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Kimbra Sets New Album, Signs With Inertia Music & PIAS: Exclusive

Kimbra returns with fresh music and a new label deal.

The two-time Grammy-winning artist signs with Inertia Music and the independent music company’s parent PIAS on a global basis, Billboard can exclusively reveal.

The first release through the new arrangement is “Save Me,” which drops Friday (Oct. 21) and is an early cut from her forthcoming album A Reckoning.

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“The whole team at Inertia are ecstatic to be working with the unparalleled talent that is Kimbra,” comments Cameron Walsh, Inertia’s director of label services for Australia and New Zealand. “Her new confessionally raw body of work will blow fans away and launch Kimbra into a new dimension. We’re incredibly excited for everyone to discover this striking new chapter.”

“Save Me” is accompanied by a dramatic music video, shot in Iceland by director Yvan Fabing.

Born in Hamilton, New Zealand, Kimbra released her debut album, Vows, in Australia in 2011. Later, the set was reworked and released on both sides of the Atlantic with additional tracks, including “Come Into My Head,” “Warrior” (featuring Mark Foster and DJ A-Trak) and a rendition of Nina Simone’s “Plain Gold Ring.”

The indie-pop artist’s career took flight with her contribution to Gotye’s global hit “Somebody That I Used To Know.” The song logged 8 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and she became the first female artist born in the ’90s to top the chart.

Kimbra made it a perfect two-from-two at the 55th Grammy Awards, winning record of the year and best pop duo/group performance for “Somebody.”

She went on to win best female artist for two successive years the ARIA Music Awards and snagged five New Zealand Tui Awards, including album of the year in 2012.

Following the success of her collaboration with Gotye, Vows bowed at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Her sophomore record The Golden Echo dropped in 2014, peaking at No. 5 in Australia, and No. 43 in the U.S.; her third LP, Primal Heart, came in 2018.

A Reckoning began taking shape in 2018, during Kimbra’s tour with co-producer Ryan Lott (Son Lux), and is due early next year, reps say.

“It’s the most sonically autonomous and confessionally raw she has ever been, finding influence in everything from modern movie soundtracks to electronic and industrial worlds,” reads an update.

Liz Truss Gets Hilariously Played Off U.K. TV to Taylor Swift‘s ’Blank Space’

So it’s gonna be forever… or it’s gonna go down in flames. Liz Truss may be out as U.K. prime minister, but one of the country’s major news channels sent her off with a montage set to a Taylor Swift smash.

While the outgoing politician lasted just 44 days in office before resigning, the cheeky tribute was particularly fitting considering she posted a selfie with the superstar back in 2019 while attending the BAFTAs.

A reporter for Channel 4 News opened the segment by saying, “Miss Truss said that her favorite song was ‘Blank Space’ by Taylor Swift. We’ll leave you with that and some images of her. Good night.”

From there, the montage reads as something of a Swiftie fancam as Tay’s voice sings, “Nice to meet you, where you been/ I could show you incredible things/ Magic, madness, heaven, sin/ Saw you there and I thought/ Oh my god, look at that face/ You look like my next mistake/ Love’s a game, wanna play?” over clips of the conservative politician’s short stint in office.

Naturally, the Twitterverse could hardly get enough of the video, with one fan writing, “IM IN TEARS THERES NO WAY CHANNEL 4 DID THIS HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAB #LizTruss.”

Meanwhile, Swift is just hours away from releasing her landmark 10th studio album Midnights at, obviously, midnight on Friday (Oct. 21). Funny enough, the rollout for the highly anticipated LP has actually lasted longer than Truss’ entire career as the U.K.’s shortest-serving prime minister.

Watch Truss’ brief reign as the top politician in Great Britain be memorialized to “Blank Space” below.

Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ Trailer Will Debut During Thursday Night Football: How to Watch for Free

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Countdown to Midnights! Taylor Swift will premiere the trailer for her heavily anticipated album during tonight’s (Oct. 20) Thursday Night Football game between the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals.

Thursday Night Football

Thursday Night Football: How to Watch Games on Prime Video for Free

The Grammy winner made the announcement in a video posted on Twitter on early Thursday. “Hey guys it’s Taylor, if you tune in to the Thursday Night Football game on Amazon Prime, I’m going to be showing a first look at the secret projects that I’ve been working on very hard for a very long time, for the Midnights album,” Swift explains in the short clip. “You would see it before the Midnights album came out, so meet me there?”

The Midnights teaser is scheduled to debut during the third quarter of the NFL game. Kickoff begins at at 8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 PT on Prime Video (live coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT).

If you’re a certified Swiftie, who doesn’t have Prime Video (or may not be familiar with the dashboard), here’s how you can check out the teaser for free.

For starters, Prime members get access to Prime Video at no additional cost. Join today and enjoy a free 30-day trial, so that you can be among the first Swifties to watch the Midnights teaser online.

Whether you’re a fan of music, sports, fashion, anime, movies and more, Prime Video has something for everyone. After your first free month, Amazon Prime will cost $14.99/month, or $139 for the annual plan.

Want to save money on your bill? Subscribe to Prime Student and get a six-month trial for just $7.49 a month. Amazon also provides 50% discounts for qualifying students and EBT/Medicaid recipients.

Amazon Prime members get exclusive deals, free same-day, one-day or two-day delivery on millions of items, two-hour grocery delivery through Amazon Fresh, unlimited photo storage, access to Prime Reading, Amazon Prime Music, Prime Gaming, a year free subscription to GruHub+, and tons of other great perks.

Amazon Prime

$14.99/month after 30-day free trial

% OFF

If you’re already subscribed to Amazon Prime of Prime Video, click here to stream Thursday Night Football. If you’re logged in from a mobile device, you’ll need the Prime Video app to stream on your smart phone or another device.

To watch Thursday Night Football on a TV, simply open the Prime Video app. The TNF logo should be featured in the carousel on the top left corner of your TV screen, if not, navigate to the search bar and enter “Thursday Night Football.”  

 Some of the many exclusives now streaming on Prime Video include performance specials, such as The Weeknd x Dawn FM Experience, along with must-watch shows and movies, including The Rings of Power, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Harlem, Invincible, Fairfax, Upload, The Wheel of Time, The Boys, Jungle, Making the Cut, A League of Their Own, and My Best Friend’s Exorcism.

Additionally, Prime Video allows subscribers to add BET+, AMC+, Showtime, Epix, Starz, Paramount+, and other channels.

A Quality Move: Luis Mexia Captures First No. 1 on a Billboard Chart With Grupo Firme Collab ‘Calidad’

Luis Mexia checks off a career milestone with his first No. 1 on a Billboard chart. The Mexican singer-songwriter leads the Regional Mexican Airplay chart (dated Oct. 22) thanks to his first collaboration with Grupo Firme: “Calidad” rises to No. 1 after two weeks in the runner-up slot.

“Calidad,” released via Music VIP on July 12, reigns in its ninth week on the ranking after it added 14% more in audience impressions, to 7 million, earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 16, according to Luminate.

It just took a bold move from Mexia to achieve the feat: a fan of Grupo Firme, Mexia used social media to announce his interest in recording a duet with the group’s lead singer Eduin Caz. He also plotted with his followers to support the idea. After the Tijuana-based group’s social media was bombarded with requests, Caz agreed, and a music video of the song followed.

The new champ earns Grupo Firme its sixth leader. The group has achieved a steady run of chart-toppers since its first No. 1 in June 2020 (through its featured role on Lenin Ramirez’s “Yo Ya No Vuelvo Contigo”).

Mexia, meanwhile, scores his first champ on any Billboard chart. Notably, only one other entry precedes “Calidad” in his chart career: “El De Los 20 ‘El Cachorra’,” with Enigma Norteño, which reached No. 33 on Regional Mexican Airplay in December 2021.

Beyond its Regional Mexican Airplay coronation, “Calidad” climbs 11-6 for a new peak on the all-genre Latin Airplay chart. It’s a fifth top 10 for Grupo Firme, while Mexia secures his first in his first try.

Lil Nas X Freaks Out Over Will Ferrell Coming to His LA Show: See Their Photo

Lil Nas X had a very special guest at his concert in Los Angeles on Wednesday night: none other than A-list actor Will Ferrell.

Following the show, the rapper couldn’t help but rave about meeting the funnyman, posting a photo of the two backstage at LA’s Crypto.com Arena with the caption: “WILL FERRELL CAME TO MY F—IN CONCERT ! nobody can tell me sh–.”

However, Lil Nas X did end up finding himself in some hot water after making a joke in the replies to his tweet. One follower asked, “Where is Will’s hand?” and the superstar responded, “he couldn’t resist getting a good hand full of this big fat a–. and i couldn’t say no tbh.”

And just like that, Uproxx ran a story with a headline treating the “Industry Baby” artist’s quip as serious, leading him to post a screenshot of the story and write, “This why i can’t joke around on twitter no more lmaoo.”

When he’s not modeling for Coach’s new “Courage to Be Real” campaign, the prankster has found plenty of other outlets for his practical jokes as of late, including prank-calling famous friends like Lizzo, Olivia Rodrigo and Troye Sivan with his wax figure at Madame Tussauds Hollywood.

During his ongoing Long Live Montero Tour, Lil Nas X has also sent pizza to religious protesters outside Fenway Park and stopped the show in Atlanta for an emergency bathroom break.

See Lil Nas X geek out over meeting Ferrell backstage below.

Madonna‘s ’Erotica’ Album at 30: Every Song Ranked From Worst to Best

There are Madonna albums with more hits (True Blue) and others with more critical acclaim (Ray of Light), but Erotica — the Queen of Pop’s fifth studio album — was a game-changing classic that found her at the peak of her powers as a pop provocateur. Released 30 years ago on Oct. 20, 1992 — in tandem with her scandalous Sex book, a coffee table tome featuring Isabella Rossellini, Naomi Campbell, Big Daddy Kane, Vanilla Ice, Tatiana von Fürstenberg and others — the LP showed that Madonna’s artistic ambitions were only getting bigger after the heights of 1989’s Like a Prayer. Enlisting “Vogue” producer Shep Pettibone and “Justify My Love” producer André Betts, she continued to push boundaries — and buttons — liberating her creativity as well as her sexuality.

The album was not as big of a hit as its predecessor, the blockbuster Like a Prayer, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, making it her first studio LP since her self-titled debut not to reach the pole position on that chart. And while four of its singles were top 40 hits on the Hot 100 – including the No. 3-peaking title track and the No. 7 hit “Deeper and Deeper” – some felt that was a disappointment compared to the No. 1 peaks reached by then-recent previous singles “This Used to Be My Playground,” “Justify My Love” and “Vogue.”

But 30 years later, it’s abundantly clear that Erotica paved the way for other pop divas — from Janet Jackson to Beyoncé to Christina Aguilera — who were willing to get their freak on. Here, we rank all 14 tracks on an iconic album that forever sexed-up pop music.

HarbourView Lands Biggest Acquisition to Date With SoundHouse Deal

While HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired the publishing or master recording royalties of an array of big-name artists such as Brad Paisley, Florida Georgia Line and Luis Fonsi since founder and CEO Sherrese Clark Soares launched the firm a year ago, her likely biggest deal to date—and one of the biggest deals by any acquirer in 2022— was for a bundle of music assets with far less star power but with a large economic punch.

Earlier this year, HarbourView Equity Partners, launched in October 2021, bought the little known but economically large SoundHouse Acquisitions LLC catalog, which includes some rights to some master recordings by the likes of Tech N9ne, Trey Songz, George Jones, Tenth Avenue North, Whiskey Myers and a heavy Latin music presence through the likes of Eslabon Armado, Natti Natasha, Lenin Ramirez and other Latin artists, sources say. Billboard estimates the deal went for about $325 million.

While that catalog consists mainly of royalty income payments for streams of sound recordings, the catalog is said to contain recordings from over 100 artists, consisting of about 10,000 songs that generate more than 10 billion streams annually. All told, SoundHouse’s 2021 income was put at about $24 million. Sources say that Shot Tower Capital shopped the catalog.

Prior to its acquisition by HarbourView, SoundHouse, founded in 2016, was known for approaching distressed labels and offering to buy their royalty income, mainly from the streaming of master recordings, at bargain-basement prices, sources say. SoundHouse also did deals with artists as well, but mainly by buying their streaming revenue from master recordings, leaving the artists to retain other income streams associated with their records. SoundHouse also sometimes only acquired income streams from some of the songs in an artist’s catalog, not all of them, one source suggested.

In addition, SoundHouse also acquired the assets of InPop Records, an indie contemporary Christian label based in Nashville. At the time of that deal, in February 2018, a press release said InPop was SoundHouse’s 15th acquisition and brought its catalog to over 3,500 recordings. MusicRow.com reported that deal represented SoundHouse’s third Christian music acquisition, and added that SoundHouse was backed by Spark Capital, Columbia Capital and Pinnacle Bank.

In any event, sources suggest that the HarbourView deal for SoundHouse carried a price tag that ranged anywhere from $250 million to $400 million. These days, master recording rights are trading for a 12-15 times multiple, although superstar recordings have been known to reach a 20-times multiple of net income, also known as net label share. Considering the catalog’s annual income and artist caliber, a 12-times multiple would price the catalog at $288 million, while a 15-times multiple would price it at $360 million. Consequently, Billboard estimates that the catalog sold for about $325 million.

That price puts it in the same size area as the deal for the Genesis/Phil Collins et al. master recordings/publishing catalog acquired by Concord in September. However, unlike that deal, the SoundHouse deal doesn’t include any publishing revenue, so that puts the SoundHouse deal up there as possibly the biggest deal of 2022 for recorded master assets, at least so far this year.

SoundHouse was founded by Michael Rosenblatt, an executive producer of 20 feature films such as Valley Girl and Teen Wolf. With the sale of the SoundHouse catalog, the company principals have started a new vehicle, with apparently the same mission of buying music income streams. That company is named round2media, and aside from CEO and president Rosenblatt, it also lists among its leadership team COO/CFO Jeff Patterson, formerly with Columbia Capital; senior vp of finance, accounting and administration Vanessa Jolie, who held a similar position at SoundHouse; and vp of business affairs Shara Yolkut, whose background includes a stint at EMI Music Publishing as vp of product operations.

Clarke Soares declined to comment for this story. Likewise, round2media’s Rosenblatt declined to comment for his story, beyond emailing a statement: “As a company, SoundHouse, and now round2media, considers the confidentiality of our transactions to be one of our ethical cornerstones. I can confirm that round2media is in the business of acquiring rights and royalties and has made multiple acquisitions to date. Please visit our website to learn more.”

Shakira’s 15 Best Collabs Ranked: Staff Picks

Shakira, the powerful rockera singer-songwriter from Colombia who we all came to know for her heart-wrenching ballads and pop anthems, didn’t really collaborate with any other well-known artists in the first decade of her career.

It wasn’t until 2005, when she released Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2, that she turned heads with superstar collaborations, the Alejandro Sanz-assisted “La Tortura” and “Hips Don’t Lie” with Wyclef Jean. The only other artists she featured in those two albums were Gustavo Cerati and Carlos Santana.

Since, Shakira has been more open to collaborations, teaming up with an elite list of partners that includes Maluma, Prince Royce, Maná and Black Eyed Peas, for songs that are also more experimental sonically — embracing urban-leaning beats and incorporating elements of reggaetón and bachata in her songs.

Her latest, “Monotonía” with Ozuna, is a quintessential Shakira song: it’s emotionally-charged lyrically. Powered by a bachata tune, Shak doesn’t hold back and is as honest as one can get singing about heartbreak and the end of what seemed to be a perfect relationship.

Released Wednesday (Oct. 19), the Colombian star starts off declaring: “It wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t my fault. It was monotony’s fault. I never said anything but it hurt. I knew this would happen.” “Monotonía” follows her Rauw Alejandro-assisted “Te Felicito,” which topped Billboard‘s Latin Airplay chart. Both songs follow Shakira’s very public breakup from her longtime partner, and father of her two children, soccer star Gerard Piqué.

In honor of Shakira’s new collab with Ozuna, below, check out Shakira’s 15 best collaborations, according to Billboard‘s Latin editors, ranked.

Here Are Shakira & Ozuna‘s ’Monotonia’ Lyrics Translated to English

The release of Shakira and Ozuna‘s “Monotonía” on Wednesday (Oct. 19) has fans wondering what the title word means, and about the song’s lyrics overall. Both were trending topics in search engines on Thursday morning (Oct. 20).

“Monotonía” — the first single that the Colombian star has released since the announcement of her breakup from Gerard Piqué, and following “Te Felicito” with Rauw Alejandro — means “lack of variety in anything,” according to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy. At the same time, different reference sources cite “tedium” or “boredom” as synonyms.

“It wasn’t your fault, nor was it mine; it was the monotony’s fault/ I never said anything, but it hurt/ I knew this would happen,” Shakira sings through tears in the song’s music video, which generated more than 10 million views within 14 hours of its release on YouTube.

Below, read the full lyrics translated to English:

It wasn’t your fault, nor was it mine
It was the monotony’s fault
I never said anything, but it hurt me
I knew this would happen

You were doing your thing and I was doing the same
Always looking for prominence
You forgot what we were one day
And the worst thing is that

It wasn’t your fault, nor was it mine.
It was the monotony’s fault
I never said anything, but it hurt me
I knew this would happen

Suddenly you were no longer the same
You left me because of your narcissism
You forgot what we were one day
Hey hey hey

You were distant with your attitude
And that filled me with anxiety
You didn’t even give half
But I do know that I gave more than you
I was running for someone
That wasn’t even walking for me
This love has not died
But it’s delirious
Now of what there was, there is no more
I tell you honestly
You are cold like Christmas
It’s better that this is over now
Don’t repeat the movie to me again, I already saw it
Baby, I love you, but I love myself more
It’s a necessary goodbye
What was once incredible became a routine
Your lips don’t taste like anything to me
Now it’s all the opposite
And the worst thing is that

It wasn’t your fault, nor was it mine
It was the monotony’s fault
I never said anything, but it hurt me
I knew this would happen

You doing your thing, and I was doing the same
Always looking for prominence
And you forgot what we were one day
Hey hey hey
Ozuna
Hi Music Hi Flow

Halsey Says Gwen Stefani ‘Has Always Been a Huge Inspiration’ for Her Music

Halsey premiered her new Amp radio show Halsey: For the Record this week, and during the debut episode, they opened up about looking up to Gwen Stefani.

“Gwen is definitely one of those artists,” the “I Am Not a Woman, I Am a God” singer said. “When people ask me who inspires my music…Gwen has always been a huge inspiration for me from like wearing white tank tops onstage and low-rise pants to wearing my hair in space buns, to doing my own makeup, because Gwen used to and still does. I think she has a cosmetic company as well. Shout-out Gwen.

“Every night before I go onstage, I watch Tragic Kingdom Live at the Forum,” Halsey continued. “That’s another way that she inspired me – let’s be honest here. [No Doubt‘s] record is called Tragic Kingdom, mine was called Hopeless Fountain Kingdom … those little breadcrumb trails are kind of all over the place.”

No Doubt’s “Spiderwebs” (from Tragic Kingdom) was on the playlist for the first episode, as were PJ Harvey’s “Down by the Water,” BOA’s “Duvet” and Halsey’s own “You Asked for This.”

Stefani and her bandmates dropped their smash third album in October 1995, while Halsey’s sophomore LP was released in November 2017 — though both studio sets served as each artist’s very first (and so far only) No. 1 on the Billboard 200 of their respective careers. (Stefani would go on to score another chart-topper as a solo artist thanks to 2016’s This Is What the Truth Feels Like.)

Back in August, Halsey took part in the viral “Teenage Dirtbag” trend that swept through TikTok. Meanwhile, Stefani is currently battling it out on her sixth season as a coach on The Voice.

Listen to Halsey’s radio show on Amazon’s live radio app here.