Music News
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In the historically slow first quarter, Live Nation’s revenue dropped 11% to $3.38 billion (an 8% decline in constant currency), but adjusted operating income (AOI) fared better, declining 6% (or 0.5% in constant currency) to $341.1 million.
As the U.S. economy teeters and businesses brace for a protracted and uncertain trade war, Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter and ticketing company, believes the business will recover from the slow start to the year. CEO Michael Rapino expects 2025 to be “a historic year for live music, with a strong start having us on track to deliver double-digit growth in operating income and AOI this year,” he said in a statement.
The first quarter is relatively slow as concerts are concentrated in clubs and theaters before festivals, stadium and amphitheater shows appear later in the year. In 2024, the first quarter accounted for just 16% of Live Nation’s full-year revenue, and the concerts division received just 15% of its 2024 revenue in the first quarter. The second and third quarters, in contrast, accounted for 59% of 2024 revenue.
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Various financial metrics portend well for a stronger finish to 2025. Through mid-April, event-related deferred revenue — money collected for future concerts — of $5.4 billion was up 24% year-over-year. The 95 million concert tickets sold for Live Nation concerts represented a double-digit increase. On-sale sell-through rates were at or better than the same period last year. Ticketmaster’s primary ticketing volume was up 5% and gross transaction value (GTV) was up 10%.
The various divisions expect to have similar margins to previous years. Concerts’ AOI margin should be consistent with the 3% achieved in 2024. Ticketmaster’s AOI margin should be in the high 30s and sponsorships in the low 60s.
Absent stadium and amphitheater shows that occur later in the year, Live Nation’s concerts business had $2.48 billion in revenue, down 14% (11% in constant currency) from the prior-year quarter, from 22.3 million fans who attended 11,300 events. Concerts’ adjusted AOI improved to $6.6 million from a $1.8 million loss a year earlier.
In the ticketing segment, revenue fell 4% (1% at constant currency) to $695 million, and adjusted AOI of $253.1 million was down 11% (7% in constant currency). Concerts’ primary GTV was up 9%. Of the 78 million fee-bearing tickets, a number that was consistent with the first quarter of 2024, concert tickets were up 4% and accounted for 60% of volume. Non-concert tickets were down 9%.
Sponsorship revenue of $216.1 million was up 2% (9% at constant currency) while the division’s adjusted AOI of $136.0 million was up 5% (11% in constant currency). In the quarter, Live Nation secured new name-in-title sponsorships, including Citizens Live at The Wylie and Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park.
Foreign exchange affected AOI by 5% due to Live Nation’s exposure to the Mexican peso and other Latin American currencies. The company expects foreign exchange headwinds to result in low, single-digit impacts to revenue and AOI in the second quarter.
Alex Warren tops Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart in his first appearance, as “Ordinary” lifts 4-1 on the May 3-dated tally. “Ordinary” reigns with 21 million official U.S. streams earned in the week ending April 24, up 3%, according to Luminate. The song becomes the first No. 1 to rise to the top of the list, […]
Playing one-on-one with Kobe Bryant was a hooper’s dream while growing up, but that quickly turned into a nightmare for Bow Wow, who got shut out 10-0 when facing the Mamba Mentality.
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Bow Wow joined Club Shay Shay for an interview on Thursday (April 30), during which he reflected on having the chance to play Bryant one-on-one back in 2011 when Bow pulled up to the Lakers superstar’s day camp.
As far as the stakes, Bow had to pay $1,000 in cash if he lost, but if he could’ve just scored a single bucket on Bryant, the Hall of Famer would’ve gifted the Like Mike star a pair of floor seats to every home game for an entire season.
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“He took it for real. I left that gym and I said, ‘I will never play in the NBA, nor do I want to,’” Bow said before being pressed by Shannon Sharpe about how many points he scored. “None! He smothered me. He had his thumb in my waist. He was hand-checking.”
Bow continued: “He was telling me, ‘You’re gonna go wherever the f–k I want you to go.’ … What was so dope about the one-on-one was people got to see Kobe in a light that they never got to see Kobe in. You hear about the Mamba Mentality, but it’s tough to hear on TV. You hear ’em in the one-on-one … He talking to me crazy like I’m not Bow.”
Even though it’s been 14 years, Bow Wow still recalls the one chance he had to make an open jump shot, but Bryant’s 6’6″ frame closed quickly, and the glance at a clean basketball was gone within seconds. “By the time I raised up, it was no time. The way he closed out, that 6’6″ turned into 7’1,” he said.
Bryant ended up dishing out the $1,000 to his campers, and even with the loss, Bow has a memory he’ll cherish for a lifetime.
“That right there is like a bucket list [goal],” Bow Wow said. “Every kid would love to play Kobe Bryant one-on-one. And then for [his death] to tragically happen, that’s something I’m going to hold dearly to my heart.”
Bryant, his daughter Gigi and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. Bow Wow paid tribute to Kobe shortly after his death by posting a photo with his own daughter along with the hashtag “Girl Dad,” which went viral as Bryant was a father to four girls himself.
Watch the full interview and one-on-one game with Bow Wow below.
HANA‘s “ROSE” returns to No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, logging its second week atop the tally released April 30.
The major-label debut single by the septet born from the No No Girls audition show dropped digitally on April 2 and debuted at No. 1 on the chart dated April 9. The CD version launched with 46,866 copies after being released April 23 and hit No. 3 for sales. The single ruled video views this week while coming in at No. 13 for downloads (2,741 units), No. 3 for streaming (8,369,460 streams), and No. 9 for radio airplay. The track has been dominating the video metric for four straight weeks.
&TEAM’s “Go in Blind” soars 66-2 this week, selling 620,541 CDs in its first week, marking the group’s biggest sales week to date. The track also ranks at No. 15 for downloads, No. 58 for streaming, No. 45 for radio, and No. 28 for video.
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Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “KUSUSHIKI” follows at No. 3, down two notches from the week before. But the track continues to rule streaming for the third week in a row with 10,607,816 weekly streams.
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King Gnu’s “TWILIGHT!!!” rises 7-4. Streams for the Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback theme song are up to 227% (No. 4 for the metric), radio airplay to 280% and video views to 188% compared to last week. Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” follows at No. 5 on the Japan Hot 100, showing strength in karaoke, streaming and video, with karaoke holding the top spot for 16 consecutive weeks since the chart released Jan. 15.
The two debuts in the top 10 this week were CANDY TUNE’s second single, “Oshi Suki Shindoi” at No. 7 and RADWIMPS’ “Tamamono” at No. 9. The latter is the theme song for the ongoing NHK morning drama series Anpan.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from April 21 to 27, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
Kid Cudi is teasing his return with a new song called “Neverland.” On Thursday (May 1), Cudi shared a cryptic teaser on social media that merely shows some amusement park rides before posting the link to the rapper’s website. “Pre save NEVERLAND, my first single from my new album, NOW!” Cudi wrote on X. The […]
Ye (formerly Kanye West) hasn’t let up when it comes to repeatedly taking shots at J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. During a livestream on Wednesday (April 30), West claimed he hates Cole’s music and disparaged the Compton rapper along with Lamar’s fans.
“I hate J. Cole. It can’t even be called music. I hate J. Cole,” Ye told Toronto rapper Top5. “And it’s something about both J. Cole and Kendrick that kinda, that leaves me sorta like — it reminds me of each other and s–t like that. It’s just not that sauce to me.”
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Ye continued that if anyone in the room with him at that moment was a J. Cole fan, he didn’t want them to tell him because otherwise, he’d devalue their opinion. The embattled rapper then turned his attention back to Lamar and took shots at any fan who would list the Pulitzer-winning rapper as their GOAT.
“Anybody that say Kendrick is one of their favorite rappers, don’t know about rap, doesn’t know about real rap,” he claimed.
Billboard has reached out to J. Cole and Lamar’s reps for comment.
Cole and Kendrick have been frequent targets for Ye when he’s been lashing out at his peers during recent rants on X.
“I DON’T LIKE KENDRICK LAMARS MUSIC,” he wrote in March. “HE RAPS VERY GOOD BUT I DIDNT NEED TO HEAR HIM ON CARTI ALBUM.”
While there’s plenty of history between Cole and West, the Chicago native — who has faced widespread criticism for his repeated hate speech — claimed in early April that Cole’s music was for “virgins” and he’s “hurting hip-hop.”
“I hate J Cole music so much,” West said matter-of-factly on X. “It’s like between Kendrick and J Cole I bet you industry plants asked J Cole to diss Drake then we would have been accosted with a J Cole Super Bowl commercial with no SZA song to save it… No one listens to J Cole after loosing [sic] their virginity.”
Kanye also dissed J. Cole last year with his “Like That” remix. “Play J. Cole get the p—y dry,” he raps on the track. Cole has jabbed at West on multiple occasions in the past. He previously checked him on 2016’s “False Prophets” and 2019’s “Middle Child,” saying he feels West hasn’t lived up to the billing of his legend status.
However, following the repeated shots, Cole took the high road and showed Ye love during his set at Dreamville Fest 2025 in April, where he saluted West for clearing samples for him throughout his decorated career.
“I know n—-s feel a way about him right now, but I got love for [Ye] and I really appreciate him. He cleared all these f—ing samples for me,” he said.
On the music front, Ye is staying busy. He uploaded his lost 2022 Donda 2 album to streaming services for the first time on Tuesday night (April 29).
A$AP Rocky has a bone to pick with Rihanna. In a new interview with Vogue‘s The Run-Through podcast posted Thursday (May 1), the rapper lamented how his famous partner is always stealing his clothes without his knowledge — not that he doesn’t return the favor sometimes.
The topic of Rocky and Ri’s sneaky style swapping first came up as the former was chatting about being unafraid to wear traditionally feminine clothing. “I do what the f–k I want,” he told hosts Chioma and Leah Faye Cooper. “I wanna be a catalyst for daring men. I don’t know who drew the line between femininity — or being feminine — and masculinity. I don’t see any barriers.”
“For me, it’s not fair that my girl could just go in my closet and take anything from it and wear it,” he continued. “She does it to me all the time, man! Sometimes you just see her on an interview or see a paparazzi photo, like, ‘Wait, there goes my Miu Miu f–king jacket! What the f–k? I was looking for that since 2021!’”
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That said, Rocky isn’t shy about borrowing items from the Fenty mogul’s collection, either. “That goes both ways,” he said, underscoring his point about feeling free to wear women’s clothing. “She has pieces she don’t know that I actually stole.”
The interview comes four days ahead of the first Monday in May, aka the day of the Met Gala. This year, Rocky will co-chair the high-fashion event with Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton and Pharrell Williams (though the “F–kin’ Problems” musician did reveal on the podcast that he still has no idea what he’ll be wearing on the Met red carpet).
Leading up to the big event, Rocky also graced the cover of Vogue and opened up about his life at home with Ri and their young sons, RZA and Riot Rose. During one particularly sweet moment from the interview, his Grandma Cathy gushed about her love for the “Umbrella” singer, telling the publication of her grandson, “I’m glad that he settled down, and I’m happy with who he settled down with.”
Calling fatherhood “amazing” on The Run-Through, Rocky gushed on the podcast about watching his boys grow into their personalities. “To see them actually, like, interact with each other and interact with me and with their mom, it’s amazing,” he said. “It’s something that you dream about, and when it happens, it’s just like you [are] living your dream and that all jokes aside.”
The Harlem native also opened up about his family’s Easter this year: “I dressed up as a bunny. My boys was in they best Easter outfits, buttoned down — it was sharp to a T.”
Listen to Rocky gush about Ri and their boys on The Run-Through below.
Olly Alexander, Charli XCX, Self Esteem, Neneh Cherry, Rina Sawayama, Jessie Ware and more are among the leading musicians to have signed an open letter on behalf of the U.K. music industry to offer solidarity to the trans community.
On April 16, the U.K.’s Supreme Court ruled that the definition of a woman is based on biological sex, and that a person with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) in the female gender “does not come within the definition of a woman under the Equality Act 2010.” The U.K. prime minister Sir Keri Starmer has backed the ruling.
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The decision has been widely criticized, with protests and community action held by the trans community and its allies in the weeks since the ruling. In recent days, a number of authors and actors signed similar open letters decrying the decision and offering their support to the community. Dr Victoria McCloud, the U.K.’s first openly trans judge, is planning to appeal the decision to European Court of Human Rights.
The open letter, organized by artist Tom Rasmussen and publicist Tom Mehrtens with support from Alexander and his manager Martha Kinn, states that “the UK music industry is a vibrant, diverse landscape that thrives on creativity and inclusivity” that has “long celebrated a multitude of voices and identities, and the music industry here in the UK is one of our most trailblazing and culturally vital assets — one which trans, intersex and non-binary people are woven into in every aspect of the industry, past, present and future.”
Continuing the letter states that artists and and executives “must now urgently work to ensure that our trans, non-binary, and intersex colleagues, collaborators, and audiences are protected from discrimination and harassment in all areas of the industry — whether in studios, at venues, in offices, or at festivals.”
At the time of publication, over 330 names had added their name to the letter, which describes this as a “moment to amplify voices that need to be heard, to champion inclusivity and real justice, and to ensure that our industry remains a welcoming and trailblazing space for everyone.” The letter also calls on leading U.K. industry organizations — including major and independent labels, publishers, managers and trade bodies like PRS for Music, PPL, BPI and more — to “join us in condemning the Supreme Court ruling.”
Signees also include Shygirl, Jimmy Somerville, Lava La Rue, JADE (Little Mix), Mura Masa, Mabel, Jake Shears, CMAT, Wolf Alice, MNEK, Paloma Faith and more, alongside a number of employees from across the sector.
The letter also links out to actionable steps from promoters and community group Queer House Party to support and protest the decision. Read the full letter and see all the signatories here.
In case you haven’t been paying attention over the past few months, comedian John Mulaney is in the midst of one of the most bizarre late night comedy experiments since Conan O’Brien blew up the zone more than three decades ago with Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
The “wait, what?” meter hit a new high mark on Wednesday night (April 30) when Mulaney went over to his telescope for one of his usual neighborhood check-ins on his live Netflix series Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney. Whereas in past episodes his peek-in revealed murder most foul, this time the results were more mind-blowing then brain-smashing.
“It’s time to look through the old telescope!” Mulaney said mid-monologue on the episode whose theme was “Can Major Surgery Be Fun?” As he zeroed in, Mulaney focused on an apartment that looked just like the one from Seinfeld. Weird, but not nearly as weird as sidekick comedian Richard King pretending to be cranky KISS bassist Gene Simmons for a whole episode a few weeks ago.
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“Same couch, layout, there’s even a clunky landline,” Mulaney said. “Wait, is that Trey [Anastasio] from Phish? And that’s Mike Gordon from Phish.” Indeed, it was Anastasio dressed as Jerry Seinfeld and bassist Mike Gordon in a George Costanza wig. “Yeah, that’s definitely Trey! And, oh my God, it’s [drummer Jon] Fishman dressed as Elaine,” he added as Fishman walked through the iconic door in a long curly hair wig, flowery dress and lipstick.
“Oh, next you’re gonna tell me [keyboardist] Page [McConnell] is Kramer!” Kind shouted as McConnell burst through the door in a towering Kramer wig and signature striped bowling shirt. “Page is Kramer. What?” Mulaney exclaimed. “It’s all the guys from Phish wearing wigs, but Trey is not.” Kind implored his boss to “put it all together” and figure out what was going on.
“It’s Seinfeld, but it’s Phish,” Mulaney said, perplexed, as the sitcom’s bass-plucking theme song bubbled up along with the instantly recognizable red and yellow show logo, except this time it read “Phish.” After Kind wondered if it was too late to change that night’s theme, Mulaney dismissed the idea with a brusque, “Yeah, it is too late. Plus, we just saw it,” though in an extended video of the bit we actually see the band members acting out a perfectly on-brand Seinfeld bit about credit history as well as flubbing lines and entrances in a series of hilarious outtakes.
Why did they write this bit? As with so many gags on Mulaney’s show, comedy logic is not the point. But as the dedicated crew at Jambase noted, the appearance by the iconic jam band came 30 years after Phish made their late night TV debut on the Late Show With David Letterman in December 1994 alongside, you guessed it, Jerry Seinfeld.
Last month, Mulaney hosted Letterman — one of his absurdist late night heroes — on an episode focused on the lack of information men have about their height as part of a series-long gag about the phantom problem. A week later he invited on another comedy inspiration, O’Brien, to debate “Are Dinosaurs Put Together Correctly?” for an episode that explicitly paid homage to Conan’s legendarily bizarre late night antics.
Watch Phish as Seinfeld below.
Will the new cast of queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 10 find themselves becoming more and more “Popular” on the new season? Will they need some “Good Luck, Babe” in order to take home the top prize? Maybe the new slate of guest judges can help them figure it out. On Wednesday […]