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Billboard’s Dance Moves roundup serves as a guide to the biggest movers and shakers across Billboard’s many dance charts — new No. 1s, new top 10s, first-timers and more.
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This week (on charts dated Nov. 22, 2025), Calvin Harris and Jessie Reyez crown the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart with “Ocean.” It becomes Harris’ 18th No. 1 at the format and Reyez’s first career No. 1 on any Billboard chart. Plus, chart moves for DJ Snake, Fred again.., Danny Brown and nate band.
Check out the key movers below.
Calvin Harris & Jessie Reyez
In July 2017, Jessie Reyez debuted on Billboard’s charts for the first time, thanks to her featured appearance on Calvin Harris’ “Hard to Love,” which debuted and peaked at No. 30 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. Now, eight years later, she reaches No. 1 on a Billboard chart for the first time, also thanks to a Harris collaboration.
Harris and Reyez’s “Ocean,” released Sept. 5 on Columbia Records, rises 3-1 on the latest Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. It earns Harris his 18th No. 1 at the format and Reyez her first No. 1 on any Billboard chart.
Harris’ 18 No. 1s mark the second-most in the chart’s 22-year history. Here’s an updated look at the artists with the most No. 1s:
19, David Guetta
18, Calvin Harris
12, Rihanna
10, The Chainsmokers
8, Ellie Goulding
7, Anabel Englund
7, Madonna
7, Tiësto
“Ocean” is Harris’ second No. 1 of 2025, following “Blessings,” featuring Clementine Douglas, in July. Before that, he notched three leaders in 2024 (“Free,” “Lovers in a Past Life” and “Body Moving”). Harris has now spent 108 total weeks at No. 1 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay, extending his record.
Although this is her first No. 1, Reyez has had a steady presence on Billboard’s rankings since her chart arrival. She’s charted five songs on the Hot R&B Songs chart and earned radio hits on Alternative Airplay, Latin Airplay, Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay. Plus, her album Before Love Came to Kill Us reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 in 2020.
DJ Snake
The Algerian-French DJ banks his third entry on the Top Dance Albums chart as his new album, Nomad, debuts at No. 7 with 6,000 equivalent album units earned, according to Luminate. His previous two entries, 2016’s Encore and 2019’s Carte Blanche, both hit No. 1. The new project includes collaborations with J Balvin, Travis Scott, Peso Pluma and Stray Kids, among others.
One of the album’s breakout tracks, “Tsunami,” featuring Future and Scott, debuts at No. 6 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. It earns DJ Snake his 12th top 10 on the chart. The J Balvin collab, “Noventa,” spent a week at No. 1 on Latin Airplay in October.
Fred again..
The superstar debuts two tracks on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart: “Beto’s Horns (Fred Remix)” with Argentinians CA7RIEL and Paco Amoroso (No. 15), and “Talk of the Town” with Sammy Virji and Reggie (No. 24).
The former becomes CA7RIEL and Amoroso’s first U.S. chart hit, following four entries on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100. “Beto’s Horns” was boosted by a mix with Ezra Collective. As for “Talk of the Town,” the song is a remix of Irish rapper Reggie’s 2022 track of the same name.
Both “Beto’s Horns (Fred Remix)” and “Talk of the Town” are part of Fred’s ongoing USB project — a concept beginning in 2022 that he’s called an “infinite album,” with new one-off mixes being released continuously.
Fred again.. has now charted 32 tracks on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, all since 2021.
Danny Brown
The trailblazing rapper appears on Billboard’s dance charts for the first time, as his new album Stardust debuts at No. 25 on Top Dance Albums with 3,000 units.
Stardust marks a fresh sonic turn for Brown, who has long embraced experimenting with new genres and styles. The project features Brown’s signature raps and leans into EDM and hyperpop textures. It includes guest appearances from genre fixtures Frost Children, Jane Remover and underscores.
Prior to Stardust, Brown charted four albums on the Billboard 200 and two top five entries on Top Rap Albums.
nate band
The up-and-coming DJ claims his first career entry on Billboard’s charts as “Miss Your Body” debuts at No. 14 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. The track, released Oct. 17 via moshpit projects/Thirty Knots, opens with 1.1 million official U.S. streams.
The vocals on “Miss Your Body” are sung by Lily Kaplan, who’s credited as a cowriter and coproducer on the track. She previously wrote songs for Central Cee, Ice Spice, Lil Durk, Stormzy and $uicideboy$. She reached the Billboard Hot 100 as a cowriter and coproducer on Ice Spice and Central Cee’s “Did It First” (No. 51 peak, 2024).
Band has released two other songs on DSPs: “Drugs I Like” (plus a remix with AVELLO) and “Falling.”
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Charli xcx’s original idea has been turned into a film, which also features the British pop star playing a fictionalized version of herself, and A24’s The Moment released its first trailer on Thursday (Nov. 20).
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The chaotic teaser sees her diving into a reimagined version of her Brat era. Charli’s artist name and her 2024 album are used throughout the clip, which finds the singer preparing for her first arena world tour while navigating the turbulence of fame and a spotlight that’s burning brighter than ever.
“When I felt like people started to care about me, nothing else mattered,” Charli says in the trailer. “Nothing was more important than Brat.”
2026 is shaping up to be a busy campaign for Charli on the silver screen, with the Aidan Zamiri-directed movie coming to theaters on Jan. 30.
The Idol’s Rachel Sennott, award-winning actor Alexander Skarsgård and reality mogul Kylie Jenner are set to appear in the film alongside Charli. The rest of the cast includes Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Rish Shah, Jamie Demetriou, Arielle Dombasle, Hailey Benton Gates, Trew Mullen, Mel Ottenberg, Richard Perez, Isaac Powell, Shygirl and A. G. Cook.
The Moment serves as Zamiri’s feature directorial debut, while Charli xcx is on board as a producer through her Studio365 production company.
As far as the rest of her film endeavors, Charli xcx is slated to deliver multiple original songs for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights adaptation, and the first arrived with “House” earlier in November. The 33-year-old also notched roles in upcoming projects including Daniel Goldhaber’s remake of Faces of Death, I Want Your Sex, The Gallerist, 100 Nights of Hero and Sacrifice.
Watch The Moment‘s trailer below.
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Last fall, Kito and her good friend Blue May spent a lot on the couch at her house in L.A., binge-watching Couples Therapy and discussing the trajectories of their respective careers. Both producers had recently come out of relationships, and they decided they were ready to focus on not only working, but working on something great.
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“We were like, ‘We’ve got to make some s–t happen that we believe in so hard,’” Kito says.
Call it fate or good luck or hard work paying off, but the binge-watching sessions ended a few weeks later, when May got a call from his old friend and previous collaborator Lily Allen. She wanted to make an album, and she was coming to Los Angeles, and more specifically to May’s house in the Hollywood Hills, to do it.
May brought Kito into the project, and with that they were off the couch and in May’s home studio, making some s–t happen that they believed in so hard and that millions of people around the world would eventually believe in too.
An electronic artist and multi-genre producer from Australia who’s lived in Los Angeles since 2018, Kito has a long list of releases on labels including Diplo’s Mad Decent, Astralwerks and Sweat It Out, along with her ongoing Club Kito party at The West Hollywood Edition hotel, events to which surprise guests including Empress Of, A-Trak, Diplo, Mallrat and Tove Lo have shown up. As of October, she also has co-producing credits on eight tracks of Allen’s confessional smash West End Girl.
“I mean, it feels like a new chapter starting,” the artist born Maaike Kito Lebbing says over Zoom from her house, her cat intermittently walking in and out of frame. In addition to working on West End Girl, Kito released a grip of excellent tracks in 2025 and has also executive producer on A Girl Is a Drug, the seven-track EP from DJ/musician/choreographer Parris Goebel that’s out Thursday (Nov. 20). (Goebel is globally known to pop fans for her choreography for superstars like Beyoncé, Rihanna and Justin Bieber, recently becoming a close collaborator of Lady Gaga’s for her Mayhem videos and tour.)
“There were days when I’d be working with everyone on the Lily album, and then I’d be recording with Parris in the evening, and it’s just like, the complete opposite energy — going from just [the Lily project] to club bangers,” Kito explains.
But dipping into, and in fact helping build, the sounds and worlds of other artists has been Kito’s focus for a while. Her career started in Australia when she got into electronic music, then started collecting records and DJing parties. Upon moving to London, she “lived in a five bed share house with a bunch of creatives and got paid cash to DJ” while scoring releases on Skream’s Disfigured Dubz label and generally exploring dubstep, lo-fi and other genres of the day.
She liked this bopping around between sounds and scenes, a sensibility that would inform her later work. “I think that’s why I’m really in my element as a producer for other artists,” Kito says, “because it feels so fun to get into someone’s world and explore it. It’s like being in a different band all the time. I really like that, because I get bored doing the same thing.”
Back in London, things leveled up for her again when began sending out demos, with a beat she sent to Diplo eventually sampled on Trinidad James’ 2013 song “Female$ Welcomed.” This led to her first publishing deal (“I didn’t even know what publishing was,” she says now), with her original James-sampled track eventually used in a Victoria’s Secret campaign.
Compelled by people in her London community who were simultaneously making their own music while also producing for other artists, she moved to L.A. in 2018 to pursue this type of dual path. In SoCal she felt more “invited into rooms that maybe I wouldn’t have been invited into in London, because London is a smaller scene, and people focus on what you’ve done. Coming here people were more like, ‘Oh, you’ve got a different perspective.’”
While experimenting with production techniques, she made loads of music that she just released under her Kito project, which drew the attention of labels in L.A. and resulted in more than two dozens single and EP releases since 2018. But the goal was never to become a jet-setting DJ.
“I’m really proud of the stuff I’ve put out on my artist project, but it’s definitely been me trying stuff as a producer and loosely fitting in the large umbrella of dance music,” Kito says. “I don’t really have a crazy career as a DJ because I don’t know if people know what they’re going to get [from my work.]”
But while her sound vacillated between dancefloors anthems and more indie singer songwriter type fare, she realized she had a superpower in her ability to bridge underground music and pop: “I realized I needed to lean more into what I’m coming to the table with, which is my unique perspective and the more underground music that I’ve been always into. It was always too pop for the underground, and too underground for pop. My palette is a little bit left-of-center, but I love pop music.”
This symbiosis of tastes made Kito the perfect fit to work on left-of-center pop music. She’s got producing credits for artists including Fletcher, Jorja Smith and Empress Of, and also spent 16 days in late 2024 working with May, Allen and a crew of collaborators on West End Girl.
“Blue called me and said, ‘Lily’s coming over to do music and wants to try to do an album. Do you want to do it with us?’” Kito recalls. “I was like, ‘Obviously yes, let’s do it.’”
Kito had actually worked with Allen once before in 2019. Based on that experience and the knowledge Allen wanted to work fast, had the idea to “just rope in all our friends that we know who are great and that everyone’s really comfortable with and see how that feels.”
This social alchemy worked, as a crew including Allen, May, Kito, and a collection of songwriters, producers and instrumentalists — including Chloe Angelides, Chrome Sparks, Alessandro Buccellati, Micah Jasper, Oscar Scheller, Leroy Clampitt, Leon Vynehall, Violet Skies and Hayley Gene Penner — set up shop in the pair of recording spaces May set up in his home.
“It was really special working with Blue, because he’s so good at shutting out the noise of the music industry, and so is Lily,” says Kito. “It was like, ‘This is going to be a little bubble and a world that we’re going to create.”
Gathered with Kito and May, Allen unveiled the themes of the album, which is allegedly about her separation from actor David Harbour amid his infidelities. “She wrote all the song names down in order and told us what she wanted to do the album about,” says Kito. “I mean, she filled us in on everything. We had a big cry and spent a couple hours drinking coffee and just catching up. Then she was like, ‘Okay, let’s do the album.’ I was like, ‘Are you sure?’”
Allen was sure, with the project’s instant rapid pace being “quite unsettling for me,” says Kito, “because I’m used to doing a lot and then picking the best of it. So this was really exciting, but also terrifying. I would be calling Blue like, ‘Hang on a minute. Don’t we need more time?’ But I think he’s such a brilliant quick decision type of person and is so good at trusting his instincts that it gave me confidence to trust mine. I actually don’t think I would have thrown myself into working with Parris this year if I hadn’t come off the back of that process with Lily.” (For his part, upon the album’s release May wrote to Kito on his Instagram that “this record would literally not exist without you! … You brought so many key people into this project – alongside your own insane talent!”)
With two high-profile projects on her 2025 resume, Kito says new opportunities are being presented for her and everyone that worked on West End Girl: “We’ve all been here doing the same work, but this is what happens when one thing connects, it opens doors in a great way. I’m so happy. I’m like, ‘What’s next year gonna be like?’”
While the calendar is quite yet clear, what’s obvious is that there’ll be less binge-watching on the couch and more making s–t happen that Kito believes in, so hard.
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There’s a reason that New York University is a perennial honoree on Billboard’s Top Music Business Schools list each year: There aren’t too many universities where students can sit down for an exclusive Q&A with industry behemoth Clive Davis and 21st century hitmaker Mark Ronson on a casual Tuesday night to hear insightful, revealing stories about everyone from Aretha Franklin to Adele.
On Tuesday (Nov. 18) night in Manhattan, a couple hundred industry power players, artists, educators and students at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts/Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music sat down to watch an unreleased film (a visual mixtape, really) spanning Davis’ legendary career, a run that saw him boost everyone from Billy Joel to Aerosmith to Patti Smith to Whitney Houston to TLC to Brooks & Dunn to the top. Do You Remember? — first screened at Davis’ 90th birthday and produced by Ronson, Erich Bergen and DJ Earworm — was followed by a Q&A between Davis and Ronson moderated by Anthony DeCurtis.
Both Davis and Ronson have written acclaimed memoirs about their very different careers (Ronson’s book, Night People: How to Be a DJ in ’90s New York City, came out just this year), but much of the discussion covered territory that was brand new or vaguely familiar to the student body in the audience. “Just hit after hit after hit!” exclaimed one astonished student after the screening. “So many different eras.”
What’s fascinating about Davis isn’t just that he was “The Man With the Golden Ear,” but the fact that he refused to do one genre at a time, working with Barry Manilow while also helping Earth, Wind & Fire, or giving the Grateful Dead a late-career win around the same time he was working with golden-age rap group Whodini and sax juggernaut Kenny G.
Guided by DeCurtis (who assisted Davis’ memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life), Davis regaled the crowd with stories about Aretha Franklin’s four bodyguards eating their way up to a massive bill at three-Michelin star Manhattan restaurant Le Bernardin and John Lennon explaining why he didn’t need to listen to the radio to make music: “Do you think Picasso goes to the galleries to see what’s being painted?“ (Lennon, incidentally, had this to say when Davis introduced himself in a diner: “I read Billboard. I know who you are.”)
Ronson also shared some wisdom with the crowd of aspirants, telling students that he only broke through (with Amy Winehouse, incidentally) when he stopped chasing trends and focused on making music he loved — and that sometimes you have to eat crow at a songwriting session and admit that someone else’s idea is better.
Whitney Houston, who was discovered and signed by Davis and remained a lifelong friend until her passing in 2012, was naturally touched upon, though Davis refused to answer the loaded question “Aretha or Whitney” when it reared its head. He did, however, share that at one point, Houston wondered if she should start cowriting her own material, given that Madonna and Janet Jackson did so. His response? If you’re going to do it, the standard to reach is “The Greatest Love of All” (a three-week No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986). Davis said that after that exchange, she never brought up the idea again.
Though both men have enjoyed very different careers, that story tips to a through line in the Q&A — whether you’re a singer, a songwriter or an executive, you need to know when it’s time to put your foot down and when it’s time to take the L. Because as both Davis and Ronson have demonstrated over the course of their lengthy careers, you can suffer defeat and still emerge victorious when the dust has settled.
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Kelly Lee Owens has one of the most distinctive signature sounds in modern British electronic music, singular for the way she conjures shades of tranquillity and healing through surging buildups, layered organic samples (from laughter to a melting glacier) and wordless cooing. Her live shows make display of just how dynamic this mix can be, offering fans the space to not only hear and feel but tangibly connect with the music; to move together, unselfconsciously.
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When the Welsh producer hit the road last fall in support of her fourth studio album Dreamstate, she would see this manifesto come to life during one particularly transcendent moment in her set. As the chorus of “Melt!,” a track from her 2020 LP Inner Song, began to descend, Owens would routinely point at one bright-eyed audience member on the barrier and cry out: “Girls love techno!” The floor would erupt in response.
“People felt part of a special moment each time I did that,” she recalls, speaking to Billboard U.K. over Zoom from her grandparents’ home on the north Welsh coast, where she is recuperating from a busy festival season. “The idea of community is really important to me – I want to be able to live it out in the work that I do.”
Owens is preparing to release new EP KELLY (due Nov. 21) via DH2, a dance-focused Dirty Hit label imprint headed up by The 1975 drummer and producer George Daniel. The project – which sees Owens swap Dreamstate’s gauzy, multi-coloured synths for a mix of murky bass and ambient pieces that drift, flow and cascade – was first teased at Glastonbury Festival this past summer, where the San Remo stage played host to a DH2 takeover featuring Owens, Sampha, Daniel Avery and more.
The backdrop to Owens’ midnight set was a revolving door of star power. Daniel and his partner Charli xcx stood by the DJ’s side, while eagle-eyed fans spotted actors Jenna Ortega, Paul Mescal and Harris Dickinson make fleeting appearances on stage. At one point, Lewis Capaldi told Owens that he loved her music, she remembers, before adding that she sent Gracie Abrams a ‘Girls Love Techno’ t-shirt following that fateful night: “She’s super sweet!”
In May, Owens doubled down on her commitment to making her shows a safe, collaborative space for both artist and audience alike. In order to help protect the live ecosystem, she became a patron of the Music Venue Trust, and her ongoing advocacy has seen her commit to capping ticket prices and performing at smaller venues (including those off the beaten track, such as Bethesda’s Neuadd Ogwen), for an upcoming U.K. mini-tour, alongside using her platform to speak out on the issues that matter.
Owens self-described mission is to “not stay quiet when there’s a problem,” and push for better protections surrounding independent venues in the U.K. Here, she talks to Billboard U.K. about her work with the MVT, cherished Glastonbury memories, and the joy of her ongoing ‘Girls Love Techno’ campaign.
Take us back to the DH2 Takeover at Glastonbury, which gave impetus to this new EP. What was so special about that night?
It was wild. I was finishing the EP that week about 20 minutes from the festival site, and at the time, I knew I was working towards testing out these new demos at Glastonbury. As a DJ, it is always a privilege to get to test these things out and see the reactions of people.
When it got to the DH2 Takeover later on, I just couldn’t believe the energy. It felt like everything the label had been working towards had culminated in that moment; it couldn’t have been a better representation for what we wanted to do and achieve. The backstage was crazy, too. I was getting texts like, “Can you come and get Lorde?” I think Jenna Ortega was there, and obviously Charli [xcx] came from her set to support us. All of this just cemented what we understand and feel to be the family energy surrounding this project.
KELLY feels a little darker, more ambient in some moments. Why did you decide to explore that sonic direction?
My first album was self-titled because that was going to be the purest thing I’d ever made, without expectation: I was just creating freely, in its purest form. But I would say, as a woman in music, you can rise and get to a certain point and then people will knock you down. As an artist, people have certain expectations of you, so what I like to do is switch things up. Dreamstate was pop-facing, and when you’re sort of an ‘underground darling’, not everyone is going to like that.
But you don’t get to put me in any box, I’m just gonna f–king make whatever! I’m really quite angry at the moment, actually, so let me just go ahead and make some Prodigy-esque sounds that reflect how I feel, and sort of say, ‘F–k you.’ That’s why the project is called KELLY, because there’s still a question of, ‘Who the f–k is Kelly?’. I don’t think there’s one answer to that; I’m still exploring and trying to understand who I am as an artist.
Your ‘Girls Love Techno’ t-shirts have a rallying point in the scene. Why did you first decide to create them, and what do they signify for you personally?
I got a little bit tired of people creating merch for the sake of creating merch. I don’t necessarily feel it’s the most interesting thing to have my name on a t-shirt; however simple it sounds, “Girls Love Techno” is a statement. People often say, “Why are we still talking about women and girls liking techno, making music, being producers?” Well, I’m sorry, but we have to, because the needle hasn’t shifted as far as it needs to.
For me, it comes down to someone who gets to see the front and the back end of things, in terms of fees and payment. It is about people putting their money where their mouth is. As far as I’m concerned, for people who are performing at the same level as me, if they’re a guy, they’re likely to be paid more for the simple reason that they’re a man. I wanted to make a statement that allowed people to feel included in something.
How else do you see the phrase “Girls Love Techno” functioning as the EP campaign rolls on?
We headlined Venue MOT in south London with an all-femme lineup, and it just felt like such a beautiful, positive space for the night. We’re trying to reinforce this by touring small underground clubs, and making sure that the support acts feel safe. Also, recently, I did a Foundation FM show, and we had debbiesthuglife [London DJ Debbie Ijaduola] as the opener, following a competition I ran. I have to be the one to set an example of changing things in a small way. There are still issues surrounding live music and accessibility, but I am doing my part.
I hope it becomes a statement that creates an idea of inclusivity and makes people become aware of women’s experiences in this scene. You know, I look back to my early career and realise that I had to become more masculine in how I dressed and acted in order to be taken seriously. I have a curvaceous body, but when I first started out [as a DJ], I felt like I had to cover it up. It makes me sad to think about that time, as you can look however you want to look and still be a great producer. It’s just so obvious to say this, but unfortunately a lot of bias still exists in the music industry.
Small clubs form the route of your upcoming mini-tour. How do you see your work with the MVT linking to the survival of those spaces?
I’m someone who’s always been action-oriented. I think that’s due to where I come from: in Wales, you have to fight for what you believe, and you have to put yourself forward to create real, meaningful change.
The MVT works to find aid for venues to be genuinely protected in the sense of the law. Fundamentally, we can talk about the effects and the beauty of the community, but at the end of the day, there are certain people who only talk in a specific language, and so if that’s how they speak, then we meet them there.
I think that’s really empowering. It reminds me of coming into this industry over 10 years ago and learning the business first. I knew that, without understanding the business and the law of something, you can’t be protected. The work that the MVT does is so vital for our current times.
What kinds of structural reforms do you think could actually make a difference in this current, fractured climate for live music?
I think the venue levy is wonderful, but once again, why is it back on the artist to put the money back in? When you become a bigger artist, you should give back, so I do. But where are the booking agencies whose jobs rely on artists to tour? How are they reinvesting? Or ticket companies? None of these people have a job without us artists – it really, really riles me up.
This power imbalance is so disturbing and I’ve had enough of it. I call upon booking agencies, management companies, publishers, record labels and bigger corporations to reinvest in the future of artists. Otherwise, you’re not going to have future headliners in this country, except for perhaps people who – and this is another conversation – come from a wealthy background. The industry itself needs to show us that they care about the future of artistry.
How have your own experiences of touring informed your sense of community, and who gets to partake in the culture?
From ticket prices to my production, I have invested so much money and lost so much money over the past decade. Prices of my live show are actually going to rise because I can’t pay the people who are doing it without that – it’s something that naturally has to happen. But then when that does happen, you cut out a whole wave of people. Usually, it’s kids that suffer here, as they may not be able to afford to go to shows.
Once again, this comes back to the government and having people reinvest in the industry, so that a certain amount of tickets can be covered at reduced price. If everyone could agree to that, we would see a difference locally. Maybe that’s controversial, but I know that a £35 ticket wouldn’t have been accessible to me when I was 18. It’s about us helping each other with these burdens and strengthening the local community. Obviously we know these things are quite hard to implement, but I think we need to at least be having conversations.
So how do you stay optimistic about the future of live music in the U.K.?
Artists are resilient people. A lot of us have already been through a lot, and through that have created something beautiful. That’s what we do. We always have hope, and we have this way of transforming things and speaking the truth. There’s a strength there that can’t be broken somehow.
Northern Ireland rap trio Kneecap dropped a surprise drum & bass single, “No Comment,” on Tuesday (Nov. 18), a track the Belfast group said in an Instagram post is “all about the police witch-hunt against Mo Chara.”
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The latter reference is to the terrorism charge against MC Chara (born Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh), with the song taking on the legal action launched by British authorities against Chara that was thrown out of court in September on a technicality.
The provocative group added the messages, “Free Palestine. Free the 6 counties. F–k the peelers,” references, respectively, to the group’s support of the Palestinian people and advocacy for a Palestinian homeland, the slogan used by Irish nationalists in reference to six counties in Northern Ireland as part of a push to end British rule in the territory and a slang phrase denigrating the police.
The two-minute-long collaboration with DJ/producer Sub Focus was accompanied by cover art by enigmatic British street artist Banksy in the form of one of his signature murals in which a protestor is seen in shadow lying on the ground trying to protect himself from a judge threatening to hit him with a gavel.
The song’s mostly Irish-language lyrics hit on Chara’s legal entanglements with bars including, “It’s certain that we’re in the way/ In the West Bank and in Gaza/ We’ve made an example of you now, so silence Mo Chara/ That won’t ever happen,” as well as, “I’m misbehaving in badness/ Mo Chara’s wanted/ The air bubble bandit.” The song later takes on the paranoia that comes with sudden, controversial fame. “Have you ever been plastered on the news when you’ve got the heebie-jeebies?,” it continues, “Far from ideal/ Got death threats on my screen.”
In a statement to Pitchfork, the group said: “‘No Comment’ is all about getting harassed by the British state. Simple as. Us Irish are well used to it, been happening for centuries. Was a pleasure to work with Sub Focus on this, the man is a legend.”
Chara was charged in May with a terror offense for reportedly displaying the flag of the Lebanese Islamist political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah during a Nov. 2024 concert in London’s Kentish Town Forum, a group designated with terrorist status by the U.K. government. The charge was tossed out by a British judge in September, due to a technical error in the timing of when the charges were brought by London’s Metropolitan Police; Chara had steadfastly denied any wrongdoing in the case, though video footage from the show appeared to show him displaying a flag associated with Hezbollah.
The band continued to court controversy over the past year, including during their Coachella sets in April, which ended with a message that read: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel; free Palestine.” The statement led to a number of prominent music industry figures, including Ozzy Osbourne manager Sharon Osborne, calling for them to be removed from the bill and for their work visas to be revoked.
The group has since been banned from several countries, including Hungary and Canada, over claims, respectively, that they pose a “national security threat” and that they made statements “that are contrary to Canadian values and laws.” They were also forced to cancel a run of shows in the U.S. and U.K. in the midst of the court case.Listen to “No Comment” below.
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Management collective The Circuit Group has launched Circuit Capital, a platform to acquire and scale music assets and cultural IP. Circuit Capital is being backed by Create Music Group, which is providing Circuit Capital with access to more than $500 million with which to execute its mission.
The fund will invest in catalogs, record labels, publishers and other music-driven ventures with a mission to build long-term sustainable value. Circuit Capital will provide capital to back upcoming projects by artists being managed by The Circuit Group, an initiative that involves back catalog investments and futures funding deals and providing artists with the resources to invest in their own music and careers.
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The Circuit Group launched in October of 2023, bringing together management companies Ayita and Seven20, whose combined rosters include electronic artists Fisher, Chris Lake, deadmau5, Cloonee, Aluna, Ninajirachi and many more. The company launched with the mission to acquire 50% ownership in artists’ IP portfolios and partner with them to build opportunities across verticals, while also offering traditional artist management.
The business was launched by dance industry executive and deadmau5’s longtime manager Dean Wilson and his wife/business partner Jessica Wilson, along with Brett Fischer, David Gray and Harvey Tadman. The Circuit Group team expanded in the summer of 2024 upon announcing seven new hires.
Now, Circuit Capital’s goal is to create a community atmosphere and serve as a home for artists, entrepreneurs and rights-holders who will work with a group of longtime professionals with a deep understanding of and footing in the electronic music industry.
“Our mission is to put culture at the center of everything we do,” The Circuit Group co-founder Harvey Tadman says in a statement. “Too often, the people buying into music don’t understand the world it comes from. We’ve built our careers inside this culture. Circuit Capital is our way of ensuring that when artists decide to sell or scale, they can do it with people who speak the same language and share the same values. We couldn’t imagine a better partner than Create Music Group.”
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Earlier this year, Create Music Group announced that it acquired the deadmau5 catalog, along with the catalog of the electronic producer’s longstanding label, mau5trap.
“We’re excited to announce this unique partnership with Circuit,” says Create Music Group CFO William Smith. “We have been impressed by their relentless focus as managers on partnering with their clients to build assets with substantial, enduring value, as exemplified by the recent deadmau5 transaction. Moving forward, we’re pleased to be backing Circuit’s strategy of investing into the same music catalogs and businesses that they’re helping to grow – in other words, ‘putting their money where their mouths are’ – by providing them with this fund.”
“Our partnership with The Circuit Group represents Create’s continued mission in building the leading technology, infrastructure, and capital platform for artists and entrepreneurs,” says Create Music Group co-founder and CEO Jonathan Strauss. “Circuit has evolved into one of the most respected and trusted management teams in the dance space, with a deep understanding of what artists need to grow, innovate, and create long-term value. Together with Circuit, we’re aligning resources, expertise, and vision to empower music entrepreneurs to build enduring, global businesses.”
This week in dance music: Salt-N-Pepa’s DJ Spinderalla became the first female DJ ever inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during the induction ceremony in Los Angeles last weekend. Fred again.. took a well-earned week off from his 10 shows/10 songs/10 weeks tour behind his USB002 album and Alison Wonderland welcomed her […]
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Ultra Music Festival today (Nov. 12) added more than 70 news acts for the 2025 edition with the announcement of its phase two lineup.
Joining the bill are Martin Garrix and Alesso, who will play b2b in a headlining slot, the first ever headlining performance from Argy b2b Mind Against and Ray Volpe b2b Sullivan King. DJ Snake will perform the U.S. debut of his Outlaw alias in a b2b with TYRM and Joris Voorn and Kololova will also perform b2b for the first time in the States.
Additionally, Ultra will host stage takeovers from legendary Ibiza club Amnesia, The Martinez Brothers’ Cuttin’ Headz, Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance, Steve Aoki’s 30 years of Dim Mak, Coone’s Dirty Workz, Sara Landry’s Hekate and Germany’s Live From Earth collective.
These additions expands the previously announced phase one lineup that includes Afrojack, Amelie Lens b2b Sara Landry, Armin van Buuren, DJ Snake, Eric Prydz, Illenium, John Summit, Hardwell, Major Lazer, Steve Aoki, Sebastian Ingrosso b2b Steve Angello, Miss Monique, Excision, ISOxo, Boys Noize, OF the Trees, Madeon and many more. See the complete lineup below.
Ultra Music Festival 2026 happens March 27-29 at its longtime home at Miami’s Bayfront Park.
The festival annually closed out Miami Music Week a week-long run of parties, showcases, meetings, mixers and more that draws many in the global electronic music industry to the city. Winter Music Conference returned to Miami Music Week in 2025 after a hiatus, with organizers announcing earlier this week that it will be back in 2026 and happen in a new location at the Kimpton EPIC Hotel in Downtown Miami from March 24–26.
2026 will mark the 36th year of the conference. The next edition is set to feature a programming track tailored for dance industry professionals and a second track for DJs, producers and content creators.
Ultra Music Festival 2025
Alive Coverage
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In the wake of Calvin Harris’ bombshell fraud claims against business manager Thomas St. John, fellow star DJ Eric Prydz has brought a lawsuit alleging the financial adviser stole $269,000 from his accounts.
St. John, the head of beleaguered entertainment industry accounting firm Thomas St. John Group, was accused in arbitration this summer of secretly funneling $22 million from Harris’ accounts into a real estate side venture. St. John denies the claims, maintaining that the Scottish DJ was an informed and willing investor in the project.
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Now, Prydz — another titan of the EDM industry — says St. John exploited his account access to steal money. The Swedish DJ, who has been a client of St. John’s since 2012, claims in an Oct. 28 breach of contract and fraud lawsuit that St. John paid himself $269,000 in commissions for services Prydz says he never asked for or authorized.
“Thomas St. John is a professional financial advisor who is supposed to be trustworthy and reliable, and who should be acting in the best interests of his client,” wrote Prydz’s attorney, Carla Wirtschafter of Reed Smith. “TSJ, however, proved to be none of those things. Instead, he is a fraud who not only abuses the trust of his clients, he takes money from them without their knowledge or authorization for his personal use and benefit.”
The lawsuit claims Prydz decided to fire St. John in September after discovering that the manager had taken $219,000 in unearned commissions on top of his regular 5% fee. St. John allegedly agreed to stay on through the end of October to finish a tax return for Prydz, though this process quickly turned contentious.
Prydz claims St. John tried to “extort” an additional $150,000 out of him and refused to complete the tax return otherwise, which Prydz says he refused. But according to the lawsuit, St. John unilaterally took another $50,000 out of Prydz’s accounts to cover part of this improper fee.
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The legal complaint alleges that after all this, St. John never filed the tax return as promised — and that he’s now refusing to turn over the necessary documentation to Prydz’s new financial advisers.
“As a direct result of TSJ’s malicious conduct to hold Prydz’s financial documents hostage, Prydz has been unable to complete and file the now past due tax forms,” the lawsuit reads.
Prydz is seeking a court order for St. John to release his financial records and return the allegedly stolen commissions. The DJ also wants additional monetary damages recouping St. John’s 5% fee, claiming the adviser did “little or no work” to earn those payments.
Reps for St. John did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday (Nov. 12).
Prydz’s lawsuit is just the latest legal woe for St. John, whose U.S. business arm has been in bankruptcy since March. The manager’s real estate project, a Hollywood development called CMNTY Culture Campus, is the subject of claims from both Harris and songwriter Philip Lawrence.
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A deep dive by Billboard last month reported that CMNTY Culture — originally envisioned as a recording studio and creative office complex — was born out of the St. John-advised, $90 million sale in 2020 of Lawrence’s catalog of Bruno Mars writing credits.
Following that deal, Lawrence opted to park some of the proceeds in a real estate venture to lessen his taxes on the sale and brought on St. John as a partner. But Lawrence’s finances soon dried up, and St. John ended up buying out the songwriter and helming the project himself.
It was at this point that St. John took on outside investors, including Harris. But while St. John claims Harris wanted in on CMNTY Culture, Harris alleges in his arbitration that the manager fooled him into signing investment documents without knowing what they were.
Harris now claims that his money has disappeared and that CMNTY Culture is a “complete boondoggle.” Indeed, St. John is no longer developing a recording studio and has yet to break ground on any construction, though he maintains that the project is still on track for success under reworked plans for a residential apartment complex.
The Harris action is still pending before a private arbitrator. Meanwhile, Lawrence has declared bankruptcy, while his estate trustee recently accused St. John in court papers of violating their fiduciary relationship during the CMNTY Culture partnership.
