This week’s roundup of music publishing headlines includes several signings, with big names like FKA twigs, Eric Paslay and James Arthur, plus a bevy of news from Wise Music Group, Ninja Tune and Liz Rose Music.

Kobalt signed a global publishing deal with FKA twigs, the artfully multidisciplinary artist known for genre-defying songs like “Two Weeks” and “tears in the club,” Billboard can announce. The deal covers her catalog and future work, and follows the release of twigs’ critically acclaimed album EUSEXUA, which topped Billboard’s Top Dance Albums chart and has landed on several mid-year best-ofs. Currently on her EUSEXUA world tour, the artist is performing across Europe and the U.S. (visa issues have been resolved). Beyond music, she recently starred in The Crow reboot alongside Bill Skarsgård and was honored by the Music Producers Guild for her contributions to UK music. “FKA twigs stands as a truly singular talent – a prolific songwriter and artist whose work consistently pushes boundaries,” said Jeannette Perez, president and chief commercial officer of Kobalt. “It’s a privilege to welcome her to the Kobalt family, and we are absolutely thrilled she has placed her trust in us as her publishing partner.” Twigs’ manager Jon Lieberberg praised Kobalt as having “some of the most clear and transparent administrative services in the industry.”

BMG signed multi-platinum singer-songwriter James Arthur to an exclusive global publishing deal. The agreement includes Arthur’s latest album, PISCES, which recently reached No. 3 on the Official UK Albums Chart, and future work. This also marks a major addition to BMG’s growing UK roster, which includes artists like Mick Jagger, Lenny Kravitz and George Ezra. “James Arthur is an exceptional talent whose songwriting resonates deeply with audiences worldwide,” said Lisa Cullington, vp of creative publishing. “We’re thrilled to be working closely together on James’ creative journey moving forward and we are very proud to welcome him to the BMG roster.”

Wise Music Group got busy with three new signings, expanding its global and stylistically diverse roster. Berlin’s Bosworth Music GmbH and Random Musick Publishing signed an exclusive publishing deal with Gloria de Oliveira, a multidisciplinary artist known for her experimental soundscapes. Her catalog includes Fascination and an upcoming third album with producer Randall Dunn. In Spain, contemporary classical composer Raquel García Tomás joined Unión Musical Ediciones. A recipient of the “Premio Nacional de Cultura,” she is known for works like Ceci n’est pas une valse and Vols brisés and aims to broaden her international appeal. Meanwhile, Edition Peters signed genre-blending composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti, whose works span classical and electronic traditions. WMG manages nearly 500,000 copyrights and represents over 100 living composers through its global network of publishing houses, which in addition to the mentioned companies includes Chester Music, Associated Music Publishers and Novello & Co.

Sony Music Publishing Nashville, in partnership with Brooks & Dunn’s Kix Brooks, signed singer-songwriter Briana Calhoun to a global publishing agreement. Calhoun is also the executive director and founder of the organization Hope on the Inside, alongside the organization’s partner/president Brooks. Calhoun is set to release two new songs this year: “Hope on the Inside” and “Bustin’ Out” (the latter written with Brooks and Chancie Neal). –Jessica Nicholson

Anthem Music Publishing inked an exclusive songwriting deal with multi-platinum Canadian pop artist Shawn Desman, marking a major step in its partnership with Wax Records. This follows their November 2024 alliance aimed at redefining artist development. The first release under the deal, Desman’s dance-pop single “BODY” featuring 2025 JUNO nominee Jamie Fine, quickly became the most added track on Canadian radio. Building on the momentum of his Top 10 hit “Maniac” and a string of sold-out tours, Desman is preparing for another national tour this fall. Anthem CEO Jason Klein praised Desman as “a force in Canadian pop music,” adding, “his creative resurgence has set the stage for an exciting new chapter.”

Liz Rose Music and Sheltered Music Publishing partnered in a joint venture to sign award-winning singer-songwriter Eric Paslay. Known for penning country hits like “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” “Angel Eyes,” and “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” Paslay also gained recognition as an artist with songs such as “Friday Night” and “She Don’t Love You.” This collaboration brings together two respected Nashville publishing companies with one of country music’s most enduring creative talents. Liz Rose Music co-founder Scott Ponce praised Paslay’s storytelling and vocal artistry as “the kind of talent we’ve always believed in,” while Sheltered Music’s Darrell Franklin highlighted the “integrity, depth and diversity of his songwriting.”

Meanwhile… Liz Rose Music also added singer-songwriter Adam Sanders to its publishing roster. Sanders has written hits for Cole Swindell (“Ain’t Worth the Whiskey”), Dustin Lynch (“Hell of a Night”) and Drew Baldridge (“Tough People”). LRM was founded in 2010 in Nashville by the Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Liz Rose, known for writing hits for Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Little Big Town and more. –J.N.

Ninja Tune’s publishing arm, Just Isn’t Music, announced a wave of developments. Rising UK artist jasmine.4.t, the first British signee to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, joined the roster following her acclaimed debut album You Are The Morning, produced by Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus — aka, the indie supergroup Boygenius. Meanwhile, longtime signees Marie Davidson and Andreya Triana renewed their deals. Davidson’s City of Clowns was released earlier this year via Soulwax’s DEEWEE, and Triana is working on her first album since 2019. Just Isn’t Music also won AIM’s “Sync of the Year” for a Rexona ad featuring Davidson’s “Work It.” Lastly, Ninja Tune’s Kelly Burke was elected to the PPL board, further strengthening the label’s industry influence through its involvement in one of the world’s largest recording databases.

Concord Music Publishing signed Nashville-based producer and songwriter Ryan Kohn to his first global publishing deal, in partnership with InDent Music, the publishing division of Dennis Entertainment. The agreement covers Kohn’s entire catalog and future compositions. A Belmont University graduate, Kohn has worked with Concord artists Erin Kirby and Cole Goodwin, as well as emerging acts like Callista Clark and Ashley Anne. His notable releases include the single “The Man She Used to Know” and his 2021 EP November Skies. Kohn recently performed at the 29th Annual Key West Songwriters Festival. “Ryan is already so well-connected in our music community, it was easy to see the path of success in front of him,” said Melissa Spillman, vp of A&R. “To find someone who is so loved and respected among writers, artists and executives alike is a rare thing!”

Previous Briefing: Big Yellow Dog Signs K-Pop Hitmaker

Four and a half months after Super Bowl LIX took place at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome, police have arrested the performer responsible for a Gaza protest during Kendrick Lamar‘s halftime ahow.

On Thursday (June 26), Louisiana State Police announced that they arrested 41-year-old performer Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu for “resisting an officer” and “disturbing the peace by interruption of a lawful assembly” during the 2025 Super Bowl. According to a press release from police superintendent Col. Robert Hughes, Nantambu “surrendered himself through coordination with his attorney” and has been booked.

During Lamar’s performance, Nantambu, who was hired as a backup performer for the show, broke away from his choreography during “TV Off” and began waving a Sudanese flag with “SUDAN” and “GAZA” painted across it. He was then chased and tackled by security personnel and apprehended by New Orleans police.

After he was initially arrested, Nantambu was released without charges, but was banned for life from all NFL stadiums and events. A spokesperson for the Super Bowl Halftime Show at the time said that “no one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent.”

Billboard has reached out to the Louisiana State Police for further comment on Nantambu’s arrest.

In a statement released after police announced Nantambu’s arrest on Thursday, the NFL thanked the LSP for “its diligence and professionalism in this matter,” while maintaining its lifetime ban on Nantambu. “We take any attempt to disrupt any part of an NFL game, including the halftime show, very seriously and are pleased this individual will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” the statement read.

In an interview with NBC News following the halftime show, Nantambu said he wanted to use his performance to “highlight the human suffering” occurring in Gaza as a result of the ongoing Israel-Gaza war, as well as in the Sudanese civil war. During the interview, Nantambu called on President Donald Trump to “be empathetic and compassionate to those who are suffering in Palestine” and to “do what is right by the Palestinians … and if he can, help the Sudanese.”

From Buju Banton to Vybz Kartel, Caribbean artists have been reaching new heights in the live music entertainment sector this year, with several of the biggest names across reggae, dancehall, soca and konpa graduating to arena-headlining status. With his forthcoming ninth edition of BAYO Festival on Saturday (June 28), Latin Grammy-nominated DJ and producer Michaël Brun is looking to join that esteemed group. 

Born out of a free, impromptu street party in his home country of Haiti, BAYO is an annual block party that has steadily grown in popularity and turnout each year. Translated to English, “bayo” means “to give,” a worthy title for an event that trades on gifting diasporic communities a night of generation-bridging musical performances and beloved local vendors. Last year, Brun’s festival took over Brooklyn’s Prospect Park with a lineup that included J Balvin, Oxlade and J. Perry. One key element of BAYO is that the lineup is kept a closely guarded secret until the show begins; revelers may not know who will be soundtracking their night ahead of time, but Brun has garnered enough trust from them to properly serve as master of ceremonies. This weekend, BAYO will yet again graduate to an even larger venue: Barclays Center.

“Around 2019, we started almost doubling [attendance] every single year, that’s when the idea to move to arenas came up,” he tells Billboard over a chai latte in Downtown Brooklyn, less than two weeks before the show. “That year, we hosted BAYO for about 1,800 people at Brooklyn Steel, so we felt that we could scale it up in the right way. [Grammy-winning R&B star Maxwell also made a surprise appearance that year.] We stopped for two years [during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic], but I kept doing it online, which was really helpful. When you start something for 20-30 people and see it grow into the biggest stages in the U.S., it’s insane, incredible and a little bit scary.” 

Though this year marks his ninth time mounting BAYO, it’s also Brun’s tenth year personally throwing events. From debuting as a self-taught electronic DJ at house parties in his teenage years to playing major festivals like Coachella and Tomorrowland, Brun has used his music skills to consciously and intentionally build communities around the globe. “All the EDM stuff taught me how to do Caribbean-specific events,” he says. “I’m really grateful for that trajectory because even though I didn’t know where I was going at the time, in retrospect, it taught me a lot.”

This year’s BAYO Fest also serves as a tribute to Brun’s late mother, Sharon Andrea Lee-Brun, who passed late last year after a battle with cancer. “This was one of the last things we spoke about before she passed,” he reflects. “There’s a moment for her in the show that’s gonna be really, really special.” 

BAYO’s Barclays moment also comes amid an upswing in Caribbean touring acts at the arena level. Dancehall king Vybz Kartel sold out two back-to-back nights at Barclays in April, and Long Island’s UBS Arena has hosted five sold-out, $1 million-grossing shows across four Caribbean genres in under a year. As UBS has emerged as a formidable competitor to iconic NYC arenas like Barclays and Madison Square Garden, Brun couldn’t resist the gravity of finally bringing BAYO to the very venue he walks by every day in his second hometown of Brooklyn. Nonetheless, mounting a show in a roofed arena is markedly different from a summertime showcase in a public park. With a new venue comes a new vision for the festival, and Brun has taken careful consideration to strike a balance between honoring the essence of BAYO while translating the show to an arena stage. 

“What’s really cool about the arena — and maybe complex for some artists — is that it’s a blank canvas,” he explains. “Inherently, when you [throw] a block party, there’s an element of a lot of things happening at once. In the arena, it’s all about crafting a spectacle. In smaller scale shows, there’s less distance between the stage and the audience, so we’re thinking about how to ensure that every moment of the show makes you feel as if you were in the first few rows.” 

With a concert capacity of 19,000, this year’s BAYO lineup will have access to a much larger and more intricate venue than past iterations of the festival. While he’s intent on keeping the stage design as much as a secret as the lineup, Brun does tease that he’s re-teamed with past BAYO collaborator and Haitian artist Yaël Talleyrand and that the stage will be anchored by a theme of transportation. “Transportation is important,” he muses. “How does that build and inform identity?” 

Brun’s alluding to immigration, a particularly prickly topic in a city like New York. Caribbean immigrants are a vital part of what makes NYC such a culturally rich city, and increased ICE presence in neighborhoods densely populated by Caribbean people (like Flatbush or Crown Heights) has only made their relationship with their city more contentious. What’s more? Brun is mounting BAYO the very month President Trump’s travel ban, which includes Haiti, goes into effect.  

It’s one thing to bring a Caribbean festival to an arena in less than ten years, but it’s an entirely different thing to do during one of the most precarious political moments of the decade so far. How do you coordinate security? What does that look like when ICE seems to be arresting, detaining and deporting before asking questions? Is it even ethical to knowingly bring these groups into the same space? 

“I’m creating safe spaces that show the beauty of life,” Brun says, choosing his words carefully. “I think the most powerful way to share your experience and perspective is through something like a concert, because it’s very subtle. It creates a curiosity that’s genuine, and an attraction to something that’s different. On the one hand, you’re creating a safe place for the people of the culture, but you’re also opening up a route for adversarial people, who might be operating from a place of fear. Hopefully, [those adversarial people] come to the show and their minds will be changed. That’s my view. I want to be a positive ambassador for the things that I love; in the process of that, you create bridges.” 

The Billboard-charting artist also stressed that BAYO has “the support of local government and parts of NYPD,” which he hopes will “create a safe environment where people feel comfortable going out.” 

Rumors continue to swirl about this year’s performers — Brun confirms “there will be some shaking,” but whether that’s “to the max” is yet to be determined — but the ever-evolving multihyphenate is keeping his DJ skills at the center of his growing BAYO empire. 

Over the last sip of his latte, Brun proclaims: “When I’m bringing people out at BAYO, I see it as me DJing people instead of songs.”

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Billboard, the globally renowned music authority, officially marked its presence in Vietnam with the Billboard Vietnam Official Launch event held at Bam Bam Bar, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City on Monday (June 23).

The event welcomed Billboard CEO Mike Van as well as strategic partners, prominent artists, industry professionals and media representatives. This milestone signals a significant step in connecting Vietnam’s fast-growing music market with global industry standards through verified data, insightful content and internationally recognized music charts.

Billboard Vietnam will launch key charts like the Vietnam Hot 100 and Top Vietnamese Songs, based on transparent data from global provider Luminate. It will also create local content and partner with artists, labels and platforms to promote Vietnamese music at home and internationally.

In his remarks, Mike Van stated: “Vietnamese music deserves a clear and respected place on the world map.” His message underscores Billboard’s long-term commitment to supporting Vietnam’s music community and its aspirations for global recognition.

With three core pillars — transparent music charts, international connectivity and equal opportunity for all artists — Billboard Vietnam aims to become a trusted foundation for Vietnamese music to reach new heights, grounded in its unique identity and creative potential.