lucky enough to have multiple funding offers, beatBread now offers a potentially game-changing tool for weighing competing options. Surprisingly, beatBread’s initial results show that most artists and indie labels (60%) would likely sign a sub-optimal deal before thoroughly vetting their options. Once upon a time, music

TikTok USA, circa 2025 (Photo: TCY) Months after ‘the ban,’ there’s no telling what happens to TikTok next in the US. After inching oh-so-close to a deal to secure TikTok in the US, China apparently pressed hard pause on the arrangement following Trump’s tariff slap. So what does that mean for the music industry? If you love uncertainty, this one’s for you. Trump is now extending the ban by another 75 days, though a hard clock is now ticking on a deal that was apparently 99% done. Congression

Photo Credit: Goldenvoice Amazon Music is once again the exclusive livestream partner for Goldenvoice’s Stagecoach festival. This year’s sold-out festival is taking place April 25-27 in Indio, California. Fans from around the world will be able to enjoy sets from country music’s biggest artists from the comfort of their own homes, including riveting sets from artists like Zach Bryan, Jelly Roll, Luke Combs, Lana Del Rey, Carly Pearce, Brothers Osborne, Nelly, Creed, Dasha, Sturgill Simpson, Ba

A live performance from Fatherson, one of the acts signed to Easy Life Records. Along with several other Easy Life entities, the label has been majority-acquired by All Things Considered. Photo Credit: Paul Hudson All Things Considered (ATC) has acquired a majority interest in Jamie Osman’s Easy Life Entertainment management company and label. London-headquartered All Things Considered revealed the purchase in a brief release this morning. Per the buyer, which has closed a number of acquisiti

Breaking Benjamin performing during Danny Wimmer Presents’ Louder Than Life. Photo Credit: MitchDoner After close to 11 years at the helm of Danny Wimmer Presents, CEO Danny Hayes has “made the difficult decision to part ways” with the Louder Than Life organizer. Hayes confirmed his exit in a message posted to LinkedIn as well as Instagram. Despite spanning north of 200 words, the announcement doesn’t shed light on the precise circumstances surrounding his departure from Danny Wimmer Presents,

Photo Credit: AXE Ceremonia Mexico City’s AXE Ceremonia two-day music festival canceled its second day after a crane collapsed, leaving two people dead. The canceled Sunday lineup included scheduled performances from Tyler, the Creator, the Marias, and Massive Attack. Festival organizers posted a statement for attendees letting them know of the cancelation. “With deep sadness, we confirm the passing of the two people who were injured during today’s incident,” the statement begins. “We are dee

Photo Credit: Clem Burke by Blondie Clem Burke, the drummer for Blondie, has died after privately battling cancer. He was 70 years old. Blondie, the iconic New York City rock band founded by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein in 1974, announced Burke’s passing on social media. “It is with profound sadness that we relay news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Clem Burke following a private battle with cancer,” wrote the band. “Clem was not just a drummer. He was the h

Photo Credit: Epic Games Pop star Sabrina Carpenter lands in Fortnite for Fortnite Festival Season 8, launching April 8 with loads of in-game cosmetics, jam tracks, and emotes. Epic Games loves to blur the lines between gaming and music, and Fortnite’s Sabrina Carpenter debut is no exception. Fortnite Festival Season 8 launches on April 8, complete with two Sabrina Carpenter outfits, two new emotes, three jam tracks, and lots of sparkly accessories. Players can access the main Sabrina Carpent