As Oasis gear up to bring their Live ’25 reunion tour to North America with a show at Rogers Stadium in Toronto on Aug. 24, the band announced the locations for the official fan stores on Wednesday morning (Aug. 13).

Following the successful roll-out of the Oasis Live ’25 fan stores around the U.K. and Ireland for the inaugural run of shows, the locations and opening dates of shops in Los Angeles, Toronto, New York and Chicago have been revealed. Each store will feature exclusive brand collaborations and limited-edition items, including branded T-shirts, hoodies and jackets for men, women and children, accessories and more, including the recently announced Adidas Originals x Oasis collection.

The Toronto shop will open on Aug. 21 at 468 Queen St. (open daily from 11 a.m. ET), while the Chicago store will launch Aug. 26 at 1421 N. Milwaukee Ave. (open daily from 10 a.m. CT). The New York location (in support of the two shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1) at 107 Grand St. will open on Aug. 23 (open daily from 10 a.m. ET) and the Los Angeles shop will launch on Aug. 20 at 6250 Hollywood Blvd. (open daily at 10 a.m. PT).

The shops will stock exclusive T-shirts featuring album and single artwork graphics honoring the band’s killer debut and sophomore albums, Definitely Maybe and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, as well as ones commemorating beloved singles “Wonderwall” and “Supersonic.” There will also be exclusive tour edition colored vinyl of the band’s catalog and a Live ’25 print only available in the shops.

While walk-ins are welcomed, fans can book a visit in advance to avoid lines.

Following the seven North American stops, Oasis will move on to Mexico City, pop back to London for two more Wembley Stadium gigs and then wrap things up with shows in Asia, Australia/New Zealand and South America.

Spotify has struck a new direct licensing agreement with Kobalt. The news follows about six months after the streaming service struck agreements with other top publishers — Universal Music Publishing Group and Warner Chappell — both of which reported at the time that their deals with Spotify improved remuneration for songwriters on the platform.

Details of the deal remain limited, but a source familiar with the matter says it positions Kobalt to earn beyond the baseline mechanical royalties set by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board. Kobalt’s CEO, Laurent Hubert, calls the company’s direct deal with Spotify a “step in the right direction” which “reaffirms our unwavering commitment to ensuring our songwriters are paid fairly for their work, and underscores the importance of progressive licensing models that reflect the real-world use of music across digital platforms.”

Spotify has had strained relations with music publishers and songwriters at different points throughout its history, due to royalty rate disputes, but tensions intensified in March 2024 when Spotify began paying a significantly lessened royalty rate for streams on its premium tiers to songwriters and publishers. This occurred as a result of Spotify reclassifying those tiers as “bundles,” a type of plan that qualifies for a discounted rate on U.S. mechanical royalties given that multiple products — in this case, Spotify’s music and newly added audiobooks — are both offered under one price tag.

At the time, Billboard estimated that this change will lead songwriters and publishers to earn about $150 million less in royalties for the first year bundling is in effect, compared to what was projected pre-bundling. More recently, at the National Music Publishers’ Association’s (NMPA) annual meeting in June 2025, the trade organization representing UMPG, WCM, Kobalt and the vast majority of other publishers reported that the bundle actually led to a loss of $230 million in the first year.

While the NMPA has lead a broad campaign against Spotify’s bundling practices since March 2024, by January 2025, several major players in the music publishing industry had begun exploring private deals with the streaming platform. UMG announced a recording and publishing deal with Spotify first — becoming the first direct deal between Spotify and a publisher since the passage of the Music Modernization Act in 2018. The deal impacted both UMG’s recorded music and publishing royalty rates and included language about protection for UMG talent through Spotify’s fraud detection and enforcement systems.

A Spotify spokesperson told Billboard at the time: “Spotify maintains its bundle, but with this direct deal, it has evolved to account for broader rights, including a different economic treatment for music and non-music content.”

WCM followed shortly after, while Kobalt is the third to follow suit. A press release about Spotify’s Kobalt deal says it will “deliver greater flexibility, efficiency, value, and protections to songwriters in the US.”

Still, Spotify has yet to strike a similar deal with Sony Music Publishing, the largest publisher in the world. A source close to Spotify reveals that while they are having positive discussions with them, there is no deal to date.

“This deal reflects the collaborative efforts between Kobalt and Spotify in building a licensing framework to enable new formats, innovations, and potential to connect creators and fans alike. The deal also reflects a broader shift toward licensing structures that allow songwriters to participate more directly in the value their work creates on streaming platforms,” the press release continues.

While Spotify works to secure direct licenses with music publishers, the company is also working to roll out new features, many of which require the music publishers’ cooperation to go through. According to the Wall Street Journal, Spotify is working on a “remix” feature to speed up, mash up and otherwise edit sound recordings. It is also working on licensing music videos in countries around the world — both of which are expected to be part of Spotify’s teased ultra-premium tier. As the NMPA warned Spotify in a cease and desist letter to the streamer last year, “any such feature … without the proper licenses in place from our members… may constitute additional direct infringement,” serving as a warning shot to the streamer.  

“We’ve always believed that better partnerships lead to better outcomes,” says Alex Norström, co-president & Chief Business Officer, Spotify. “This agreement with Kobalt boosts our support of songwriters through a licensing model that unlocks new growth and will expand the way music is made and shared today.”

Kobalt’s Hubert, adds: “As the largest independent music publisher dedicated to fighting for the rights of songwriters, this deal reaffirms our unwavering commitment to ensuring our songwriters are paid fairly for their work, and underscores the importance of progressive licensing models that reflect the real-world use of music across digital platforms. This partnership is a step in the right direction, and we look forward to continuing to work with Spotify to increase the value of songwriter royalties.”

Australia’s Good Things festival has announced the lineup for its 2025 edition, with the likes of Tool and Weezer topping the bill.

The touring rock, metal and punk festival will return to Australian capital cities later this year, with performances scheduled for Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane from Dec. 5-7.

Leading the charge this year are a pair of Los Angeles veterans, including prog-metal icons Tool, who return to the country for the first time since a headline tour in 2020; and alt-rock icons Weezer who last year celebrated the 30th anniversary of their self-titled debut, colloquially known as The Blue Album.

The festival is largely populated by U.S. acts this year, including the likes of Garbage, All Time Low, Machine Head, Knocked Loose, and the All-American Rejects, who make their return to Australia for the first time in 16 years.

Swedish hardcore outfit will return for their final dates in the country, while Make Them Suffer and a reunited Tonight Alive help shore up the local representation. James Reyne may be considered a slightly odd inclusion by the traditional crowd, with the former frontman of ARIA Hall of Famers Australian Crawl occupying the now-annual role of veteran Aussie act.

International outfits such as Bad Nerves, Dead Poet Society and Wargasm join the lineup for their debut shows in the country, while local acts such as Civic, Inertia, Windwaker and Yours Truly also make up the lower end of the bill.

The Good Things festival launched in Australia in 2018, arriving onto a scene which had been largely devoid of touring festivals catering to fans of heavier music since the demise of the Soundwave festival a few years earlier.

Since its debut edition, the festival has hosted local and international headliners such as The Offspring, Parkway Drive, Bring Me The Horizon, Korn, and more. In 2024, the festival was to host the final Australian shows of Canadian punk outfit Sum 41, though were forced to cancel following singer Deryck Whibley’s diagnosis of pneumonia.

Good Things Festival 2025

Dec. 5 – Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, VIC
Dec. 6 – Sydney Showground, Sydney, NSW
Dec. 7 – Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane, QLD

Close to six months on from his exit from the band, co-founding Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds has addressed the topic, confirming he was “kicked out” of the group.

Hinds co-founded the Atlanta heavy metal outfit in 2000 alongside bassist/singer Troy Sanders, guitarist Bill Kelliher and drummer/singer Brann Dailor, with their lineup remaining largely unchanged since 2001.

In March, however, the band revealed that Mastodon and Hinds had “mutually decided to part ways” after “25 monumental years together.”

“We’re deeply proud of and beyond grateful for the music and history we’ve shared and we wish him nothing but success and happiness in his future endeavors,” a message from the group read. “We are still very inspired and excited to show up for fans in this next chapter of Mastodon.”

In June, there were hints that Hinds’ departure was a rocky one, with the guitarist noting on social media that he wouldn’t “miss being in a s–t band with horrible humans.”

Now, Hinds has again taken to the comments section, confirming that his exit from the band was not a voluntary one. His latest remarks were made on Instagram in reply to a video which shared a clip of Mastodon performing “Crack the Skye” in Silver Spring, Maryland in 2012. 

“My guitar sounds great, but Troy and prawn [Dailor] sound absolutely horrible,” he wrote. “They are way out of key. Embarrassing and they kicked me out of the band for embarrassing them for being who I am. But what about who they are? They are two people that can’t sing..together live or anywhere else in the world. Rverything they try to sing in the studio is manipulated by autotune because they’re incapable of singing in key.

“F–k these guys,” Hinds continued. “Only I know who they really are. They are the biggest fans of them self’s [sic]. I’ve never seen anyone in my life look in the mirror more than Troy Sanders. He thinks he’s God’s gift to anything. I’ve never met three people that were so full of themselves. It’s disgusting.”

Hinds also added a slight caveat to his comments, writing a separate message accompanied by a laugh-crying emoji to note he was “Not saying I can sing tho.”

While no members of Mastodon have responded directly to Hinds’ comments, Metal Injection reports that Dailor recently reshared a fans’ clip of a recent live performance, captioning it with the message, “Sounds in key to me.”

Among nine Billboard 200-charting albums, Mastodon has landed three in the top 10 of the all-genre chart: 2011’s The Hunter, 2014’s One More ‘Round the Sun and 2017’s Emperor of Sand, with the latter two both hitting No. 1 on Top Rock Albums. From six Grammy nominations, the band has taken home one win: best metal performance for “Sultan’s Curse” in 2018.

One of the most iconic guitars used by late rocker Eddie Van Halen is going up for auction, with his 1982 Kramer expected to sell for millions.

New York auction house Sotheby’s will be handling the instrument’s sale this fall as part of their inaugural Grails Week, which runs from Oct. 21-28. 

The electric guitar in question was played by Van Halen on tour between 1982 and 1983, with the instrument’s black and white-striped design based upon the rocker’s well-known ‘Frankenstrat’ guitar from 1975.

Per Sotheby’s, Van Halen visited Kramer’s New Jersey factory to modify the instrument, with photos reportedly showing him wielding an electric drill while working on it. Later, the guitar was featured in a famous Kramer advertisement wherein Van Halen can be seen holding the instrument while telling readers “it’s very simply the best guitar you can buy today.”

Van Halen later gifted the instrument to guitar technician Robin “Rudy” Leiren, inscribing it with the phrase, “Rude – Its Been a Great Ten Years – Lets Do Another Ten. Eddie Van Halen.” Leiren later sold the guitar to Mötley Crüe’s Mick Mars, who would use it in the recording of their first No. 1 album, 1989’s Dr. Feelgood.

The instrument (which reportedly shows “extensive wear from playing”) also comes with a letter of authenticity signed by Mars who writes, “Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Also it’s a great piece of history.”

According to Sotheby’s, the estimated sale price is between $2-$3 million, which tracks with previous sales of Van Halen’s guitars. While a 2020 auction of three of his instruments sold for $422,000, in 2023 iconic red, white and black-striped guitar from the “Hot For Teacher” video was sold for $3,932,000 by an unnamed bidder.

Van Halen co-founded his eponymous rock band in 1972, remaining their guitarist until his passing in October 2020 following a long battle with cancer.