State Champ Radio News
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It’s lights out and away they go for Ed Sheeran, ROSÉ of BLACKPINK and several more stars, with Atlantic Records announcing the full lineup for its F1: The Album Thursday (May 1). In addition to the “Azizam” singer and K-pop star, Tate McRae, RAYE, Burna Boy, Roddy Rich, Dom Dolla, Chris Stapleton, Tiësto, Sexyy Red, […]
With just 64 days left until Oasis kick off their eagerly anticipated 2025 reunion tour, we still know next to nothing about who will take the stage with the Gallagher brothers or what songs they plan to roll out on their first outing in 16 years. What we do know is that, as usual, singer […]
Get your Nextel i710s out: Quavo has announced a posthumous collaboration with his late nephew TakeOff titled “Dope Boy Phone.” “Dope Boy Phone” is slated to arrive on Friday (May 2), and follows his “Legends” single with Lil Baby as he jet-sets into his next solo LP. Huncho set the tone for the new track […]
Pitchfork festival co-founder Mike Reed and his cultural nonprofit Constellation Performing Arts have launched Sound & Gravity, a Sept. 10-14 festival set in Chicago.
Sound & Gravity will be spread out across Chicago’s Bricktown and Avondale neighborhoods with seven venues hosting the festival — Constellation, Hungry Brain, Judson & Moore, Beat Kitchen, Guild Row, and Rockwell on the River. Reed, who is known for curating challenging and contemporary artists through the now defunct Pitchfork Music Festival, is reportedly shaping Sound & Gravity into an “ambitious” event and “unique adventure for music enthusiasts” featuring 48 artists across a spectrum of genres including jazz, experimental, contemporary classical and indie music.
Performers include American singer-songwriter Bill Callahan, who has also recorded and performed under the band name Smog; Nigerian guitarist Mdou Moctar; American experimental electric guitar duo Kim Gordon and Bill Nace, American musician Helado Negro and many, many more.
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Reed said he chose the Bricktown/Avondale area of Chicago, known for its fast-growing creator community and small businesses, due to it small intimate size, noting Sound & Gravity “capitalizes on the neighborhood’s walkability with all venues a 5-15 minute walk from each other,” according to a press release.
“Sound & Gravity offers attendees the opportunity to experience the local culture during five days of cutting-edge performances,” the release continues.
Sound & Gravity also serves as a fundraiser for Constellation Performing Arts, a 12-year-old not-for-profit organization that “has become a cornerstone of Chicago’s forward-thinking music scene,” according to the release. Constellation “has filled a crucial void in Chicago’s cultural landscape by providing a reliable, high-end platform for avant-garde and experimental music.”
Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, May 7 at 11am CT, and can be purchased here. Ticket options include an all-event four-day pass at $240, a single-day pass at $95, and a Wednesday opening night pass at $45. More info here.
Sound & Gravity
Eliza Weber
The 2025 ACM Awards will open with 12 straight minutes of music highlighting ACM Award-winning Songs of the Year from across six decades. The segment will feature Clint Black, Dan + Shay, Wynonna Judd, Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes and Sugarland.
Four of those artists popularized songs that won ACM Awards for song of the year, so you’re very likely to hear these songs in that medley – Dan + Shay’s “Tequila,” The Judds’ “Why Not Me,” Rimes’ “Blue” and Sugarland’s “Stay.”
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The show will also feature collaborative performances by Jelly Roll & Shaboozey; Backstreet Boys & Rascal Flatts; and Brooks & Dunn with Cody Johnson. Jelly and Shaboozey performed together at last weekend’s Stagecoach Festival in Indio, Calif. Backstreet Boys were also on the bill for the three-day festival.
Megan Moroney, the ACM’s 2024 winner for new female artist of the year, will also join this year’s star-packed show.
Hosted by 16-time ACM Award-winner McEntire, the 60th ACM Awards will stream live for a global audience on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch on Thursday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The show will be expanded from two to two-and-a-half hours.
This will be the 18th time McEntire has hosted or co-hosted the ACM Awards. She first co-hosted the show in 1986 with John Schneider and the late Mac Davis. McEntire is fast closing in on Bob Hope’s record as the most frequent host of any major awards show. Hope hosted or co-hosted the Oscars 19 times between 1940 and 1978.
Previously announced performers are Alan Jackson, Chris Stapleton, Blake Shelton, Kelsea Ballerini, Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert, as well as Ella Langley and Zach Top, who were announced last week as the winners of new female and male artist of the year.
The ACM have not yet announced whether The Red Clay Strays, the winner of the ACM Award for new duo/group of the year, will perform, but it would be a good bet.
Raj Kapoor is executive producer and showrunner of the 2025 ACM Awards, with Patrick Menton as co-executive producer. Damon Whiteside serves as executive producer for the Academy of Country Music, and Jay Penske and Barry Adelman serve as executive producers for Dick Clark Productions. John Saade will also continue to serve as consulting producer for Amazon MGM Studios.
Kapoor is among the most successful executive producers in TV. He has served in that capacity on the last four Grammy telecasts (alongside Ben Winston and Jesse Collins) and the last two Oscar telecasts (alongside Katy Mullan).
This year’s show is presented by Carnival Cruise Line. A limited number of tickets to the show are available for purchase on SeatGeek.
Established in 1966, the Academy of Country Music Awards is the longest-running country music awards show. The ACMs made history in 2022 as the first major awards ceremony to exclusively livestream, in collaboration with Prime Video.
The ACM Awards are produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries and Billboard parent company Penske Media.
Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association, sent a letter to all members on Thursday (May 1) in which she urged them to vote “with intention, with passion and with a deep appreciation for the artistry and craftsmanship that define excellence in Country Music.”
Trahern wrote, in part: “Your vote is more than just a ballot. It is your voice, your expertise, and your influence in defining the legacy of this genre. With the 2025 awards season upon us, we encourage you to engage thoughtfully in this process. … Because the CMA Awards don’t just happen for the industry—they happen because of it.”
The letter was sent concurrent with the CMA releasing its full schedule of key dates for the 2025 CMA Awards, CMA Broadcast Awards, CMA Touring Awards, CMA International Awards, and CMA Industry Honors.
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Trahern’s letter echoes one that Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, sent to all voting members last July in which he stated: “you owe it to your peers to vote intentionally, deliberately, with pride and with purpose.”
Mason dramatized his point with a telling anecdote. “Last Grammy season, I heard a Grammy voter say they hadn’t taken a specific artist seriously since a performance they saw more than 10 years ago. I was shocked and disturbed by that. There is no place in our organization for such bias, grudge-holding, or careless voting. It’s about the current year and the quality of the work, period!
“There should be no other rationale for voting. If you are taking into account an artist’s older work, or their reputation, or race, or gender, what label they are on, who their manager is, how many friends participated in the project, or anything else like that, you’re not doing your job. I know most of you already do but please, just listen to the music, and evaluate it! You are the reason the Grammy Award is so special.”
Trahern, who was on Billboard‘s 2025 Women in Music list, wasn’t quite as emphatic and specific in her message (see her full letter below), but both leaders made the same point: Your vote matters. Take this seriously.
Here are the key dates, eligibility requirements, and voting processes across CMA’s annual awards cycle, followed by Trahern’s letter, in full.
2025 CMA Awards
Eligibility Period: July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025
Voting Process: All CMA professional voting members may vote in three rounds. As of today, 6,468 professional members are eligible to vote.
Nomination Ballot: Voters write in any artist or project they think deserves a nomination. If it fits the criteria for that category, it counts.
Second Ballot: The top 20 vote-getters from the first round move forward (only the top 15 for entertainer of the year). Members may vote for up to five candidates in each category.
Final Ballot: The top five from the second round become the official nominees—and CMA members vote one last time to choose the winners. Members may vote for one nominee in each category.
Musician of the Year: Voting in all rounds remains limited to eligible voters in the following membership categories: musician, artist, composer, and producer/engineer/studio.
Song of the Year: New this year, only eligible voters in the following membership categories may vote in the nomination and second ballots: composer, artist, musician, producer/engineer/studio, and publisher/PRO. All eligible voters may vote in the final ballot.
All three rounds of voting will be conducted online by Election Services Corp. (ESC). All balloting is tabulated by the professional services organization, Deloitte.
Nomination Ballot: Emailed to eligible CMA members on Monday, July 7; Closes Wednesday, July 16 at 6:00 p.m. CT
Second Ballot: Emailed on Tuesday, Aug. 5; Closes Monday, Aug. 18 at 6:00 p.m. CT; Final nominees in each of the 12 categories will be announced later this summer.
Final Ballot: Emailed on Wednesday, Oct. 1; Closes Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 6:00 p.m. CT
Membership Deadline & Information: To vote in all three rounds, prospective CMA members must apply for membership by Sunday, June 1 at CMAmember.com. Only CMA professional voting members have voting privileges. The professional voting tier is offered to industry professionals who primarily work within country music.
2025 CMA Broadcast Awards
Eligibility Period: Performances and events between June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025
Submission Process: Apply now online at broadcast.CMAawards.com. Guidelines and entry instructions are available on the site. CMA membership is not required to submit.
Eligible Categories: broadcast personality of the year and radio station of the year in four market sizes: major market, large market, medium market and small market
National broadcast personality of the year in two formats: daily and weekly
Syndicated, short-form, hub voice-tracking, digital service providers, and satellite personalities with live-stream broadcasts are eligible to apply for national broadcast personality of the year.
Submission Period: Open Thursday, May 1 through Monday, June 30 at 5:00 p.m. CT
Judging Process & Information: Entries will be reviewed and evaluated online by a panel of radio and industry professionals.; CMA Broadcast Awards winners will be notified in early October and recognized at the 59th Annual CMA Awards ceremony. All balloting is tabulated by the professional services organization, Deloitte.
2025 CMA Touring Awards
Eligibility Period: Oct. 1, 2024 – Sept. 30, 2025
Nomination Ballot: A nomination ballot will be sent to current CMA professional voting members in the following member categories: affiliated, artist, composer, entertainment services, musician, personal manager, record company, talent agent, advertising/marketing/communications, venue, talent buyer/promoter and touring personnel. Each member is eligible to submit one nomination for each award category.
Second Ballot: Any candidate that meets the eligibility criteria and receives a minimum of three nominations will be placed on the second ballot. Eligible CMA members may vote for up to five candidates in each category for which they choose to vote.
Selection of Final Nominees: The Top 20 vote recipients from the second ballot will be presented to a CMA Touring Awards task force to develop a slate of at least five but no more than eight potential nominees for each of the CMA Touring Awards categories.
Final Ballot: The final ballot consisting of the approved nominees is sent to eligible CMA members for voting. Each member may vote for one nominee in each category they choose to vote.
All balloting is tabulated by the professional services organization, Deloitte.
Nomination Ballot: Opens Monday, July 21. Closes Friday, Aug. 1 at 5:00 p.m. CT
Second Ballot: Opens Tuesday, Aug. 26; Closes Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 5:00 p.m. CT
Final Ballot: Opens Monday, Dec. 1; Closes Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 5:00 p.m. CT
2025 CMA International Awards
Nomination Process & Information: All CMA professional voting members may submit nominations. A CMA International Awards task force reviews the nominations and makes winner recommendations to the CMA board of directors, which approves the recipients.
There are six CMA International Award categories—Jo Walker Meador International Award, Rob Potts International Live Music Advancement Award, Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award, International Country Broadcaster Award, International Artist Achievement Award, and Jeff Walker Global Country Artist Award.
Nomination Ballot: Open now through Saturday, May 31. Nominate now at https://CMAmember.lnk.to/IntlNomsPR.
2025 CMA Industry Honors
Nomination Process & Information: All CMA members may submit nominations for the following CMA Industry Honors —CMA Foundation Humanitarian Award, Irving Waugh Award of Excellence, Joe Talbot Award, CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award, Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, CMA Songwriter Advocate Award, and Studio Recording Icon Award.
Final recipients are selected and approved by the CMA board of directors.
Nomination Ballot: Open now through Sunday, Aug. 10. Nominate now at https://CMAmember.lnk.to/industryhonorsnomPR.
Here’s Trahern’s letter to voting members, in full:
Dear CMA Member,
At the Country Music Association, our awards and honors are more than just a moment of recognition—they are a reflection of the dedication, talent, and passion that fuel our genre. They give us the chance to celebrate one another and spotlight the very best of Country Music on a global stage. Every nomination, every win, and every honor become part of the story we’re writing together, a chapter forever etched in the history of Country Music. And at the heart of it all is you.
As a trade association, CMA exists to serve and support the people who make this industry thrive—those working day in and day out to create, promote, and elevate Country Music. The CMA Awards and our other honors are not decided by a panel of outsiders, but by those who know Country Music best: our members. Your vote is more than just a ballot. It is your voice, your expertise, and your influence in defining the legacy of this genre.
With the 2025 awards season upon us, we encourage you to engage thoughtfully in this process. Take the time to reflect on the music and achievements that have moved our industry forward. Vote with intention, with passion, and with a deep appreciation for the artistry and craftsmanship that define excellence in Country Music. Because the CMA Awards don’t just happen for the industry—they happen because of it.
The official 2025 CMA ballot schedule is now available, outlining key dates for voting, submissions, and nominations. In addition to the CMA Awards, we recognize excellence across all aspects of our business, from the CMA Broadcast Awards and the CMA International Awards to the CMA Touring Awards and various Industry Honors. Each of these programs is a cornerstone of CMA’s commitment to honoring the people and moments that propel Country Music to new heights.
We encourage all industry professionals who are shaping our genre to take advantage of this opportunity and make their voices heard. If you know someone who is not yet a CMA member, please invite them to apply by Sunday, June 1, to qualify for full voting eligibility in the 2025 CMA Awards cycle.
As we look ahead to another year of recognizing excellence, we remain grateful for your ongoing commitment to our format and this community. Thank you for being part of this important tradition.
Sarah Trahern
Chief Executive Officer
Country Music Association
Bruce Springsteen continued to preview his upcoming expansive box set Tracks II: The Lost Albums on Thursday (May 1) with the haunting ballad “Faithless.” The song is described as the title track from a “long-lost soundtrack to a movie that was never made.” Like so many of The Boss’ iconic songs, this one takes us down to the river, where love is found.
“Well, I work by the rocks of the river/ Faithless, faithless, faithless/ Then I met you,” Springsteen sings in a hushed voice over gentle, high desert-style acoustic guitar backing. “I walked ‘neath the eaves of the garden/ Faithless, faithless, faithless/ Then I saw you,” he adds with a chorus of female voices echoing his own.
In a release announcing the song, it is called a “meditation on purpose, belief and acceptance” that was originally intended to accompany a “spiritual Western” film that never got made. Springsteen recorded much of the Faithless album between the end of the November 2005 Devils & Dust tour and the April 2006 release of the We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions album.
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The Faithless LP — one of seven previously unreleased albums included in the set due out on June 27 from Sony Music — has four instrumental songs that were written as interstitials for the film on a collection that is said to explore Springsteen’s “unique vision of spirituality in the mythic American West, while working inside of his uncharted artistic medium.”
“This was a really unusual collection of songs,” Springsteen said in a statement of the score album that was composed in a “prolific” two weeks in Florida before a single frame of the movie was shot. “You could recognize details and maybe a character or two. But for the most part, I just wrote atmospheric music that I thought would fit,” he said. Mostly recorded as a solo effort, Faithless features appearances from producer Ron Aniello, touring members of The E Street Band Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell, Curtis King, Jr., Michelle Moore and Ada Dyer and the singer’s wife and fellow E Street Band member and solo performer Patti Scialfa, as well as the couple’s two adult sons, Evan and Sam Springsteen.
“Faithless” joins the other two pre-release songs previewing the Tracks II collection, the beat-heavy “Blind Spot” from the 10-track Streets of Philadelphia Sessions and the turbulent, “Rain in the River.”
The 83-track collection will “fill in rich chapters of Springsteen’s expansive career timeline — while offering invaluable insight into his life and work as an artist,” according to the initial release announcing the set, which noted that some of the albums got to the mixing stage before being shelved.
Among the other albums included are the lo-fi LA Garage Sessions ’83, the country-leaning Somewhere North of Nashville and the border tales LP Inyo, as well as the “orchestra-driven, mid-century noir” Twilight Hours. The box set covers the years 1983-2018 and will be issued in a limited-edition 9-LP set , as well as 7-CD and digital formats, with distinctive packaging for each. A 20-track compilation, Lost and Found: Selections From The Lost Albums, will also be released on June 27 on two LPs and one CD.
Listen to Springsteen’s “Faithless” below.
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Source: Prince Williams / Getty
If we’ve learned anything about the now classic Kendrick Lamar and Drake rap battle, it’s that claims of pedophilia can still ruin careers and reputations in this day and age, so when Fat Joe was accused of liking them young himself, he wasted no time filing a lawsuit to shut down any kind of pedo talk.
According to TMZ, the Don Cartegena just sued his former hypeman, Terrance “T.A.” Dixon, after Dixon took to social media and claimed that Fat Joe flew a 16-year-old across state lines in order to sleep with her. Immediately filing a lawsuit against Dixon, Joey Crack is claiming that Dixon’s allegation is a result of Dixon not getting paid some money he “didn’t earn” and has resorted to slander in order to even the score.
Per TMZ:
Joe’s legal counsel claims the allegations were made as part of a money grab generated by Dixon’s attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, who’s also representing Diddy accuser Lil Rodney in a separate case.
The lawsuit details how Joe and Dixon began working together in 2006, when Joe offered him a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to be part of his team … complete with compensation, luxurious travel, touring and other fringe benefits that accompany being in a superstar rapper’s inner circle.
Joe says the partnership ended amicably in 2019 and says he never heard any money complaints for 6 years, until Dixon began posting on social media with complaints he should have been paid more for his past work.
Fat Joe claims that back in March, Dixon hired Blackburn to represent him and sent him a letter demanding “compensation” as a ghostwriter for some of Fat Joe’s songs. After Fat Joe declined his demands he says that Dixon resorted to slander and is now taking him to court for his transgression.
Whether any of these allegations are true or not, best believe it’ll be something that will follow Fat Joe going forward as people tend to believe whatever they want when they don’t particularly like somebody. That’s one of the many negatives about social media in 2025.
Tyrone Blackburn, for his part, is confident in the lawsuit and warns of more claims to come.
Blackburn tells TMZ Hip Hop the new lawsuit is just a cover-up attempt and isn’t backing down … saying Joe filed “a baseless lawsuit in an effort to soften the blow of what’s to come. It won’t work. Fat Joe has a lot of explaining to do.”
Meanwhile Fat Joe is of course pushing back against the allegations and seems ready to fight this to the bitter end.
Fat Joe fiercely defends his name, telling us … “These allegations are completely false and part of a criminal conspiracy orchestrated between a disgruntled former hype man and his attorney. These two individuals have been scheming together to extort me with their elaborate and ludicrous demands changing by the day.”
Guess we’ll have to wait and see how this one ends up panning out.
What do y’all think about this situation? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Andrew Harnik / Getty
On Tuesday (April 29), Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was the subject of an attack from the White House over plans by the consumer giant to detail the cost of trade tariffs to their customers. But a spokesperson for Amazon has refuted that report, and Bezos reportedly spoke with President Donald Trump afterward.According to the Washington Post, the plan was that Amazon would use its low-cost shopping portal known as Amazon Haul to itemize the costs for consumers. The portal was launched last year to compete with Chinese-based budget retail giants Shein and Temu, which ship directly to customers from manufacturers in that nation.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that she discussed the proposed plan by Amazon, saying it was “another reason why Americans should buy American.” She continued, “This is a hostile and political act by Amazon. Why didn’t Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years?”The uproar led Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle to answer press inquiries with a statement. “This was never approved and is not going to happen,” he said. Trump also spoke out about the situation, revealing he spoke with Bezos via phone and that he had “solved the problem.” The two have had a contentious relationship, with Trump attacking Bezos and the Washington Post during his first term, and Amazon filing a lawsuit against the Pentagon in 2019 over being denied a $10 billion lawsuit citing Trump’s willingness to “pursue his own personal and political ends” to harm Bezos. But Amazon was among other companies donating to the president’s inauguration fund earlier this year.The move left many ripping Jeff Bezos for bending once again to the whims of Trump. “Wow Jeff Bezos is more pathetic than Donald Trump is stupid. Real unstoppable force meets an immovable object territory here,” wrote former Washington Post writer Matt O’ Brien in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Trump’s economic policy is based on pressuring and bribing the elite to pass on hidden import taxes to the populace,” University of Massachusetts economics professor Arin Duke opined in another X post.
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Source: Matthias Nareyek / Getty
On a recent unfiltered livestream, Kanye West delivered another fiery tirade, this time targeting fellow rap heavyweights J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar.
Known for his unpredictable and often controversial commentary, Kanye didn’t hold back, reigniting long-standing tensions within the Hip-Hop community.
Speaking on J. Cole, Kanye bluntly stated, “When I would meet up with Drake I would ask him why are you working with J. Cole, he’s not an actual person. When people would tell me they like J. Cole I be like don’t tell me that. I hate J. Cole, it can’t even be called music.” The harsh critique left fans stunned, especially given the mutual respect often expressed among the “Big Three” rappers of this generation, Cole, Kendrick, and Drake. Kanye’s dismissal of J. Cole’s artistry seemed personal, bordering on surreal, calling into question whether there’s deeper unresolved beef behind the scenes.
Ye was far from over too. Turning his attention to Kendrick Lamar, Kanye added, “I heard Ben Affleck that Kendrick Lamar is one of his favorite rappers. I was like, bro, anybody that has Kendrick as one of their favorite rappers don’t know rap.” The jab at Kendrick, long praised for his lyricism and cultural impact, raised eyebrows and drew backlash from fans and artists alike.
Whether this was another headline-grabbing rant or a sign of deeper tensions in the Hip-Hop world, Kanye once again reminded everyone, he says what he wants, no matter the fallout.
