One of the longtime producers of NPR’s popular Tiny Desk concert series took to his Instagram Story over the weekend to assure fans that the popular stripped-down performance showcase will not go away in the wake of the shutdown of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

In the post, Tiny Desk host and series producer Bobby Carter reacted to rampant rumors last week that the show might be on the chopping block following the Trump administration’s announcement in May that it was cutting all federal funding for NPR and PBS via the shut down of the CPB by zeroing out the latter’s budget.

“I’ve heard from many friends, family, and audience members who are worried that NPR/Tiny Desk is shutting down,” Carter wrote. “It is not. Unfortunately, CPB is shutting down. I encourage everyone to support Public Media and donate. I appreciate all the calls, texts, and messages. They have been overwhelming and heartwarming.”

While fans of NPR have been fretting about the network’s future in light of the budget cuts, Tiny Desk has actually been expanding its reach lately, recently launching Tiny Desk Radio, a new weekly show co-hosted by Carter and Anamarie Sayre. The same cannot be said for CPB, a private, non-profit organization created by Congress in 1967 that oversaw the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting, acting as the largest single source of funds for public radio, TV And their respective online services. More than 70% of the CPB’s funds went to 1,500 locally owned public radio and TV stations, more than half of which were among the only sources of news and information in rural areas of the country.

The CPB is slated to shut down fully in September — though NPR has filed a lawsuit challenging both Trump’s original executive order and Congress’ rescission of the organization’s funds — at which point a number of local public media stations could face serious funding challenges, or shut down completely.

Tiny Desk was launched in 2008 by former All Things Considered host and music superfan Bob Boilen as a showcase for acts he, and the show’s staff, were excited to share with their listeners. To date, the show has hosted more than 1,200 acts and blossomed into a cultural touchstone thanks to landmark, roof-raising performances by the Clipse, T-Pain, Dua Lipa, Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals, Mac Miller, Sting and Shaggy, Adele, Tank and the Bangas, Mitski and Fred again… among many others.

At press time Billboard had not received a response from Tiny Desk on questions about the show’s future or Carter’s post.

Virgin Music Group, the indie distribution arm of Universal Music Group (UMG), is offloading a big chunk of its U.S. physical distribution of CDs and vinyl to Alliance Entertainment’s AMPED distribution company, sources tell Billboard.

Virgin currently distributes labels including BMG, ATO, Dirty Hit Records, Sumerian, ATO, Fader, Strange Music, NF Real Music and Thrive, along with artists such as the Smashing Pumpkins, Black Veil Brides, Body Count, Rick Astley, Bebe Rexha and Jason Aldean. The deal, which a source says is not yet completed, has created a degree of uncertainty for the labels distributed by the two companies, creating worries for label executives about how the new arrangement will work out for their respective labels and artists.

But some of the Virgin labels say the UMG-owned company is a much better digital distributor than physical distributor, and are hopeful that the move to AMPED will therefore prove to be a good one for their businesses.

Still other sources suggest that this move will serve as an enhancement and will expand Virgin’s physical reach, given that Alliance is the largest music wholesaler in the world, servicing more than 1,500 indie retailers and selling to chains and mass merchants while offering fulfillment services to online physical music merchants. The deal will ensure more complete coverage of indie retail within the U.S. and Canada, as well as nontraditional retail locations, according to sources familiar with the deal. Those sources expect the deal to fuel the growth of physical sales in the U.S. and Canada at independent retail for the company’s distributed independent label clients.

Over the last two years, UMG has been expanding and fortifying its indie distribution presence. In September 2022, the company placed its indie distribution arms, Virgin and InGrooves, under the Virgin Music Group banner, led by mTheory founders JT Myers and Nat Pastor. In October 2023, UMG then merged the two distribution companies into one. The following October, it acquired full ownership of [PIAS], which owns some labels and one of the larger European indie distribution companies, and merged it into Virgin Music Group. And in December, UMG followed that up by announcing that through Virgin, it was buying Downtown Music Holdings, which has a suite of music companies that includes two indie distributors, FUGA and CD Baby. That $775 million deal has yet to close, as it faces antitrust scrutiny from governmental regulatory agencies and opposition from some of the big players in the indie label sector.

As for the anticipated new physical distribution channel for Virgin’s domestically distributed indie labels, Billboard estimates that last year in the U.S., Virgin had about $25 million to $30 million in physical sales, based on Luminate data. However, it’s not known if AMPED will be getting all of those sales; AMPED’s parent may already have a share of that physical because Virgin probably only sells to bigger indie retailers directly and relies on one-stop wholesalers like Alliance to sell to smaller indie stores, meaning that for those sales the switch amounts to an internal accounting change within the company. Also, some sources suggest that K-pop releases, which are known to have a huge physical presence, might remain within the Universal system. Some sources estimate that when all the details of the deal and its transition are worked out, Alliance’s AMPED could land anywhere from $20 million to $25 million in sales from the deal.

Alliance Entertainment is the biggest physical music wholesaler in the world; in its annual report last year, it said that about $450 million of its $1.1 billion in revenue came from music. Based on the nine months reported so far this fiscal year, where its music revenue totaled $358 million as of March 31, 2025, Billboard estimates that Alliance will close out the fiscal year with at least $475 million in music revenue. Those results are expected to be disclosed in mid-September.

Within that, sources say AMPED has annual revenue of about $80 million, so it’s conceivable that the addition of physical from the Virgin labels could see the indie distributor generating $100 million in revenue on an annualized basis, while putting parent Alliance’s music revenue at the $500 million mark, regardless of how the company accounts for the sales.

Federal prosecutors want Latin music executive Ángel Del Villar to go to prison for more than six years following his conviction on felony charges of doing business with a concert promoter linked to Mexican drug cartels.

The feds asked a judge Friday to sentence the Del Records CEO to 78 months (6.5 years) in prison, three years supervised release, and a $300,000 fine for violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, a law that bars U.S. residents from working with drug traffickers.

In the filing, the government told the judge a stiff sentence would “confirm that willful and brazen violations of sanctions law come with serious consequences.”

“He knew the federal government imposed these sanctions [over alleged money laundering to] one of the world’s most brutal criminal organizations,” prosecutors wrote. “At no time has he accepted any responsibility for his actions.”

A court hearing for Del Villar’s sentencing is currently scheduled for next week.

Prosecutors allege that Del Villar repeatedly arranged concerts with Jesus Pérez Alvear, a promoter with ties to Mexican cartels. At a March trial, regional Mexican superstar Gerardo Ortiz took the stand to testify against Del Villar, saying he had seen Pérez Alvear at the Del Records offices and had himself performed at one of the promoter’s concerts.

Del Villar’s defense attorneys argued at the trial that he had been “manipulated” into working with Pérez Alvear by a “trusted” former employee. But the jury didn’t buy it, finding him guilty on 10 counts of violating the Kingpin law, as well as one conspiracy charge.

At the time, Del Villar’s attorneys vowed to appeal the verdict, saying that the case was “unique and unprecedented” and that “the criminal justice system got it wrong.” Such appeals typically take place after sentencing.

Founded by Del Villar in 2008, Del Records later grew into a top record company for regional Mexican music. The label was home to música mexicana supergroup Eslabon Armado, whose global hit, “Ella Baila Sola” with Peso Pluma, became one of the biggest songs of 2023, as well as Lenin Ramirez and other chart-topping artists.

But in June 2022, Del Villar, 41; CFO Luca Scalisi, 56; and Del Records itself were all charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. Passed in 1999, the law allows the U.S. to impose targeted sanctions on foreign individuals involved in the illegal drug trade and ban U.S. residents from doing business with them.

The U.S. Treasury Department added Pérez Alvear to the sanctions list in 2018, claiming he and his company, Gallistica Diamante, had helped cartels “exploit the Mexican music industry to launder drug proceeds and glorify their criminal activities.” According to court records, he has since died.

The case alleged that Del Villar and Scalisi used Pérez Alvear to arrange four Mexican concerts for an undisclosed Del Records artist, then accepted nearly $200,000 in payments from him, all while aware that he had been sanctioned. Charging documents cite a never-sent Del Records press release acknowledging that status, as well as private messages in which Scalisi noted that Pérez Alvear was “under homeland security watch” and Del Villar was directly told that Pérez Alvear was “a sanctioned U.S. person.”

In Friday’s new filing on sentencing, prosecutors repeatedly cited such red flags to argue that Del Villar knew what he was doing was wrong, but simply “ignored” the restrictions and chose to work with Perez Alvear anyway.

“The whole point of the sanctions regime — to economically isolate and cripple foreign bad actors — depends on U.S. persons taking sanctions designations seriously,” prosecutors write in the new filing. “Defendant did not. And he directed several others not to do so.”

Del Villar’s attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday.

Doechii is bringing The Swamp to your backyard. The Florida rapper announced her biggest trek to date on Monday (Aug. 4) with the Live From the Swamp Tour, which will kick off in Chicago on Oct. 14.

The 12-city North American tour will run through Toronto, Boston, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix, San Francisco and more before wrapping up in Seattle on Nov. 10. Pre-sale tickets are set to go on sale for Verizon customers starting on Aug. 7, while tickets for the general public will become available on Aug. 11. There are also VIP packages for fans who want an elevated experience, which come with tickets, merch, early entry to venues, floor access and the Swamp gift bundle.

The 26-year-old has a handful of festival dates on tap this fall, including Austin City Limits and All Things Go Festival. She’ll head down under to Australia for a brief four-show run as part of Spilt Milk Festival in December.

Doechii is coming off her acclaimed debut at Lollapalooza over the weekend, which saw the Swamp Princess take over Chicago and bring out JT as a special guest for “Alter Ego.”

The 2025 Billboard Woman of the Year even gave fans a teaser of her upcoming tour dates before finishing her set as she drove off in an albino alligator-wrapped car.

Doechii has enjoyed a meteoric rise throughout 2025 while heading into her highly anticipated debut album. The TDE rapper’s ALLIGATOR BITES NEVER HEAL mixtape took home best rap album honors at the Grammy Awards earlier this year.

Find all of the Live From the Swamp Tour dates below.

In this week’s crop of new music, Zach Top previews his upcoming project Ain’t in It for My Health with a new song, while Austin Snell takes an unflinching look at a family tree with some tangled roots. Anne Wilson continues her blend of country and Christian music sounds on her new, four-song EP God Story, while bluegrass prodigy Wyatt Ellis teams with fellow bluegrass stalwarts Trey Hensley and Michael Cleveland to cover a 1950s country/bluegrass classic. And HARDY also issues a new new somber, soulful country release.

Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of some of the best country, bluegrass and/or Americana songs of the week below.

Zach Top, “South of Sanity”

Top continues establishing himself as a premier purveyor of neo-traditional country as he gears up for his sophomore country set, Ain’t in It for My Health, to release later this month. Swaths of piano and pedal steel underpin this rich ballad, as Top details the devastating toll that chasing the life of a performer can take on a relationship. “She says she loves me on the phone as she cries/ And wishes I’d come home to stay,” he sings on this 1980s country-leaning track, which he wrote with Mark Nesler and writer-producer Carson Chamberlain and in the process, adds to his already top-shelf catalog of songs.

Austin Snell, “Family Tree”

Snell delivers an unflinching meditation on generational trauma on his new song. “How much of it is in my veins/ How much of it is up to me?” he ponders, asking a stark question of just how much familial struggles such as alcoholism weave through bloodlines, and how much one’s self-determination changes that trajectory. This clear-eyed but hopeful track is one of Snell’s most captivating to date, one that declares history doesn’t have to dictate one’s destiny.

Anna Vaus & Madison Hughes, “Scenic Route”

Tender, flowery guitars, keyboards and percussion, elevate this dreamy solo write from Vaus, who together with Madison Hughes turns in dusky, warm harmonies. “I used to believe there was such a thing as a wrong/ ‘Cause I’d taken so many,” she sings, but ultimately realizes that even when life unspools in a direction that departs from hopeful plans, there’s wisdom in appreciating the unexpected beauty of the journey.

Anne Wilson, God Story (EP)

Wilson continues her hybrid country/Contemporary Christian sound on her latest EP, the four-track God Story. The songs continue several lyrical themes she’s become known for; from turning trials and triumphs into an interlocking testimony (“God Story”) and paying tribute to her late brother Jacob (“Twenty Three”). The EP’s standout is the jangly, country-rocker “The Devil Is Too,” which evolves into a jamband feel, with handclaps, swaths of acoustic guitar and mandolin, and a sing-a-long vocal chorus as Wilson leans into her rich soulful country tones.

Wyatt Ellis feat. Trey Hensley and Michael Cleveland, “Country Boy Rock n’ Roll”

Sixteen-year-old bluegrass prodigy, vocalist/songwriter and mandolin player Wyatt Ellis, possesses a musical acumen and knowledge of of musicians twice his age. Here, he teams with bluegrass stalwarts Trey Hensley (guitar/vocals) and Michael Cleveland (fiddle) for a reimagined version of this 1956 song from acclaimed bluegrass/country duo Reno and Smiley (which Marty Stuart also covered in 2010). Slabs of fierce fiddle, precise mandolin picking and rich harmonies envelop this tale of a country boy, used to a life filled with fields of corn and cotton, who trades life in the fields for life on the road thanks to his newfound love of rock ‘n’ roll.

HARDY, “Bottomland”

HARDY issues one of his most soulful country songs to date, with this somber, piano-fueled song offering one person’s hopes that when the time comes, they are buried in the bottomland pattern of camo they so favored while hunting in the woods. “Bury me in bottomland, with my grandpa’s rifle in my hands,” he sings, with this reflective track serving as a sterling reminder that HARDY isn’t just one of country music’s premier songsmiths, but he’s also capable of delivering soul-stirring, emotionally charged vocal performances.