News

14 Sep 2023

Demi Lovato Gives Their Hits a Rock Spin on ‘Revamped’ Album: Stream It Now

Demi Lovato is ready to rock! The star unveiled a new album on Friday (Sept. 15) featuring reimagined, rock versions of their old tracks, fittingly titled Revamped.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The 10-track LP features some of their biggest hits (“Heart Attack,” “Sorry Not Sorry”) alongside fan favorites (“La La Land,” “Tell Me You Love Me”), all with amped-up guitars and a spotlight on Lovato’s powerhouse vocals. “It just feels really good,” they told Billboard. “I’m really proud of the work that we did, and I’m excited for the songs to be out there.”

Lovato continued, “I think it reignited an excitement inside of me for those songs. Like, take ‘Give Your Heart a Break,’ for example: I got really tired of performing that one live, because it had been in my catalog for so long, and it didn’t really reflect any sound that I had anymore. Even when I went more R&B-pop, it just wasn’t the kind of sound I was looking for anymore, because it was just so pop. But when we put together the rock version, I was suddenly having a really fun time on stage performing it.”

The 30-year-old singer performed a slew of her rocked-out hits at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards earlier in the week, including “Heart Attack,” “Sorry Not Sorry” and “Cool for the Summer.”

The new album follows Lovato’s 2022 album, Holy Fvck, which introduced their rock musical abilities to fans. The album peaked at No. 7 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart upon its release, and topped the Billboard Hot Rock Albums chart on September 3, 2022.

Listen to Revamped in full below.

14 Sep 2023

Maren Morris Unveils ‘The Bridge’: Stream It Now

Grammy winner Maren Morris has released a duo of songs, “The Tree” and “Get The Hell Out of Here,” under the collective project title The Bridge, today (Friday, Sept. 15).

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Though she is still hard at work on her next full-length project, Morris said she felt the two songs “deserved a moment of their own.”

Morris said in an Instagram post that the dual song release “honors where I’ve been and [sic] but also feels like a forward step into the sun.”

Morris added, “As I’ve been working on my record nonstop this year, I realized these two songs deserved a moment of their own – a story in their own right, written a day apart from each other – a tender duo and bridge to my next album. I welcome, celebrate and grieve the changes that have happened these last few years and these two songs say it better than I ever could in a caption or interview….hope you enjoy these. ‘Wherever I’m going, I hope I’m not the only one.’”

Morris also noted in a separate Instagram photo that an accompanying two-part music video for The Bridge will premieres Friday (Sept 15) at 10 a.m. ET.

Morris’ upcoming full-length album will follow her 2022 project Humble Quest and her 2019 album GIRL, which won a CMA Award for album of the year. GIRL‘s key song, “The Bones,” won Morris single and song of the year honors in 2020, while Morris also picked up her first CMA female vocalist of the year win.



14 Sep 2023

TOMORROW X TOGETHER & Anitta’s ‘Back for More’ Has Arrived: Stream It Now

MOA, the wait is finally over: TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Anitta‘s collaborative new track, “Back For More” arrived on all streaming platforms on Friday (Sept. 15).

Alongside the track’s release, a music video also arrived, which featured the group members — Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun and HueningKai — hitting expert choreography from the stage of an auditorium as they sing of chorus of the track, which dares the object of their affections to either be with them, or prepare to leave them all heartbroken.

“I can see you comin’ back for more/ Comin’ back for more (Yeah)/ If you walk out that door/ I can see you comin’ back for more/ Comin’ back for more (Yeah)/ If you walk out that door,” the boys sing on an infectious chorus.

Anitta provides an assist on the second verse of the track, and proves her endless devotion to the person lucky enough to catch her eyes. “Don’t wanna feel nobody/ If it isn’t you, baby/ They’re gonna call my night/ Been thinking about you, baby,” she seductively sings.

TXT performed “Back For More” alongside Anitta for their debut at the MTV VMAs on Tuesday night (Sept. 12). “Back for More” — the pre-release single for The Name Chapter: FREEFALL (Oct. 13 release date) — will receive a (TXT Ver.), a house remix and an Afrobeats remix, all of which will arrive on Sept. 18.

Listen to “Back For More” below.

14 Sep 2023

Slowdive Scores First Top 10 on Album Sales Chart With ‘Everything Is Alive’

Slowdive scores its first top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Sept. 16) as the band’s new album Everything Is Alive debuts at No. 3. The set launches with 12,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 7, according to Luminate. It’s the best sales week yet for the British group, and its second chart entry, having previously topped out at No. 22 with its self-titled release 2017.

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, the late Jimmy Buffett’s 1985 best-of album Songs You Know by Heart: Jimmy Buffett’s Greatest Hit(s) re-enters the list at No. 1 – its first week atop the 32-year-old tally. Plus, YouTuber and Twitch streamer Dream sees his debut effort To Whoever Wants to Hear launch at No. 8.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Songs You Know by Heart sold 15,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 7 (up from about 200 copies in the previous week), following Buffett’s death on Sept. 1. It’s the best sales week for the album in 24 years, since the chart date of July 3, 1999, when it sold 17,000 copies.

Travis Scott’s chart-topping Utopia holds at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 12,000 sold (down 58%), while NewJeans’ former leader 2nd EP ‘Get Up’ is a non-mover at No. 4 with 11,000 (down 19%) and Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) rises 6-5 with 10,000 (down 23%). NCT Dream’s ISTJ: The 3rd Album climbs one spot to No. 6 (8,000; down 37%) while Swift’s chart-topping Midnights bumps 9-7 (nearly 8,000; down 24%).

YouTuber and Twitch streamer Dream starts at No. 8 with his first album release, To Whoever Wants to Hear, with nearly 7,000 copies sold. J-Hope’s Jack in the Box slips 8-9 (6,000; down 49%) and Stray Kids’ 5-Star: The 3rd Album rises 15-10 (6,000; down 17%).

In the week ending Sept. 7, there were 1.630 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 2.2% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.287 million (down 3.4%) and digital albums comprised 342,000 (up 2.6%).

There were 543,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Sept. 7 (down 1.5% week-over-week) and 734,000 vinyl albums sold (down 5.1%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 23.826 million (up 1.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 31.881 million (up 20.1%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 68.831 million (up 6.7% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 56.075 million (up 11.3%) and digital album sales total 12.756 million (down 9.9%).

14 Sep 2023

23 PR Expands U.S. Office: Exclusive

23 PR (or Twnty Three) expands its presence in the United States with the appointment of James Rainis as head of U.S. public relations, Billboard can exclusively reveal.

The independent comms and artist management firm recruits Rainis from Shore Fire Media, where he worked on campaigns for the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Bon Iver, Ghostface Killah, Oneohtrix Point Never, and PJ Morton, over a nine-year stint.

Founded in 2014 by Melody Forghani, 23 PR is based in Sydney, Australia and represents a diverse roster of talent, including RAYE, Little Simz, Obongjayar, KAYTRAMINÉ, Caroline Polachek, Skepta, and Joji.

In 2019, Amanda Perlstein, formerly of Stones Throw, Partisan, Shore Fire, and Big Hassle, launched 23 PR U.S. With Perlstein at the helm, the American arm secured relationships with Logic1000, CLIP, Baird, Luna Li, Haviah Mighty, and others, and works in tandem with HQ to offer tailored U.S.-only, Australia-only, and, when required, joint campaigns.  

“Melody and Amanda have built a formidable press operation both in Australia and the U.S. while always honoring the vision and goals of the musicians they represent,” comments Rainis in a statement. “I’m thrilled to join the team and to expand 23’s U.S. operations, all while working with a diverse roster of artists on the bleeding edge of music today.”

Adds Perlstein: “Melody and I are thrilled to welcome James to our U.S. team. We can’t wait to see where he takes the company next with his keen eye for spotting talent early, extensive knowledge of music, and a commitment to developing an inclusive company culture.”

Since the U.S. division opened for business, the indie firm has brought acts like Kucka, Maple Glider, altopalo, Sunset Rollercoaster, MAY-A to the “global stage,” reps say.

A statement from the company reads, “Our love of music is at the center of every campaign through the promotion and protection of artists and their stories.”

14 Sep 2023

Mark Isham & Steve Dorff to Discuss Their Careers During SCL Professional Conferences at 2023 Nashville Film Festival

Composers and songwriters Mark Isham, Steve Dorff, Pinar Toprak, Jeff Rona and Christophe Beck are among the honorees and participants in a series of events being staged by the Society of Composers & Lyricists and Nashville Film Festival from Sept. 28 – Oct. 4. The in-person portion of the conference will be hosted at various festival partner venues.

On Friday, Sept. 29, Isham will discuss his career scoring for film and TV in a session moderated by SCL president Ashley Irwin. Isham won a Grammy for best new age performance in 1991 for his album, Mark Isham, and a Primetime Emmy for outstanding main title theme music for CBS’ EZ Streets in 1997. He received an Oscar nomination for best original score for A River Runs Through It in 1993. With more than 125 film scores, Isham has been hailed as an innovator in electronics and a lush orchestral melodist.

Later that afternoon, Dorff, a 2018 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, will delve into his decades-long career. The conversation will be moderated by Tracy McKnight, BMI vice president, creative, film, TV & visual media, with a reception to follow.  Dorff received a Grammy nomination in 1980 for best country song for co-writing the Eddie Rabbitt hit “Every Which Way but Loose” and three Primetime Emmy nods for writing songs for the sitcoms Growing Pains and Major Dad. Dorff, the father of actor Stephen Dorff, may be best known for co-writing the top 20 Hot 100 hits “I Just Fall in Love Again” (Anne Murray) and “Through the Years” (Kenny Rogers).

The Society of Composers & Lyricists in association with ASCAP and the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund will present the SCL Career Symposium as part of the Nashville Film Festival on Saturday, Sept. 30. For the complete schedule, go to https://thescl.com/scl-career-symposium/.

On Saturday evening, Sept. 30, the SCL and Nashville Film Festival will co-host a reception with Electronic Arts Music at Ocean Way Studios in honor of Toprak, who will be awarded the Music City Maestro Award for her continued collaboration with the Nashville scoring community. Toprak received a Primetime Emmy nod in 2020 for the HBO show McMllion$ With her work on Captain Marvel and Fortnite, Pinar is the first female composer to score both a film and video game that have grossed more than $1 billion globally. (Captain Marvel has grossed $1.13 billion globally, according to boxofficemojo.com, with $426.8 million of that coming from the U.S.)

Toprak’s other credits include writing and producing music for Christina Aguilera’s 2019 Xperience Live Show in Las Vegas and conducting Billie Eilish’s performance of “No Time to Die” at the 2022 Oscars ceremony.

On Sunday, Oct. 1, as part of the Nashville Film Festival Awards and Student Awards, The SCL in association with SESAC will present awards for outstanding song and outstanding score for a songwriter and composer in the student film category.

Founded in 1969, the Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm) was one of the first film festivals in the U.S. For more information, visit www.nashfilm.org.

The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) is the primary organization for professional film, television, video game, and musical theatre composers and lyricists.

14 Sep 2023

‘You’re All I Ever Wanted’: Fisher-Price Drops *NSYNC Little People Collector Set — Get While It’s Still in Stock

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

*NSYNC is on a winning streak. After announcing a new song, “Better Place,” from the upcoming Trolls Band Together soundtrack, reuniting during this year’s MTV VMAs and being greeted by a crowd of cheering fans (including Taylor Swift), Fisher-Price is celebrating the iconic boy band with a special edition Little People Collector set – and it’s a must for pop lovers.  

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The bestselling Little People Collector NSYNC Special Edition Set ($29.99) features two-inch figurines of all five members: Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and Lance Bass.

The collectible set, currently a No. 1 new release at Amazon, was designed after the No Strings Attached album cover and comes complete with real strings along with other “hidden details,” according to the product description. The back of the display package features a cute illustration of *NSYNC on stage with the words “Bye, Bye, Bye” in the background.

The Little People Collector set is available exclusively at Amazon (with free shipping for Prime members, click here to launch your free trial).

No Strings Attached, *NSYNC’s third studio album, was released on March 21, 2000. The Grammy-nominated LP went platinum in a day and sold a record 2.4 million copies in its first week (Adele broke *NSYNC’s record for first-week sales in 2015). No Strings Attached became the bestselling album of 2000 and spawned classic pop hits like “Bye, Bye, Bye” “It’s Gonna Be Me,” “This I Promise You,” and “I’ll Never Stop.”

Following the success of No String Attached, *NSYNC released their fourth (and final?) album, Celebrity, in 2001. The group went on “temporary hiatus” that lasted over two decades.

Shop the Little People Collector set below.

Amazon

​Little People Collector NSYNC Special Edition Set in a Display Gift Package for Adults & Music Fans, 5 Figures (Amazon Exclusive)

$29.99

14 Sep 2023

Rod Wave “Checkmate,” Soulja Boy “150 Bricks” & More | Daily Visuals 9.14.23

HipHopWired Featured Video

Rod Wave Beautiful Mind Tour - Atlanta, GA

Source: Prince Williams / Getty

With his next album, Nostalgia seemingly ready to release tomorrow (September 15), Rod Wave has been dropping off new work to build some anticipation for his forthcoming project and today drops a new video to keep that momentum building.

Coming through with some new visuals to “Checkmate,” Rod Wave takes viewers with him on a trip to New York City where he and his close friends take in the big city atmosphere as they stroll through Times Square before Rod takes the stage and performs for a sold-out crowd of adoring fans waiting to hear him sing those soul moving melodies.

Soulja Boy meanwhile seems content living his own best life as in his clip to “150 Bricks,” Draco pushes a bright yellow toy through the dark of night to make sure everyone can see him and the voluptuous company he keeps. That woman’s lower body probably weighs more than Draco’s entire physical. Just sayin.’

Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from J.I., Money Man, and more.

ROD WAVE – “CHECKMATE”



SOULJA BOY – “150 BRICKS”



J.I. – “ON ME”



MONEY MAN – “LIFE HACK”



BITCOIN BAGZ FT. SEEC BABY – “TOWN”



KEY GLOCK – “PENNY”



RAY2TIMES – “WE BALL”



LOE SHIMMY – “AIN’T ENOUGH”



FEVA BC – “FRIEND ZONE”



HipHopWired Radio

Our staff has picked their favorite stations, take a listen…

14 Sep 2023

Edwin Luna y La Trakalosa de Monterrey Bag Fourth No. 1 With ‘No Se Vale’ on Regional Mexican Airplay Chart

Edwin Luna y La Trakalosa de Monterrey capture their fourth champ on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart with “No Se Vale.” The group’s latest single rises 3-1 to lead the chart dated Sept. 16.

“No Se Vale” crowns Regional Mexican Airplay in its 10th week with 6.37 million audience impressions. That’s less than a 1% gain from the week prior, earned in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 7, according to Luminate.

“No Se Vale” gives Edwin Luna and La Trakalosa their fourth No. 1 and first in almost two years, after the two-week coronation of “Saludos a Mi Ex” in March 2021. The group achieved its first Regional Mexican Airplay ruler through “Dormida” which dominated for three weeks in 2020. In total, Luna and La Trakalosa have placed nine top 10 entries dating back to 2017 when “Aplauso” reached its No. 4 high.

Beyond the new Regional Mexican Airplay No. 1, “No Se Vale” holds at No. 10 (its peak) on the overall Latin Airplay chart for a second week.

Mora’s Fourth Straight Top 10: Over on Top Latin Albums, Mora picks up his fourth straight top 10 with his fourth album, Estrella. The 15-track set, released via Rimas Entertainment on Aug. 28, advances 12-8 with 9,000 equivalent album units, up 19%, earned in the U.S. during the Sept. 1-7 tracking week.

As with most Latin rhythmic efforts, the bulk of Estrella’s activity comes from streaming equivalent album units. That figure equals to 12.2. million official U.S. on-demand streams of the album’s songs. Album sales and track-equivalent album units, meanwhile, account for the negligible remaining units.

Estrella follows three other top 10s, two No. 4-peaking sets which landed in 2022: While Microdosis endured for 33 weeks, Paraiso’s run completed after six weeks on Top Latin Albums.

Elsewhere, Estrella jumps 6-4 for a new peak on Latin Rhythm Albums. It also debuts at No. 167 on the all-genre Billboard 200.

As Estrella arrives, two songs debut on the Global charts. On Billboard Global 200, “Reina,” with Saiko, debuts at No. 149 after drawing 15.18 million global streams, while “Dónde Se Aprende a Querer” starts at No. 156 with 14.4 million worldwide streams. The former concurrently logged 13.7 international streams with a No. 87 start on Global Excl. U.S., while the latter launched at No. 99 with 12.62 streams outside the U.S.

14 Sep 2023

UMG Nashville Launches Comedy Label, With Nate Bargatze’s New Album as Its First Release

Universal Music Group Nashville has launched a comedy label, with the first release coming from Nashville-based comedian Nate Bargatze.

Capitol Comedy Nashville will kick off with Bargatze’s Hello, World, out Friday (Sept. 15) on digital service providers (DSPs). The Grammy-nominated Bargatze has released several specials on streaming outlets, including Hello, World, which premiered on Amazon’s Prime Video earlier this year. Bargatze, who The Atlantic dubbed “the nicest man in stand-up,” recently sold out the Greek Theater in Los Angeles and drew more than 30,000 fans to his shows in Chicago. 

“Country music and comedy have always had a throughline connecting lifestyle and culture, sharing stories and character habits through humor,” said UMG Nashville chair/CEO Cindy Mabe in a statement. “We’ve been forever linked going back to the early days of the Grand Ole Opry and classic country shows like Hee Haw where comedians shared billings with musical acts and helped us laugh at ourselves. As we are looking for further ways to reach audiences through storytelling, I feel there is no better time to re-link our comedy history together with the start of our new label, Capitol Comedy Nashville.  

Capitol Comedy Nashville

Courtesy Image

“Nate is an amazing storyteller who uses his own hysterical anecdotes from his life to connect with audiences everywhere,” Mabe continued. “Through his unassuming, self-deprecating humor, Nate has built an incredible fanbase with his stand-up comedy and he most recently broke attendance records in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena. We are so excited to welcome Nate to our label, and we can’t wait to grow the next era of storytelling through comedy.” 

Bargatze intends to create an outlet for other comedians at Capitol Comedy Nashville. 

“I have wanted to expand not only my comedy but also build a world with the many talented comedians I know,” he said. “This partnership is one of the first steps and I’m very thankful to have a guide and platform with Universal Music Group Nashville.”