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SoCal’s high holiday of music festivals, Coachella, returned to Indio, California, this past weekend, April 10-13. As always, the event offered far more music than one person can possibly consume, with some of the biggest music stars in the world turning up and turning out across the festival’s many stages. As an acutely hot Friday […]

Janelle Monáe, RAYE and The Roots are all headed to Rhode Island this summer, with the musicians set to join dozens of other acts in holding down the 2025 Newport Jazz Festival taking place in the first few days of August.
As announced Tuesday (April 15), this year’s iteration of the iconic jazz music celebration will feature the above artists as well as Jacob Collier, Jorja Smith, Esperanza Spalding, Willow, Thee Sacred Souls, De La Soul, The Yussef Dayes Experience, Rachael & Vilray, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Dianne Reeves and Sofi Tukker. The Christian McBride Big Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Knower, Samm Henshaw, Cymande, Hiromi’s Sonicwonder, Kenny Garrett, Carrtoons and many more are also on the billing.

Taking place on three back-to-back days Aug. 1-3 at Fort Adams State Park, this year’s iteration of the festival will mark its 71st edition. Specially priced three-day passes became available for online purchase on a first come, first serve basis Tuesday, and on Thursday (April 17), more ticket packages will go on sale at 1 p.m. ET via DICE.

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Run by the Newport Festivals Foundation — which, in addition to running its iconic annual jazz and folk offerings, is dedicated to supporting music education and artist relief programs — Newport Jazz is one of the world’s longest running music festivals. Last year, the lineup featured André 3000, Laufey, Cory Wong, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Kamasi Washington, Elvis Costello, Brittany Howard, Robert Glasper, Thievery Corporation, Samara Joy, Noname, PJ Morton and more.

See the Newport Jazz Festival announcement and lineup below.

The MATI Festival and Conference is returning for its fifth edition in St. Louis, Missouri later this year, organizers announced on Tuesday (April 15). Taking place Sept. 12-14 in the Grand Center Arts District, the festival — which is leaning into the acronym for Music at the Intersection — will feature over 100 performances and presentations across three main stages and several nearby venues.

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This year’s headliners include rapper-actor Common with Pete Rock, R&B icon Patti LaBelle, hip-hop influencers De La Soul, jazz composer Branford Marsalis, recent Grammy winner Lucky Daye and neo-soul singer-songwriter Leon Thomas. Local trumpeter Keyon Harrold returns as MATI’s artist-in-residence, while Pedrito Martinez joins as the artist-at-large, performing across multiple sets.

With a new format and identity focused on celebrating “St. Louis Made” music, MATI honors the city’s heritage rooted in blues (the National Blues Museum is down the street), jazz, soul, R&B and more, alongside artists from culturally connected regions like the Caribbean and Mississippi Delta. Local artists such as Ryan Trey, The Baylor Project, Marquise Knox and Weedie Braimah will feature prominently.

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MATI’s footprint has also been tinkered with to provide a barrier-free experience, replacing a stage on Washington Avenue with food trucks, street performers and other family-friendly activities. Three main stages—The Big Top, Field Stage and The Sovereign —will host the headliners, while a new “MATI Places” initiative will activate adjecent indoor venues with acts, DJ sets, poetry slams, workshops, panels and keynotes, with the conference portion now spanning the full weekend.

Passes go on sale April 18 here, with weekend passes priced at $150. Special MATI Places-specific day passes will be available this summer.

Presented by the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, MATI is supported by the Steward Family Foundation and Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.

“If you’ve been to MATI, you can feel that it’s special,” said Chris Hansen, executive director of Kranzberg Arts Foundation. “It’s a microcosm of the city: all ages, races, ethnicities. No neighborhood divides. People who can afford tickets and people who can’t. All joyous. All together in the streets of Grand Center. We want to keep MATI a true, representative community experience.”

The lineup includes Common & Pete Rock, Patti LaBelle, Lucky Daye, Leon Thomas, De La Soul, Branford Marsalis, John Medeski’s Mad Skillet, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, The S.O.S. Band, The Budos Band, Leela James, Arooj Aftab, The Baylor Project, The Womack Sisters, Coco & Breezy, Pedrito Martinez, Keyon Harrold, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Pirulo Y La Tribu, Butcher Brown, Marquise Knox with Funky Brass Band, Brothers Lazaroff Super Friends, Weedie Braimah & The Hands of Time and more.

Just weeks after being named Billboard‘s 2025 Woman of the Year, Doechii is heading to the Create & Cultivate Festival to inspire women in business as the event’s headlining performer.
As announced exclusively by Billboard on Tuesday (April 13), the Swamp Princess will take the stage at Rolling Greens DTLA in Los Angeles in front of an audience of female executives, innovators and entrepreneurs on July 19. Billed as the “largest event for women in business,” the two-day festival will also feature speeches from Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles, Proper founder Amanda Kloots, TV personality Paige DeSorbo and more, as well as a keynote address from Ciara.

According to the event’s online schedule, attendees will experience back-to-back days filled with workshops, networking opportunities, start-up pitch competitions, live podcast recordings, investor meetings and more. Doechii will perform at the end of Day 1 on the Main Stage.

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“We’re pioneering a new type of event to better serve the needs of modern businesswomen said Create & Cultivate CEO Marina Middleton in a statement. “Most women-focused event experiences focus exclusively on empowerment or are reserved for side events of large industry-specific conferences built only for industry optics. The Create & Cultivate Festival will break down industry barriers to unite a newly formed community of ambitious women across business, tech, sports, entertainment, hospitality, finance and culture.”

For a festival about empowering women, it’s hard to think of a performer who’s better suited than the “Denial Is a River” rapper. In February, she became only the third woman to ever win the best rap album category at the Grammys thanks to her hit mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal, and in March, Billboard gave her top honors at the 2025 Women in Music Awards.

“I stand here as a fierce ally,” the Florida native said during her acceptance speech at the latter event. “This event was created out of a necessity. That word, necessity, is important. My mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal, was a space I created out of necessity. A space where I could feel seen, heard and connect with other people through experiences.”

“This is our motherf–king night to rightfully come together to acknowledge each other, support each other and to celebrate,” she added at the time. “We are the creators, we are the executives, we are the innovators who are just as central to this industry as the men. Clock it.”

All Things Go festival will return to the Washington, D.C. area this fall with headliners Noah Kahan, Lucy Dacus and Doechii, who will be performing her first-ever festival headlining slot. The three-day festival will also feature performances from Clairo, Kesha, The Marías, MARINA, DJO, Julien Baker & Torres, and Lola Young.  

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Set for Sept. 26-28, the festival returns to its iconic venue Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. The 11th edition of the festival promises another year of incredible performances from established and emerging artists across a myriad of genres, with the majority of artists identifying as women or non-binary.  With a welcoming and diverse environment, the festival has been dubbed “Gay-chella,” “All Things Gay” and “Lesbopalooza” over the years.  

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Additional performers include The Last Dinner Party, Faye Webster, Role Model, Wallows, Griff, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Lucius, The Beaches, Joy Oladokun, G Flip, The Backseat Lovers, Hippo Campus, Orion Sun, Bartees Strange, Gigi Perez, Ashe, Rachel Chinouriri, MICHELLE and Molly Grace.   

In 2023, the festival expanded from one to two days with performances from Lana Del Rey, Maggie Rogers, boygenius and Carly Rae Jepsen. In 2024, All Things Go added a simultaneous weekend in New York. The lineup announcement for ATG Festival 2025 in New York at Forest Hills Stadium will be announced soon.  

Tickets for the Merriweather Post Pavilion edition of the festival will go on sale Thursday at 10am ET. Public on sale will begin on Friday. Head here for tickets and the full DC-area lineup.  

Sen. Bernie Sanders made an unexpected appearance at Coachella 2025.
The 83-year-old Vermont independent took the stage at the Indio, California, festival on Saturday (April 12) to introduce Clairo and deliver a politically charged message.

“This country faces some very difficult challenges, and the future of what happens to America is dependent upon your generation,” Sanders told the crowd, according to Time. “Now you can turn away and ignore what goes on, but if you do that, you do so at your own peril. We need you to stand up and fight for justice, to fight for economic justice, social justice, and racial justice.”

At one point, after referencing the “President of the United States,” the audience responded with boos. “I agree,” he replied.

The longtime politician went on to criticize President Donald Trump’s stance on climate change. “[Trump] thinks that climate change is a hoax. He’s dangerously wrong,” the senator said. “And you and I are going to have to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and tell them to stop destroying this planet.”

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Sanders also addressed wealth inequality and corporate power. “We have an economy today that is working very well for the billionaire class, but not for working families,” he said, calling for action against insurance and pharmaceutical companies. “Healthcare is a human right,” he added.

The senator praised Clairo for using her platform to advocate for critical issues. “I’m here because Clairo has used her prominence to fight for women’s rights, to try to end the terrible, brutal war in Gaza, where thousands of women and children are being killed,” he said.

Later that evening, Sanders reflected on his appearance through X, posting a photo from the stage. “Thank you, Coachella. I enjoyed introducing the great @clairo tonight,” he wrote. “These are tough times. The younger generation has to help lead in the fight to combat climate change, protect women’s rights, and build an economy that works for all, not just the few.”

Earlier in the day, Sanders appeared at Los Angeles’s Gloria Molina Grand Park as part of his ongoing “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” tour alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The event also featured including Neil Young, Joan Baez and Maggie Rogers.

The Sanders-AOC tour has drawn thousands at rallies across Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. At a March 7 stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Sanders invited musician Laura Jane Grace to the stage to perform a provocative new song titled “Your God (God’s D—),” which sparked controversy online for its profane lyrics and religious themes.

Cactus Jack was always meant for the desert. Travis Scott told Complex he always wanted to headline Coachella — he even rapped about the decorated festival on ASTROWORLD’s “SKELETONS” and he took full advantage of the spotlight on Saturday night (April 12).

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La Flame was tasked with designing the desert, and he continued to push the envelope with his innovative world-building when it comes to his performances, which are simply unmatched in hip-hop at the moment.

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A 60-plus person marching band combining brass members from Jackson State’s Sonic Boom and Florida A&M University’s Marching 100 gave Scott’s “4×4” and anthems like “SICKO MODE” and “FE!N” a renewed texture and shelf life.

Scott had wrung about as much as he could out of the UTOPIA era and delivered on his promise of Coachella marking a “new chapter” for the Houston rapper.

La Flame previewed a pair of unreleased songs with the first being a lucid track that’s tentatively titled “She Goin Dumb.” “You getting wasted, just don’t waste mine,” he sings on the chorus. While the second finds Scott in a fun pocket on the smokey tune seemingly titled “On Jacques.” “We brought magic to the stu because it get tricky,” Trav raps.

It’s unclear if they’re intended to kick off Scott’s next solo effort or will end up on the JACKBOYS 2 compilation project, but it’s a welcome sign for where La Flame is headed sonically.

Scott is always looking for new ways to test the limits of what’s possible with his shows. He had dancers suspended in mid-air like the cover of NSYNC’s No Strings Attached album. They were flipped upside down like a pack of bats in the midst of the ethereal “Stargazing.” Tate McRae, a potent dancer in her own right, appreciated the theatrics and lent her stamp of approval on her IG Story from the crowd.

In a shoulder pad vest equipped with sunglasses and a Nike headband, Scott himself got in on the action to scale the stage’s stanchion wall while rappelling down and performing “Skyfall.”

The 33-year-old isn’t shy about how much Kanye West has meant to his career. Being a branch on the West artistic family tree, Scott having a model strut down the catwalk as the muse for “90210″ felt like something out of Ye’s “Runaway” playbook.

An interesting moment and perhaps olive branch to mend the fences with Drake came when Scott performed a mash-up of “Modern Jam” and Drizzy’s “NOKIA,” which comes on the heels of a “Modern Jam” and “NOKIA” blend that went viral on X from user Spectre earlier this year. It seemed to make it onto La Flame’s radar and he messed with it so much, it made the cut for his Coachella set.

The HBCU-led marching band gave Scott another avenue of creativity to explore as an orchestrator and made his performance art feel that much richer. Catalog anthems like “SICKO MODE” and “FE!N” felt like they received a fresh coat of paint with the brass band’s involvement in the arrangement meshing with Scott’s AutoTune-laced vocals. Of course, in typical Trav and DJ Chase B fashion, they had to run back the chaos of “FE!N” a few times.

The thrilling 70-minute solo set took fans on a rollercoaster ride through Scott’s career from when he was couchsurfing in the early 2010s looking for his break to becoming one of the most lucrative brands in all of music. Whether it was “Mamacita,” “Goosebumps,” the dreamy “My Eyes,” or his verses on Playboi Carti’s MUSIC, there was something representing every era of La Flame.

“That was a great set,” a fan was heard saying as “TELEKINESIS” and a firework show ended the night, while another attendee looked visibly emotional when the lights came on.

And perhaps the best part after everything? He’s still not satisfied, as the hunger for greatness remains. A photo emerged on social media shortly after Scott’s set of the Cactus Jack honcho back in the studio, tweaking tracks with the Coachella euphoria fueling him.

While Scott’s called arenas home for the majority of his past two U.S. treks, La Flame’s creativity thrives when the stakes are highest and venues are biggest. Buckle up, the next chapter is here.

Benson Boone made a memorable Coachella debut on Friday (April 11), lighting up the main stage with surprise guest Brian May for a powerful rendition of Queen’s iconic 1975 hit “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Wearing a white-and-blue outfit reminiscent of Freddie Mercury’s classic look, the 22-year-old singer delivered a high-energy set complete with his signature backflips. Midway through the performance, Boone sat at the piano to begin “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and moments later, May emerged dramatically from the top of the stage, guitar in hand, to join him.

The legendary Queen guitarist stuck around for Boone’s final song, “Beautiful Things,” adding signature Queen-style riffs to the emotional track, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2024.

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“It has changed my life this year and I hope you enjoy it,” Boon said prior to hit set, which was filled with fireworks and pyrotechnics.

May had teased the surprise appearance by posting a photo of himself and Boone on a plane headed to Palm Springs. “Look who I bumped into – on the way to the fabled Palm Springs,” May wrote on Instagram. “Maybe something will happen ?!”

Boone replied with a playful comment: “What are you doing with Pedro Pascal.” P!nk also joined in, commenting, “Perfect combo right here.”

During his set, Boone also announced that his second album, American Heart, is dropping on June 20. He premiered the title track and revealed the cover art, which shows him standing in front of an American flag.

Coachella’s opening day was packed with standout moments, including sets from Lady Gaga, Tyla, LISA, Mustard, and more. Catch Billboard’s full recap of day one here.

Coachella 2025 got off to both a literal and figurative hot start on Friday (April 11), with daytime temperatures in the desert hitting 100-degrees and a cavalcade of stars gracing the festival’s many stages. Among them were hip-hop legend Missy Elliott, South African star Tyla, pop queen LISA, rapper GloRilla and many others including Lady […]

Tens of thousands of music fans will descend on the California desert this weekend for the first of two iterations of the Coachella Music and Arts festival outside of Palm Springs, Calif.
Approximately 80,000 to 100,000 fans each weekend will have coughed up the $599 ticket price to see headliners Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, Green Day and Post Malone. But ticket price is often just the cost of entry — many of those fans will spend more than a $1,000 per weekend on lodging and cough up hundreds of dollars more for food, drinks and merchandise. It’s a substantial spend for any of the 20-somethings in Coachella’s target demographic. But festival organizers have increasingly helped finance their purchase through payment plan programs.

Approximately 60 percent of general admission ticket buyers at this year’s festival opted to use Coachella’s payment plan system, which requires as little as $49.99 up front for tickets to the annual concert. The desert festival isn’t alone — Lollapalooza, Electric Daisy Carnival and Rolling Loud all sell the majority of their tickets using some kind of payment plan system.

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Representatives at Goldenvoice, which puts on Coachella, declined to comment for this story. One source, who asked to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media, told Billboard that payment plans have fundamentally changed how festivals are marketed to the public.

“Festivals are now marketing a cheap down payment as their main call to action,” the source says. “The messaging is $20 down gets you in the door, or $50 down gets you started. It’s no longer about the artists, or the festival lifestyle — the message is, ‘You can afford this if you act today.’”

The same source told Billboard it’s not uncommon for some fans to have four or five different festival payment plans hitting their accounts at one time. Typically, fans pay as little as $19.99 to get started on a payment plan that’s extended over a period of several months — three months generally for Coachella, since most buying happens after the lineup is announced, which until 2025 took place in early January. This year, fans who signed up before Jan. 25 had their payments split into three payments, with the last payment hitting a user’s account in March.

The system is different than those of popular fintech payment-plan firms like Klarna, Affirm and Sezzle, which pay out the vendor in full and reimburse themselves by collecting the remaining payments from buyers. These firms make money from merchant and processing fees they collect from vendors and, in some cases, interest payments charged to customers that go beyond the terms of their original payment plan. Because firms like Klarna and Affirm essentially grant buyers credit, and often run credit histories on their users, they are heavily regulated under a number of state and federal financial frameworks.

The payment systems used by festival promoters are administered by ticketing companies like AXS, Ticketmaster and Frontgate, and are offered as a service in exchange for the festival promoter’s business. These systems are not considered credit providers since there’s no third party fronting the vendor the full price of the transaction. Instead, the vendor is paid out over time, as each payment goes through.

Ticket buyers are charged a $41 fee for using Coachella’s payment plan, similar to what other festivals charge fans for the use of payment plans. The fee is equivalent to approximately eight percent of the ticket price, which is still far cheaper than what a fan might pay for financing a ticket on their credit card. The revenue generated from this fee is split between the ticketing company and the promoter.

While some have criticized festivals for using fees as a revenue generator, fest organizer Bob Sheehan with the California Roots Festival in Monterey, Calif. tells Billboard that payment plans “are a critical link between fan affordability and generating the revenue needed to finance a modern multiday festival.”

Sheehan estimates that 65 percent to 70 percent of his festival attendees use payment plans to pay for their tickets and adds “the entire system is built upon trust — trust that we will deliver the experience we promised and trust that our fans will make their payments on time.”

If Coachella attendees miss their scheduled payments — typically, the attempt to debit their account is declined for insufficient funds or having an expired credit card — they are given 10 days to bring their account current. If the 10th day passes and the payment is not received, then the order is cancelled and the fan is issued a credit that can be used towards next year’s festival.

“Credit expires 12 months from issuance,” Coachella officials explain on their website. “No exceptions.”

Expired monies and credits — often referred to as “breakage” in business — are governed by state law, though one source says the revenue generated from breakage is miniscule.

“Most defaults happen after the initial deposit is made on the first payment — it’s very rare that a fan will default on tickets after two payments have been made, so the revenue from breakage is very low,” explains one source familiar with how festivals operate their payment plans. “All of the incentives for the promoter are that the fan pay off their ticket in full and attend the event so they can spend money on beer and parking and merchandise.”