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12 Jul 2024

Taylor Swift Bakes for Channing Tatum, Travis Kelce Karaokes It Up & More | Billboard News

Channing Tatum fawns over Taylor Swift’s baking skills, Travis Kelce shows off his singing skills, Nelly Furtado confesses she wants to collab with our girl. Keep watching for all the details!

Tetris Kelly:

Taylor the baker, and Travis the karaoke singer, plus Nelly Furtado is ready for a collab. This is a rundown of your Taylor Swift news. When Taylor is not slaying on The Eras Tour, apparently, she’s whipping up delicious treats for friends. At least that’s what Channing Tatum told Jimmy Fallon. Um, I need to taste. And Travis gave us a taste of his karaoke skills at the American Century Golf Championship and he won! And Nelly Furtado met Tay back at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards and she wants to work on a track. We absolutely need that.

12 Jul 2024

Earnings Reports Forecast: Subscription Gains, Ad Market Weakness & Taylor Swift’s Continued Power

It’s earnings season once again, with Spotify the first music company set to report second-quarter earnings on July 23. Which is fitting — not only is the Swedish streaming giant the most valuable publicly traded music company by market capitalization at $60.4 billion, it’s also an important bellwether for much of the music business. 

Music subscriptions will continue to be the driving force for Spotify, other streaming companies, record labels and music publishers. Subscriber gains mean more money flowing through to creators and rights owners, while rising prices are benefitting streaming services and could flow down to creators and rights owners, too — although analysts have mixed opinions on whether price increases have those downstream benefits or simply pad streaming companies’ bottom lines.  

Another giant of the music business, Universal Music Group, is up next, with its earnings slated to drop the day after Spotify’s (July 24). Believe and SiriusXM earnings are due the following week (both Aug. 1), while Warner Music Group is set for the week after (Aug. 8). Follow Billboard‘s list of upcoming industry events for more earnings release dates once they’re announced.

Trending on Billboard

On the touring front, for all the hullabaloo about weakened consumer demand and canceled tours and festivals, the live music market is likely to have produced another banner quarter. While everyone’s eyes will be on Live Nation to gauge the health of the business, the concert giant has yet to announce its earnings release date; CTS Eventim, which will report earnings on Aug. 22, is the only promoter to have announced so far.  

Here’s what to expect in the upcoming slew of earnings reports. 

Subscription gains — but without churn? 

The recorded music market is having its cake and eating it, too: subscription prices are increasing, and customers don’t appear to be leaving in droves. Music subscription services are benefiting from price increases — namely Spotify in 2023, with some additional price hikes in 2024 — with little churn. Higher prices and continued subscriber growth will lead to gains in total revenue and average revenue per user (ARPU); Spotify expected 245 million subscribers at the end of June, which would be 6 million net additions in the quarter and a whopping 25 million greater than the 220 million subscribers it had on June 30, 2023. Watch out for any indications that higher prices negatively affected Spotify’s churn rate, however — although the company does not release specific churn data, it will likely warn investors if subscriber losses were greater than expected and are headed in the wrong direction. So far, however, any consumer complaints have been more bark than bite. In another good sign, streaming activity has been healthy, too. U.S. audio streams — by count, not by dollar value — were up 8.1% in the second quarter, according to Luminate. 

Payoffs from price increases and cost-cutting 

Spotify expects to have operating income of 250 million euros ($273 million) in the second quarter, which would be a nearly 500-million-euro ($545 million) improvement over the 247-million-euro operating loss it saw in the second quarter of 2023. If attained, that big shift from loss to profitcould be chalked up to r Spotify’s decisions in 2023 to raise prices and drastically cut back on its headcount (including a 17% workforce reduction in December). Those moves quickly produced benefits: Gross margin increased to 27.6% in the first quarter of 2024, up from 26.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 25.2% in the first quarter of 2023. The reduced expenses from layoffs also helped operating margin improve to 4.6% in the first quarter — a big gain from the -2% and -5.1% margins it saw in the fourth and first quarters of 2023, respectively. Additionally, Spotify’s second-quarter guidance of 3.8 billion euros ($4.1 billion) of total revenue would be a 19.6% improvement from the prior-year period revenue of 3.18 billion euros ($3.47 billion). ARPU also increased 7% in the first quarter and is likely to improve again in the second quarter.  

More advertising weakness 

Music subscription services chose a good time to raise prices. Weak advertising revenues have been a recurring theme since music and tech companies began warning investors in 2022, and continued unsteadiness in the advertising market will impact ad-supported revenues for streaming companies, record labels and music publishers.  On July 1, Guggenheim lowered its estimate for Universal Music Group’s recorded music ad-supported streaming growth to 10.6% from 11.1% “to better reflect more challenging comparisons” against the prior quarter, as Guggenheim analysts wrote in an investor note. However, that revision was still above the first-quarter estimate of 10.3% due to UMG’s renewal of a licensing agreement with TikTok in May.  

Continued strong demand for live music 

For all that has been written about fans’ lessened appetites for live music, public companies appear to be in stable conditions. In its first-quarter earnings report in May, Live Nation said that through mid-April, the percentage of large shows booked was up double-digits while concert margins had improved, too. “We are seeing no weakness,” said president/CFO Joe Berchtold, adding that artists who toured in both 2023 and 2024 are seeing better sell-through this year. And with fewer stadium shows in 2024 than 2023, Live Nation will have more concerts in the more profitable arenas and amphitheaters that it owns or operates. Analysts are still bullish on Live Nation in the wake of the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against the company filed in May: As of this week, 18 analysts have “buy” recommendations on Live Nation, four have “hold” recommendations and only one has a “sell” on the stock. CTS Eventim expects another solid year, too. In April, the German promoter and ticketing company reiterated comments contained in its 2023 annual report that predicted “further moderate sales growth” in 2024.   

The Taylor Swift Effect 

UMG’s financials will get a boost from Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department. Released on April 17 through UMG’s Republic Records, Tortured Poets has remained at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for 11 consecutive weeks since its April 19 release, with sales boosted in subsequent weeks by additional variants that helped it maintain chart position. In the most recent chart week, for example, two CD versions of the album that fans initially ordered through Swift’s webstore in early June were shipped. In all, Swift’s latest album topped the Billboard 200 for 9 of the second quarter’s 13 weeks and sold 2.4 million units in the U.S., with about 2 million of those coming from CD and LP sales, according to Luminate. That led Republic Records’ U.S. market share to reach an industry-leading 15.72%, up from 12.42% in the first quarter – greater than Warner Music Group. UMG’s total market share in the quarter was 36.37%, up from 34.48% in the prior-year quarter and well ahead of its 33.9% share in the first quarter of 2024.  

12 Jul 2024

Jelly Roll Reacts to Collaborating With ‘Childhood Hero’ Eminem: ‘Forever Grateful’

Jelly Roll checked a historic item off his bucket list when notching a collaboration with Eminem on “Somebody Save Me,” which served as The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)‘s poignant closer.

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Hours after the track made waves on streaming services, Jelly Roll reflected on Friday (July 12) in an emotional post to social media about having the chance to contribute to one of his “childhood hero’s” projects.

Trending on Billboard

“I always say my childhood hero’s lived somewhere between Willie Nelson and Eminem,” he began. “As a teenager (and still today) I could recite every song on the Slim Shady album, the Marshal Mathers album and the Eminem show. When I bonded out of jail at 17 years old and was sneaking into cyphers and battles in Nashville they would also play the ‘lose yourself’ beat when I came out on stage at the freestyle battles. I related to every word Eminem wrote. I understand him and felt like he understood me, which was rare cause I spent most of my life feeling misunderstood.”

Jelly Roll continued: “So you can imagine how I felt when I got that the call that Eminem would be sampling my song “Save Me” on his new album. And for him to use the song to discuss the other side of what could’ve happened if he would’ve allowed his demons to win brought me to tears. If you haven’t heard it yet, check out “Somebody Save Me” on Eminem’s new album ‘the death of slim shady’ special shout out to Paul Rosenberg , you’ve been nothing but kind to me and treated me like family and gave me opportunities I didn’t deserve, forever grateful.”

Rapper Chris Webby hopped into his comments to put the seminal moment in perspective. “Legendary my brother,” he wrote. “I had such a moment listening to that album last night and then when I heard your voice it stirred up crazy emotions in my soul. Hard to even explain it honestly, but I’m so damn proud of you dude.”

“Somebody Save Me” heavily samples Jelly Roll’s “Save Me,” which reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November following a Lainey Wilson remix.

Jelly Roll’s angelic chorus surrounds Eminem vulnerably opening up in a candid letter to his children where he admits his faults as a parent and expresses regret about the past. “They say my lifestyle is bad for my health,” the country star sings. “It’s the only thing that seems to help.”

The Nashville-bred star met Eminem for the first time before hitting the stage together outside the Michigan Central Station venue. The heartfelt embrace was captured by Jelly’s wife, Bunnie XO. “When the goat meets THE GOAT,” she captioned the clip soundtracked by Eminem’s “My Name Is.”

Jelly Roll joined Em on stage at the June show where they performed Slim Shady’s Aerosmith-sampling “Sing For the Moment.”

Check out Jelly Roll’s post below.

12 Jul 2024

Eminem Releases ‘The Death of Slim Shady,’ Katy Perry, Ice Spice & More Drop New Music | Billboard News

Eminem drops his new album, The Death of Slim Shady, Katy Perry release “Woman’s World,” Ice Spice teams up with Central Cee and more! Keep watching to see the hottest new releases that dropped today!

Tetris Kelly:
It’s a woman’s world, and today we are breaking down some of the biggest releases in music from your favorite women in music and maybe a couple guys. This is your Friday music guide.

Yes she is! And with a cameo from Trisha Paytas, Katy Perry is back with the first single from her album 143, “Woman’s World.” Jojo Siwa had everybody talking with her single “Karma,” and now she’s released her debut EP, Guilty Pleasure, along with a music video that’s sure to get ‘em talking again. Ice Spice has grabbed Central Cee for a new banger called “Did It First.” Meghan Trainor has hopped on a track with her TikTok hit making tour opener, Paul Russell — it’s titled “Slippin.’” Griff has completed the third part to her debut album and we have an interview with her coming Tuesday.

And of course Eminem returns with his new album, The Death of Slim Shady.

For all new music, hit billboard.com

12 Jul 2024

Watch John Krasinski Have a Shameless Dance Party By Himself to Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’

He’s dancing on his own, making the moves up as he goes. In a hilarious new commercial, John Krasinski lets his freak flag fly while indulging in a solo dance party to Taylor Swift‘s “Shake It Off,” something Swifties all over the world can definitely relate to.

In the 30-second spot, which Canadian entertainment and communications company Rogers shared Friday (July 12), the A Quiet Place star stands alone on a small boat in the middle of Lake Simcoe in Ontario. After looking around to make certain no one is watching him, he presses play on the pop star’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) smash and lets loose, making up his own choreography and lip-syncing to the lyrics.

When he realizes that a fisherman across the way has been watching him the entire time, though, Krasinski falters — until the canoer starts dancing with him. “We do our thing, so you can do yours,” a piece of narration ends the video. We got you.” 

Trending on Billboard

Rogers’ use of Swift’s music is fitting — the company is the presenting sponsor of the 14-time Grammy winner’s Eras Tour shows in Canada. After finishing her European leg in August, she’ll do a brief second lap in the United States before closing out the year-and-a-half run with performances in Toronto and Vancouver in November and December.

Krasinski’s ad is just the latest commercial to feature a Swift song, a practice that has grown more frequent ever since she began reclaiming her masters by re-recording her first six albums in 2021 (at this time, she only has her 2006 self-titled debut and 2017’s Reputation left to remake). In October, her Midnights closer “Mastermind” was used in a Survivor promotion, while “Welcome to New York” soundtracked an NFL spot in September.

Watch Krasinski shake it off below.

12 Jul 2024

What’s Your Favorite New Music Release of the Week? Vote!

Music lovers of every genre were treated to a slew of new releases this week, from pop to hip-hop, K-pop and everything in between.

For hip-hop fans, Eminem unveiled his 12th studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce). The LP boasts 19 tracks and includes previously released singles “Houdini” and “Tobey” featuring Big Sean and BabyTron, along with a sequel to 1999’s “Guilty Conscience” with Dr. Dre. Em also revealed that TDOSS is actually a “conceptual album,” and he implored listeners to press play and follow the sequencing of the project as listed from one through 19.

Meanwhile, Ice Spice teamed up with Central Cee for “Did It First,” will be featured on Ice’s highly anticipated debut album Y2K!, which will be released on July 26 via 10K Projects and Capitol Records. “Did It First” is the fourth single after her Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hit “Think U The Shit (Fart),” the Sean Paul-sampling “Gimme a Light” and her latest offering “Phat Butt.”

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In the pop world, Katy Perry made her comeback with the empowering “Woman’s World,” marking her first proper release since 2020’s Smile, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200. “Woman’s World” serves as the lead track to Perry’s upcoming, long-awaited dance-pop album, 143, which is code for “I love you.” The usage dates back to the early 1900s, per Dictionary.com. The project arrives on September 20.

Trending on Billboard

ENHYPEN also delivered their higly anticipated sophomore album, ROMANCE : UNTOLD. The project “marks the beginning of a new chapter for ENHYPEN. The pioneering storytellers have previously captivated audiences with their series of narratives BORDER, DIMENSION, MANIFESTO, and BLOOD where they ventured across boundaries, confronted themselves in a complex world, took the first step forward to connect with their peers, and made sacrifices for the blood-bound ‘you,’” per a press release that announced details of the project last month.

With all the great music releases this week, we want to know which is your favorite. Check out our Friday Music Guide here, and let us know by voting below.


12 Jul 2024

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats Crown Adult Alternative Airplay With ‘Heartless’

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats’ “Heartless” ascends to No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart dated July 20.

The song reigns as the Rateliff-fronted act’s first leader since “Survivor” ruled for six weeks in 2021. In between “Survivor” and “Heartless,” Rateliff & the Night Sweats reached Adult Alternative Airplay with two tracks, paced by the No. 3-peaking “Face Down in the Moment” in 2022.

Prior to those leaders, the band scored No. 1s on the chart with “S.O.B.” in 2015, “You Worry Me” in 2018 and “Hey Mama” in 2019.

Rateliff boasts six total Adult Alternative Airplay No. 1s, as his solo-billed “And It’s Still Alright” also led for eight weeks in 2020.

Trending on Billboard

Concurrently, “Heartless” jumps 22-19 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 1.6 million audience impressions accrued in the week ending July 11, up 5%, according to Luminate. It’s the band’s first top 20 entry on the list since “Survivor,” which peaked at No. 7 in 2021.

In addition to its Adult Alternative Airplay success, “Heartless” is bubbling under the Alternative Airplay chart. The band has tallied three top 10s on the tally, on which it last appeared with “I’m On Your Side” (No. 40, 2022).

“Heartless” is the lead single from South of Here, Rateliff & the Night Sweats’ fourth studio set. It debuted at Nos. 16, 19 and 37 on the July 13-dated Americana/Folk Albums, Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock & Alternative Albums charts, respectively, with 10,000 equivalent album units earned.

All Billboard charts dated July 20 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, July 16.

12 Jul 2024

Here’s Every Artist Featured on Eminem’s ‘The Death of Slim Shady’ Album

Eminem is back. The Detroit legend reasserted his status as a titan in the rap game with his The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) album on Friday (July 12).

The Grammy-winning rhymer loaded up his 12th studio album — and first since 2020’s Music to Be Murdered By — with 19 songs and a pair of bonus tracks.

Prior to the LP’s arrival, Em urged fans to listen to the tracks in the order he sequenced since it’s a “conceptual album.”

“Public service announcement: the ‘death of slim shady’ is a conceptual album, therefore, if you listen to songs out of order they might not make sense,” he wrote. “Enjoy.”

Em kept some tricks up his sleeve when he left the special guests off the tracklist, but there was plenty of help from the likes of Jelly Roll, J.I.D, Skylar Grey, Big Sean, BabyTron and more.

From poignant letters to his children to dissing Diddy across multiple tracks, Em goes from diabolical madman to reflective father in a matter of seconds.

Eminem could be looking at his 11th consecutive solo LP atop the Billboard 200 when the tallies come in next week. He kicked off The Death of Slim Shady rollout in May with “Houdini,” which landed at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for his highest charting entry of the decade. He followed-up with “Tobey” featuring Big Sean and BabyTron earlier in July, which debuted at No. 95 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Here are all of the musicians featured on The Death of Slim Shady:

12 Jul 2024

Queer Jams of the Week: New Music From Clairo, Remi Wolf, Maren Morris & More

With summer in full swing, why not cool yourself down with a few new tracks from your favorite queer artists? Billboard Pride is proud to present the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ artists.

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From Clairo’s long awaited new LP to Remi Wolf’s funk-fueled new album, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:

Clairo, Charm



Throughout her already-impressive career, Claire Cottrill has proven herself as nothing short of a remarkable songwriter — and she further burnishes that reputation on Charm, the third full length LP from Cottrill’s better-known stage name Clairo. Throughout this lush new project, Cottrill drills down into the specificity and tenderness that made her a star in the first place, now pushing her sound even further with luxurious intstrumentation and production courtesy of Leon Michels.

Trending on Billboard

Remi Wolf, Big Ideas



Idiosyncratic song concepts are Remi Wolf’s bread and butter, so it should come as no surprise that her new album luxuriates as often as possible in its singularity. Big Ideas manages to take the sound and character Wolf has established through half a decade of musical output and expands them into an entire musical universe for her to populate. Funk remains in the driver’s seat across nearly every song, where Wolf waxes poetic about everything from toxic relationships to crippling loneliness to hotel sex. Big Ideas is chock-full of the thoughts you would hope an artist as endlessly interesting as Wolf would have, making for the most intoxicatingly effective project of her career.

Maren Morris, “I Hope I Never Fall in Love”



There is that moment post-breakup where you just know, with certainty, that you won’t put yourself through the pain of a relationship again — even though you also know that you’ll eventually cave. Maren Morris has given that moment it’s own song in “I Hope I Never Fall in Love,” a stunningly candid ballad that sees the singer diving head first into single life with a not-so-sunny outlook. Her echoing voice bounces off the spare instrumentation throughout this mid-tempo confessional, as she makes herself a vow: “Love, you only did me dirty,” she sings. “Forever was a f–kin’ lie, so goodbye.”

Salute, True Magic



They say that teamwork makes the dream work, and Salute is here to prove the saying correct. True Magic, the fast-rising producer’s third studio album, is built around the concept of collaboration, with nearly each new track seeing the DJ teaming up with yet another peer. With guest spots from Rina Sawayama, Disclosure, Empress Of and plenty of others, Salute takes their sound to brand new levels by embracing further evolutions and interpretations than ever before. With his singular artistic vision, Salute manages to spin beats into magic on this aptly-title new project.

Orion Sun, “Mary Jane”



With each successive release, Orion Sun underlines why she’s an essential artist to listen to today. “Mary Jane,” her latest off her forthcoming album Orion, sees the singer-songwriter trying to find something that can “take this pain away,” and finding her titular solution. With complex harmonies littered all throughout the song, Sun manages to seize your attention and command it even further on this sumptuous, euphoric new song.

Dua Saleh, “Want”



Indie-R&B up-and-comer Dua Saleh is tired of beating around the bush. They want to want you, and that’s exactly what they’re going to do. On their latest single “Want,” Saleh tells the story of a magnetic relationship — even when both parties know they shouldn’t, they just can’t help but be with one another. Saleh’s voice sounds more impeccable than ever, as their production (courtesy of Jason Suwito) manages to build up the song’s strong sense of desire until it reaches a zenith by the final chorus. Trust us, you’ll “Want” to hear this.

Check out all our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:

12 Jul 2024

ENHYPEN Talks ‘ROMANCE: UNTOLD,’ Entering Their Romance Era & More | Billboard News

ENHYPEN has officially entered their romance era with their new album, ROMANCE:UNTOLD, out now. The boys share what it was like to transition from a “darker” sound to a softer one, their favorite tracks off of the album, working with JVKE and more!

Heeseung: 
It’s difficult. 

Tetris Kelly:
What’d you say, Heeseung?

Jay: 
Truly an UNTOLD romance. You can check it out on the stage.

Tetris Kelly:
Oh! OK, we are waiting for that.

ENHYPEN:
Hey, we are ENHYPEN and you’re watching Billboard News.

Tetris Kelly:
Hey, what’s up? It’s Tetris with Billboard News, also known as the eighth member of ENHYPEN. How’s it going? You guys got a new album out, we are so excited to have you here to talk about it. ROMANCE: UNTOLD. I was so nervous when I saw the album title. I was like, “Oh my god, romance.” So tell me, why that album title?

Jungwon:
First off, our lead single is titled “XO (Only If You Say Yes).” Previously, our songs showcased powerful and dark sides of us. This time, we wanted to reveal more of our “boyfriend” sides. Like the album title, this lead single gives off a very romantic vibe. That’s why the album is titled ROMANCE:UNTOLD. You can feel the sweetness, right? We hope you’re excited for it!

Tetris Kelly:
And what’s something that you feel like the fans have UNTOLD to them now that you’re excited to share?

Heeseung:
It’s difficult. 

Tetris Kelly:
What’d you say, Heeseung?

Jay: 
Truly an UNTOLD romance. You can check it out on the stage.

Tetris Kelly:
Oh! OK, we are waiting for that. Oh man, and then the lead single, “XO,” talk to me about the song and why you guys decided that was the first one you wanted to put out.

Keep watching for more!