Godspeed You! Black Emperor is the latest act to remove their music from Spotify.

Over the past few months, many artists including Chad VanGaalen, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu have removed their music from Spotify. In addition to qualms round royalty payments, many artists have cited military investments made by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek through his investment fund Prima Materia. Since 2021, Prima Materia has been investing in Helsing, a defense company that sells AI software to inform military decisions. One song, a compilation track called “Outro,” is all that remains on Spotify.

Godspeed! has gone several steps further, removing nearly its entire discography from all major streaming services, including Tidal and Amazon Music.

Two of the long-running Canadian post-rock band’s albums on American independent record label Kranky — 1998’s F# A# ∞ and 2000’s Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven — are still up on Apple Music — but that’s also set to change soon.

“Kranky has always granted artists control over how their music is presented and disseminated,” a representative shared with Pitchfork, confirming that Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s remaining albums are in the process of being removed from the platform.

The band’s entire catalogue is still available to buy and stream via Bandcamp.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor have had two albums on the Billboard 200, but they’ve had even more impact on sales charts. The group has earned five albums on Billboard’s Top Album Sales, including 2021’s G_d’s Pee At State’s End, which peaked at No. 8. Five albums have charted on the Vinyl Albums chart, with 2012’s Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! hitting No. 1.

That album won Canada’s Polaris Music Prize in 2012, but the band didn’t show up to receive the award, using the $30,000 prize to launch and fund a program to provide musical instruments to prisoners in Quebec.

Billboard Canada has reached out to Godspeed You! Black Emperor and their label Constellation Records for comment.

Though the band hasn’t shared their exact reason for removing their music or if it is related to Ek’s military investments, they have often espoused anti-capitalist and anti-war perspectives. Their most recent album, 2024’s No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead, was titled after the death toll of Palestinians, as reported by Gaza’s Health Ministry, in Israel’s war in Gaza.

In a statement accompanying the album, the band wrote:

“THE PLAIN TRUTH==
we drifted through it, arguing.
every day a new war crime, every day a flower bloom.
we sat down together and wrote it in one room,
and then sat down in a different room, recording.”

This article was originally published by Billboard Canada.

The New York Comedy Festival (NYCF) announced the addition of more than 100 shows to its 2025 line-up on Monday morning (Aug. 18).

Highlights include the Right Now podcast with John Goblikon, the character played by comedian Dave Rispoli in a green pointy-eared goblin mask, Hannibal Buress & Friends, Maddy Smith, Ricky Velez, the I Never Liked You podcast with Matteo Lane and Nick Smith, Erica Rhodes, Jaye McBride and That Show, hosted by Chris Gethard.

Earlier this summer, the festival, which is in its 11th year, announced a slate of headliners that will include Morgan Jay, who will play four shows in the metropolitan area — two at the Beacon Theatre, one at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn and one at Prudential Hall in Newark, NJ — Louis C.K., Margaret Cho, Pete Holmes, The Basement Yard, Hannah Berner, Michael Blackson, and Strangers with Candy with Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris. 

In addition to this initial slate of headliners, the festival will announce additional shows in the coming months and more details for what have become staples of the proceedings. They include Stand Up for Heroes, the Bob Woodruff Foundation’s fundraiser for military veterans and their families, which draws A-list comedians and musicians, including such regulars as Jon Stewart, Jim Gaffigan, Jerry Seinfeld and Bruce Springsteen. Other annual programming includes the New York’s Funniest Stand Ups Presented By Threads competition and Comics to Watch.  

See the full lineup of additional shows HERE.

“We’re incredibly excited to unveil this year’s expanded lineup, featuring more than 100 shows across all five boroughs of the city,” said Caroline Hirsch, founder and owner of the festival in a statement. “The level of talent joining us this year is nothing short of phenomenal. Our continued mission is to uplift and celebrate the dynamic New York comedy community — bringing together rising stars and iconic performers in the city’s most storied venues that reflect the incredibly rich diversity and boundless energy of this city.”

For the fourth consecutive year, Hard Rock Hotel New York is the official host hotel for the NYCF. With music and entertainment at its core, the hotel will once again be home to various festival performances, events, and after-parties, along with exclusive overnight experiences for those in the audience or commanding the stage.

The 2025 NYCF is made possible by its partners Bread Financial, Threads, Hard Rock Hotel New York, ABC7, iHeart Radio, NYC Media & Entertainment, NYC Tourism + Conventions, Founded in NYC, New York Magazine, New York Post, Vulture and The Wall Street Journal.

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Prior to this year’s festival season, JADE had already performed on massive stages for countless fans — but never by herself. As such, appearances at 2025 U.K. festivals like Glastonbury, Mighty Hoopla and Radio 1’s Big Weekend required plenty of prep work.

“When I first started rehearsing, I was like, ‘Oh, s–t. I actually have to sing the whole of every song,’ ” says the 32-year-old pop star, who spent over a decade in the best-selling girl group Little Mix. “I had to train my body and breath work. And then there was my internal challenge, since I’m my own biggest critic. I was like, ‘What do I need to do to show everyone that I am great on my own?’ ”

JADE’s debut solo album, That’s Showbiz Baby!, answers that question: Due out Sept. 12 on Sony Music U.K./RCA Records, the 14-song project demonstrates the breadth of Jade Thirlwall’s taste as a pop student and skills as a wide-ranging vocal dynamo.

Last year, JADE made her dramatic solo debut with “Angel of My Dreams,” a complex synth-pop firecracker that earned critical raves and became a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. The single hinted at her complicated relationship with the music industry, after Little Mix won The X Factor in 2011 and then relentlessly recorded albums and toured before going on a hiatus in 2022. In January, promotional single “IT girl” — which included lyrics like “Sign on the line for me/Baby, smile, but don’t show your teeth/Say goodbye to autonomy” — made those feelings about the group’s micromanaged run explicit.

“We all know what it’s about,” JADE says of “IT girl,” which she regrets not making a proper single. “It’s got a certain cheekiness — I’m a laugh-at-my-trauma kind of girl, and I really enjoy writing music that ruffles people’s feathers because that’s what art should do. Those are my experiences, and now that I’m on my own, there’s nothing holding me back from telling that truth.”

JADE started thinking about the tone of her debut while Little Mix was wrapping up its run and signed solo deals with Full Stop Management and RCA in early 2022. She felt an urge to continue the group’s momentum and immediately return to the spotlight, but found that all her early solo material sounded like Little Mix songs. “Part of me was conditioned to be on this hamster wheel with the group,” she says. “It was essential that I took a good two, three years to figure out who I am.”

During that time, JADE linked up with producers like Cirkut, Lostboy and Mike Sabath, translating “the art of compromising and teamwork” that she learned with Little Mix into studio sessions with multiple points of view. To establish her own, she drew inspiration from the styles she loved growing up, pre-X Factor: Motown, Clubland, musical theater. She also pulled from Madonna and Janet Jackson, pop icons with a knack for reinvention, as well as Gwen Stefani and Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts — former group members who fashioned bold sounds on their own.

As a result, That’s Showbiz Baby! balances bugged-out pop experiments like “Angel of My Dreams” and “IT girl,” thumping dancefloor fare like “Fantasy” and “FUFN (F–k You for Now)” and glimpses of JADE’s personality that she never had the opportunity to showcase within a group setting. “Glitch” pushes JADE toward futuristic R&B while exploring her own insecurities, while “Unconditional” is a clear highlight that illustrates the album’s ambition. Blending disco shimmer with aggressive guitar, JADE describes “Unconditional” as “Donna Summer meets MGMT” and is dedicated to her mother, who has battled health issues as her daughter has become a pop star.

Following a few more festival appearances in August, JADE will embark on her first headlining tour in October, presenting That’s Showbiz Baby! across Ireland and the United Kingdom. She says the goal of her live show is to present herself as more than “Jade from Little Mix” and that the reactions from her recent festival crowds have been beyond encouraging. “I’ve loved being onstage again and performing songs that I’ve written from my personal experiences,” she says. “The live shows in particular have shown me that I really can do this on my own and enjoy it.”

In that regard, That’s Showbiz Baby! is just the first step in a long-term plan: JADE already has song concepts for her second album and visual ideas for upcoming eras. Like Little Mix, her core fan base is in the United Kingdom, but she wants to expand outward and become a major force in other territories. After more than a decade of tireless work within a girl group, JADE understands she must prioritize originality and authenticity as a solo artist — but also knows she possesses the fortitude to achieve her goals.

“I live and breathe pop music,” she says. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

This story appears in the Aug. 16, 2025, issue of Billboard.

Kenny Beats scored a film.

Kenneth “Kenny Beats” Blume is making his debut as a film composer with the upcoming movie LURKER written by former music journalist Alex Russell, who is making his directorial debut with the project.

The official soundtracks’s lead single, “Love and Obsession,” performed by one of its stars, Archie Madekwe, as his character rising pop star Oliver and co-produced by Kenny and Rex Orange County was released over the weekend. Today (Aug. 18) Billboard has an exclusive clip of a behind the scenes look at Oliver making the music video for the song as Théodore Pellerin’s character Matthew directs him. The scene is a pivotal moment in the movie and it highlights the awkward tension that had been brewing between Oliver and Matthew up until that point.

LURKER‘s synopsis reads as follows (per press release): “When a 20-something retail clerk encounters a rising pop star, he takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. But as the line between friend and fan blurs beyond recognition, access and proximity become a matter of life and death. The directorial debut from The Bear and Beef writer-producer Alex Russell, LURKER is an exhilarating cat-and-mouse thriller made for the moment. Online fixation meets reality in this parasocial, paranoid film driven by a brilliant score and star-making performances.”

The film, which also stars Zack Fox, hits theaters on Friday (Aug. 22) with the official soundtrack making its way to DSP’s on the same date.

Check out the exclusive clip below.

The Flyover Comedy Festival announced its lineup of headliners on Monday (Aug. 18, with the promise of more to come.

Aziz Ansari, Kyle Kinane, Gallery Laughs feat. Kym Whitley, Beth Stelling, Dulcé Sloan, are on this year’s roster, along with St. Louis comedians twins Randy and Jason Sklar, who will present an episode of their podcast, Dumb People Town (with co-host Daniel Van Kirk and special guests). In addition, the festival will feature a set from beloved improv group ASSSSCAT!, whose previous members included Will Ferrell, Mark Hamill, Tina Fey, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Banks, Aubrey Plaza, Kumail Nanjiani, Amy Poehler and Robin Williams. 

The festival, which was founded in 2017, will expand to four days (from three) and take place Nov. 13-16 at various locations throughout the city, including The Pageant, the St. Louis Art Museum and at a number of venues in The Grove.

The full nearly 150 artist line-up will be revealed in the coming weeks

Tickets go on sale to the general public Thursday (Aug. 21) at 10 a.m. at the festival’s website. A limited number of four-day wristbands are available for $125 and $65 — prices are based on the shows that festival goers can attend. Tickets to individual shows are also available.

Artist and venue presale begins Wednesday (Aug. 20) at 10 a.m. and runs until 11:59 p.m.

Comedian and producer Zach Gzehoviak and Brady McAninch founded the festival, which in past years, has featured Sarah Silverman, Jeff Ross, Tig Notaro, Patton Oswalt, Ron Funches, Todd Barry and Sasheer Zamata.