Trending on Billboard Spotify launched its first Artist Party in Sydney on Monday night (Nov. 17) featuring The Kid LAROI, marking the start of ARIA Week with a tightly programmed event centered on Australian talent ahead of the 2025 ARIA Awards. Held at the Cell Block Theatre in Darlinghurst, the event functioned as Spotify’s primary on-the-ground activation during ARIA Week and drew a cross-section of nominated artists, emerging acts and industry figures. The Kid LAROI headlined the night with a short set that included a surprise appearance by Western Sydney drill group ONEFOUR for “Distant Strangers.” The performance marked a rare public pairing for the two acts in the lead-up to this year’s ceremony. Related LAROI, who has been home in Australia ahead of his next release cycle, addressed the crowd briefly, noting the significance of performing in Sydney during ARIA Week. The Kid LAROI said: “I grew up dreaming about nights like this, so to be back in Sydney, performing this party with Spotify and surrounded by so many Aussie artists I respect, is special.” He added, “Australian music is having a massive global moment right now, it’s so cool to be part of that!” Several 2025 ARIA nominees also appeared on the bill. Sons of the East (Best Blues & Roots Album) and Taylor Moss (Best Country Album) delivered unannounced acoustic performances, while Young Franco — nominated for Best Solo Artist and Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist — closed the night with a DJ set. The event drew notable nominees, including Ninajirachi, this year’s most-nominated artist, as well as RedHook and Larissa Lambert. Members of The Wiggles were also seen in attendance, reflecting the wide footprint of ARIA Week programming across genres and generations. This year’s ARIA Awards arrive with higher-than-usual audience participation following the introduction of Spotify’s in-app voting tool, which the ARIAs say has driven more than 250,000 public votes across the ceremony’s open categories. That figure surpasses combined tallies from the previous two years and indicates elevated visibility for this year’s broadcast and livestream. The 2025 ARIA Awards will be held Nov. 19 at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion, streaming live on Paramount+ from 5 p.m. AEDT before airing later that night on Network 10.

Trending on Billboard Aaron Nichols secured one of the most coveted spots in The Voice Season 28 Knockouts on Monday night (Nov. 17), earning Team Reba’s “Mic Drop” selection after a commanding performance that cut through an already stacked episode. Explore See latest videos, charts and news The Knockouts continued with matchups from Teams Reba McEntire, Michael Bublé, Snoop Dogg and Niall Horan, with mega mentors Joe Walsh and Zac Brown stepping in during rehearsals. The format remains high-stakes: no steals, no saves — just three head-to-head battles for a place in the Playoffs, plus one Mic Drop pick per team. The Mic Drop nominee performs at the Rose Parade, with the final decision left to viewer votes. This week, that honor went to Nichols, whose rugged tone on “Hurricane” by The Band of Heathens immediately grabbed Reba’s attention. Walsh encouraged Nichols to be more present in the room — “I can’t quite see your eyes,” he said — while Reba noted his command felt seasoned beyond the show. Nichols faced off against Cori Kennedy, who delivered Lady Gaga’s “You and I” with intense, full-bodied power. Walsh suggested slight phrasing changes, while Bublé praised her natural force: “You walk out and you just destroy.” Snoop Dogg highlighted her dynamic build (“you started off mild then got real hot”), and Horan compared her energy to Stevie Nicks. But Nichols’ emotive grit ultimately won the round. Reba called him “a seasoned veteran up on the stage” and hit the Mic Drop button, cementing him as her nominee for the Rose Parade performance slot. This marks the third Mic Drop nomination of the season. In earlier episodes, Bublé selected 14-year-old Max Chambers after his smooth run through Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing,” and Horan chose DEK of Hearts following their harmony-rich take on Lady A’s “What If I Never Get Over You.” The Knockouts continue next Monday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Check out the performance below.

Swift recorded namesake songs for seven of her 12 studio albums. 11/17/2025

Trending on Billboard Ashley Gorley and Shaboozey won top honors at the 2025 ASCAP Nashville Songwriters Celebration, with Gorley winning ASCAP country music songwriter of the year for a record 12th time. That’s more times than anyone has won songwriter of the year at an ASCAP awards celebration in any genre. Related ASCAP celebrated the winners at an invitation-only party on Monday (Nov. 17) in Nashville. ASCAP chairman of the board and president Paul Williams, ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews, ASCAP executive vp and head of creative membership Nicole George-Middleton and ASCAP vp of Nashville membership Mike Sistad handed out awards. Among ASCAP’s most-performed country songs of the year, penned by Gorley, are “Fix What You Didn’t Break” (Nate Smith), “I Am Not Okay” (Jelly Roll), “Liar” (Jelly Roll) and “Park” (Tyler Hubbard). In June, Gorley was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Shaboozey received the ASCAP country music songwriter/artist of the year honor. In addition to his “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” earning ASCAP’s country music song of the year, his “Good News” (co-written by Sean Cook) is also among ASCAP’s most-performed country songs of the year. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” was co-written by Sean Cook, Jerrell “J-Kwon” Jones, Joe Capo Kent and Mark “Tarboy” Williams. It was published by Sony Music Publishing, Essancy Music, Seeker Music, Range Music Publishing, Tarpo Music Publishing, Hood Hop Music, Kreshendo and Warner Chappell Music. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 weeks, tying Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus) as the longest-running No. 1 song in Hot 100 history (which dates to 1958). Additionally, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” won a CMA Award for single of the year, a Billboard Music Award for top country song and top-selling song, and a Brit Award for international song of the year. Shaboozey is nominated for new artist of the year at Wednesday’s CMA Awards and recently received Grammy nominations for best country solo performance, best country duo/group performance and best country song. Sony Music Publishing is the ASCAP country music publisher of the year. Among their awarded titles are “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” for the second consecutive year, “Fix What You Didn’t Break” (Nate Smith), “Hard Fought Hallelujah” (Brandon Lake, Jelly Roll), “Good News” (Shaboozey), “Cowboys Cry Too” (Kelsea Ballerini, Noah Kahan), “Coming Home” (Old Dominion), “Country House” (Sam Hunt), “I Am Not Okay” (Jelly Roll), “4x4xU” (Lainey Wilson) and “Love You, Miss You, Mean It” (Luke Bryan). The ASCAP writers and publishers of the most-performed Christian music songs also received their awards at the celebration. A complete list of ASCAP country music winners can be found at the ASCAP site.

Trending on Billboard Europe’s largest music market will soon be announcing a ban on ticket resale for profit, elating music fans while roiling investors in secondary ticketing companies like StubHub and Vivid Seats.  Multiple outlets in the United Kingdom are reporting that the Labour Party government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce a plan to crack down on ticket scalping this week. Outlets like The Guardian are reporting that Starmer’s government had considered capping resale at 30% above a ticket’s original face value, but ultimately opted to ban the resale of tickets above face value following significant pressure from artists and industry groups.  Related According to The Guardian, ticket holders for popular concerts like Coldplay and Dua Lipa will be able to resell tickets on sites like StubHub and Viagogo, but not charge more than they paid for the tickets. Resale sites would be allowed to charge fees on top of that price, but the fees would be limited and set by regulators. The resale ban would also cover social media sites, which some resale site operators have claimed would serve as fraud-heavy alternatives if markets like StubHub were shut down.  The new regulations will also include purchasing limits on tickets and mandates from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that resale sites like StubHub will be responsible for policing their own platforms.   The news sent the share price for StubHub’s U.S. company, StubHub Holdings, tumbling on Monday (Nov. 17); the stock ultimately closed down 13.8 percent. StubHub has endured a brutal November, with shares down a combined 33% after the company failed to provide a financial forecast for the current quarter.  The publicly traded StubHub Holdings — which owns Viagogo — is a different company from the U.K. StubHub brand. The Competition and Markets Authority forced the firms to split into two companies following the merger of Viagogo and StubHub in 2020.  Representatives for Live Nation applauded the deal, telling Billboard in a statement that “Live Nation fully supports the UK government’s plan to ban ticket resale above face value. Ticketmaster already limits all resale in the UK to face value prices, and this is another major step forward for fans — cracking down on exploitative touting to help keep live events accessible. We encourage others around the world to adopt similar fan-first policies.”  Earlier this month, more than 40 British artists, including Sam Fender, Radiohead and The Cure, sent a public letter to Starmer urging the U.K. prime minister to “stop touts [scalpers] from fleecing fans” and cap the price of resale tickets at face value. The pressure campaign followed a recent CMA study that found U.K. tickets sold on resale sites were typically marked up 50 percent.