Salsa artist Christian Alicea has signed a global publishing and neighboring rights deal with Peermusic Publishing and Peermusic Neighboring Rights, Billboard has learned. The partnership, signed via a creative joint venture with Alicea’s manager DJ Buddah, comes on the heels of the Puerto Rican singer’s latest album Swingkete Vol. 1 – Maratón and his label deal with Rimas Entertainment.

“The moment I heard Christian’s music, it was clear that he belonged with Peermusic,” Elizabeth Rodda, president U.S. Latin, Latin America and Global Society Relations at peermusic, said in a statement. “His infectious energy and modern take on a classic genre set him apart and creates a truly unique sound. He possesses the kind of forward-thinking artistry we’re proud to champion at Peermusic. We are thrilled to welcome him to our roster and help craft this exciting next chapter in his career.” 

Formerly a firefighter, Alicea kicked off his music career in 2019 and debuted on the Billboard charts in 2022 with “Cobarde,” which entered the Tropical Airplay chart. He’s since placed nine titles on that chart including “Hello, What’s Up,” which peaked at No. 8 earlier this year. His LP Swingkete was recently featured on Billboard’s 25 Best Latin Albums of 2025 (So Far).

“Being part of the Peermusic family, for a dreamer and creative artist, is truly a beautiful opportunity,” Alicea said about the deal. “It also feels great to know that this family has supported my project from the very beginning — understanding the style, what we want to share, and how we create. All of this adds value and is a true blessing for growth, both as an artist and as a human being. For myself and my team — Urales ‘Dj Buddha’ Vargas, Eliot ‘El Mago D Oz’ Feliciano, Jay Dary Castillo & Carlos Palacios — we are grateful for the opportunity for being part of such an amazing family like Peermusic.”

Alicea was represented by attorney Angie Martinez and is signed to Nelson Albareda’s Loud and Live touring company.

When singer-songwriter Cam began drawing together the concepts that would anchor her new album All Things Light, out Friday (July 18) via RCA Records, she took inspiration from the emotionally heavy, isolating early days of the COVID pandemic, but also from the questions of a curious toddler—her daughter Lucy, now 5.

“We have backyard chickens, and one of them died, and she would ask, ‘What happens when they die?’ And I was like, ‘We don’t know, but I guess your body gets still and our light goes back to the stars,’ because to me, on a science level [and] a spiritual level, I don’t think anything is lost,” Cam tells Billboard. “This album is trying to find little stories, metaphors, guideposts in a way, so that at least if my daughter knows she’s not alone in feeling what she’s feeling, she can test herself as she’s trying to figure things out.”

In 2021, Cam found herself with time alone in a studio. That duality of welcoming in a new life during a season of pronounced global grief, anxiety and death caused Cam to deeply consider the motive behind the new music.

“I didn’t set out like, ‘Hey, I want to write a spiritual album or a transformational album,’” she recalls. “This stuff just started pouring out. When you’re alone — and this sounds cheesy — then I get to be a vessel for whatever is coming through, and it’s not getting augmented by anyone else.”

The beginning threads of some of the earliest songs for the album, such as “Hallelujah” and “Turns Out That I Am God,” came from those solo moments. “Hallelujah” was born from a deep look at how the world seemed to shift into high gear following the pandemic, without taking the time to grieve the brokenness.

“I’m a very face-the-abyss type of person,” she says. “I don’t think there is any other way for me to exist. If I sense an existential dread coming on, I have to sit down and look at it.”

Cam’s own childhood in California included time in a children’s choir, where she soaked in universal truths from singing requiems and folk songs in more than a dozen languages.

“I was not raised with religion. I got to learn from practices and a lot of experiences. I wasn’t given the words, which I think was a really thoughtful choice on my parents’ part. But having a child during [the pandemic] even though it’s creating life, it was also really an awareness of death. I think being a mom and facing all that heaviness and beauty, I realized I’m responsible for building that for her and for myself. I can’t leave any stone unturned at this point. I need to commit myself to building a spiritual framework for myself.”

She took those concepts to longtime collaborators including her “Burning House” co-writers Tyler Johnson and Jeff Bhasker, but also collaborators including Michael Uzowuru (Frank Ocean, SZA) and Ethan Gruska (boygenius, Phoebe Bridgers, Remi Wolf). In the process, Cam wove together a tapestry of sounds including folk, country and ethereal pop.

Then, Cam and her longtime producer Johnson went to Los Angeles’ EastWest Studios, where The Beach Boys’ 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds and The Mamas and The Papas’ “Monday, Monday” were recorded.

“I feel so lucky to have found him,” she says of Johnson. “He was actually an old boyfriend’s roommate, and we started working together. We sort of shaped each other. I love his musical instinct, the tone, the way he writes. What he comes up with just feels perfect with my ideas.”

Lessons she’s learned as a woman and musician over the years are threaded through the new album. In her 20s, Cam traveled through Nepal and Egypt, at one point falling for an Eastern European guru, a relationship that spurred the album’s cautionary tale “Kill the Guru.”

“The reason I broke up with the ‘Burning House’ guy was that I fell in love with a guru and it was… I don’t recommend it,” she says, calling her ex a “very narcissistic person. But I was just so enamored at the time with someone who seemed to know everything. Isn’t that so attractive? I want to be near that…But sometimes, it’s just overconfidence. If you feel like the trust you have in yourself starts shifting out of your body towards somebody else, that’s the biggest red flag. Move away from that person; you need space. You have to be able to trust yourself more than anyone else.”

After studying psychology at the UC Davis, Cam faced a turning point at age 24, when she was rejected from Georgetown’s graduate psychology program. Encouraged by her sister to follow her passion for music, she moved to Los Angeles and eventually to Nashville.

She released her EP, Welcome to Cam Country, in 2015, and soon followed it with the full-length album Untamed. She broke through with the heartbreaking, gorgeous “Burning House,” which reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and was certified 3x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

A decade after that breakthrough success, the legacy of “Burning House” continues, from performances by American Idol contestants to country singer-songwriter Kameron Marlowe releasing his version last year (“I think it’s beautiful, it’s cool. He has a great voice,” Cam says of Marlowe’s version).

The album’s follow-up, The Otherside, came in October 2020, just months before Cam found herself alone in the studio, capturing ideas for All Things Light.

One of the new album’s key lyrics comes from the single, “Turns Out I Am God”: “I was busy waiting for someone to live my life/ When I fell asleep for a hundred years one night/ Dreamt myself to the center of all things light.” The track was inspired by the works of author Alan Watts and Cam’s own experience with meditation, which she first took up in college.

“I turned my mind off and then realized there was this whole peace inside of me, and then it was like, ‘Oh, I’m not separate. I’m part of everything.’ We had been torn on whether ‘God’ should be [recorded] on piano. Ethan, who feels kind of country to be honest, came in, and he and [Tyler] crafted this guitar tone that was just perfect.”

Elsewhere, she took influence from the life-to-death cycle described in a Buddhist chant in “Alchemy,” while the tender country-leaning “Slow Down” pushes back against the instinct to be endlessly productive.

“Everybody is obviously on the content train — rush, rush, rush,” she says of the grind most artists today face. “I just want [the music] to be really good and I want to be able to take care of my kid. I read [Tricia Hersey’s 2022 book] Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto. I think anything that helps you deprogram is good. Your worth is not your productivity. I want to make sure the music I’m making, that I’m putting it out there for the right reasons and that it’s going to affect people the right way.”

Accompanying the album is the project’s equally striking artwork, from Milan-based photographer Szilveszter Mako. The vivid album cover features a closeup of Cam, adorned in a suit and her blonde hair swept into waves, with a blaze of light partially obscuring her face from view. Cam, who also has an honors degree in Italian, calls the photo a “reference to that light I was talking about. Underneath is that light that I think is in everybody, so there’s light coming from my face.”

As she was working on the music that would become All Things Light, she was also creating music that would become part of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album. In 2021, Cam received a call from her publisher about a sudden opening in a writing session, which would turn out to be part of the Grammy album of hte year-winning project Cowboy Carter. Cam co-wrote five songs on the project, including “Protector” and “Daughter,” and also served as a producer, engineer and background vocalist on the album.

“It all came from the same space,” she recalls. “It was really reassuring for [Beyoncé’s] music to come out first. It was wonderful to watch, and from an artistic standpoint, it’s incredibly inspiring and it was nice to see someone at that level committing to those ideas of what art can be. And what a story, too, for her to finally get [the Grammys’ album of the year honor] on that album. To get to be part of something that got to be celebrated but also mean something to me and be culture-changing, it’s a dream.”

For Cam, that celebration and themes of fulfillment and strength carry over onto her album, specifically in the string-filled closer, “We Always Do,” which serves as an assurance-filled testament to human resilience.

“The last song on the record is radically positive, just saying ‘We’re going to find a way,’” she says. “I believe that for humans and I believe that in my marriage and relationships. It’s a commitment and we’ll find a way.”

Cam reveals that she has more songs in the works, but says she’s found a new sense of priority and daily rhythm since the release of her previous album and is in no rush to put out more music.

“My husband always said we were so fortunate in a way that during the pandemic we got all this time with Lucy. Trying to find the silver lining when it felt like the bottom fell out of the whole [music] industry,” she says. “Now, getting back to it, I had to slow down to realize how much I was participating in my own hamster wheel and how much I didn’t get out of it. I had to learn to manage my schedule in a way that makes sense for me and my family. If you ask me what’s the most important thing in my life is, it’s that time and space with my family and people that I love. So that’s gonna come first.”

SAILORR has announced the last stop on her current From Florida’s Finest Tour will happen in the popular video game platform Roblox.

The two week immersive experience will take place starting on Saturday (July 19) within Gamefam Baddies, one of Roblox most popular action games that averages over 2.5 million daily gameplay sessions. SAILORR’s avatar will perform three of her songs on the themed stage, with players able to engage with her through immersive concert battles and quests, as well as through signature items like a From Florida’s Finest stop sign and a cockroach hoverboard. There will also be a portable boombox players can use so they can listen to SAILORR on the go.

The opportunity was due in part to SAILORR’s longtime support of Roblox, which she’s frequently played with her supporters. Her official in-game fan group has over 9,000 members.

“Roblox is one of those unspoken places where you get to connect with your friends you made on the internet during the late hours of the night,” SAILORR told Billboard in a statement. “I’m thankful I’ve garnered an audience around my music because it feels like such a special community that understands me at my core, and I can’t imagine those late nights at the studio finishing FROM FLORIDA’S FINEST without hopping on to play Dress to Impress or Baddies. There are so many people on the platform that found me while ‘POOKIE’S REQUIEM’ was going up and it’s cool to see how full circle it is that I get to bring the tour to an action game on Roblox. Never in my life would I have imagined a way for the two worlds to collide, and I can’t wait to further build out the world around me with all my little silly hobbies.”

SAILORR most recently performed in London earlier this month as part of her current tour, which kicked off back in June.

Rico o Muerto, the independent record label co-founded by Mexican artist Óscar Maydon and manager-songwriter Alexis “Chachito” Fierro, has signed emerging artist Víctor Mendívil to a global deal, Billboard can exclusively announce Thursday (July 17). The agreement was made in collaboration with Downtown Records.

“Víctor is the perfect fit because he’s not afraid to be himself,” Maydon tells Billboard Español. “He has a unique voice, a different way of writing, and an energy that connects with people. Víctor represents the essence we were looking for in this new phase of Rico o Muerto. From the first time I heard him, I knew there was something special there.”

The deal marks a major milestone for Mendívil, as he transitions from a distribution partnership to signing a full recording contract. This new move positions him as the flagship artist of Rico o Muerto and paves the way for his global expansion, backed by two highly experienced teams.

“This deal means so much to me, both personally and professionally,” adds Mendívil. “It’s an important milestone in my journey — a door to new goals, new challenges, and also to a bigger audience. I know this agreement will bring structure, vision, and a lot of experience to the project. But what matters most to me is that I’m doing it without losing who I am.”

Mendívil’s impact on regional Mexican music has been significant since his feature on the 2023 track “Hong Kong” alongside Óscar Maydon and Alemán. On Spotify, he’s amassed over 11 million monthly listeners. In 2024, he added nearly 20 singles and collaborations to his repertoire, according to the statement, standing out on tracks like “Tony Montana” with Yng Lvcas, “Un pacto” with El Padrinito Toys, and “San Pedro” with Ganggy, as well as solo songs like “GOET” and “Ráfagas al Viento.”

Rico o Muerto was born from Maydon’s dream of creating his own company that represented “freedom, loyalty, and long-term vision,” he explains. For the artists who join the label, “I want them to feel like this is their home, a place where they can grow, experiment, and most importantly, be themselves,” shares the “Tu Boda” hitmaker.

The announcement also comes on the heels of several achievements for Maydon, whose third studio album, Rico o Muerto, Vol. 1, released in June, debuted at No. 6 on the Top Latin Albums chart and No. 3 on the Top Regional Mexican Albums chart.

“Signing him aligns 100% with the philosophy of the label we’re building,” adds Maydon. “It’s not about following trends, but about creating something with identity, with roots, but also with a forward-looking vision. Mexican music is experiencing an incredible moment, but it also needs fresh voices to bring depth and evolution. Víctor is exactly that: someone who respects what’s already there but is here to shake things up. That’s how I see the future of the label — full of artists who make a difference through their authenticity.”

For his part, Mendívil concluded: “I believe this collaboration will be key to continuing my evolution as an artist without losing the essence that brought me here. I know they’re going to push me to explore new ways to grow, make music, and connect with people from different angles. I think my music will mature and take on new forms, and that’s only possible when you’re surrounded by a team that understands your vision and pushes you to take it further.”

Rico o Muerto was founded just over a year ago under the leadership of Yusim Aladro, with a team of more than 15 employees and operations in Mexicali, Mexico City, Tijuana, and San Diego. The label boasts a roster of emerging artists such as Omar Camacho, Regulo Molina, Carlos Manjarrez, and Fernando Angulo.

Bruce Springsteen will receive the inaugural Legacy Award at the fifth annual Academy Museum Gala, presented by The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The Boss is also slated to perform at the fundraising event, which will be held on Oct. 18 in Los Angeles. The Legacy Award “honors an artist whose body of work has inspired generations of storytellers and deeply influenced our culture,” according to the press release.

Springsteen, 75, won an Oscar for best original song in 1994 for “Streets of Philadelphia” from Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia. He was nominated again in the category two years later for “Dead Man Walkin’” from Tim Robbins’ Dead Man Walking.

The event’s other honorees are Spanish actress Penélope Cruz, 51, who won an Oscar in 2009 for best supporting actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona; Brazilian director Walter Salles, 69; and actor and comedian Bowen Yang, 34.

Cruz will receive the Icon Award, which “celebrates an artist whose career has had a significant global impact.” Salles will receive the Luminary Award, which is “given to an artist whose singular contributions have expanded the creative possibilities of filmmaking.” Yang will receive the Vantage Award, which is “given to an emerging artist who is helping to challenge dominant narratives around cinema.”

“The Academy Museum Gala is a special evening dedicated to bringing together individuals to champion the celebration, advancement and preservation of cinema,” Academy Museum director and president Amy Homma said in a statement. “As we gather for a fifth year, we are honored to recognize Penélope Cruz, Walter Salles, Bruce Springsteen and Bowen Yang — storytellers whose influence has been proven to resonate in film and beyond.”

The event will help raise funds to support museum exhibitions, education initiatives and public programming, including screenings, K–12 programs and access initiatives in service of the public and the local community of Los Angeles. Last year’s gala raised more than $11 million.

Supported by Rolex, the exclusive presenting partner and founding supporter of the Academy Museum, the gala is co-chaired by Jon M. Chu; Common; Viola Davis and Julius Tennon; Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey; Jennifer Hudson; and Academy Museum trustee Alejandro Ramírez Magaña.

Here’s a recap of the honorees at previous Academy Museum Gala events.

2024: Paul Mescal, Rita Moreno, Quentin Tarantino

2023: Meryl Streep, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Sofia Coppola

2022: Julia Roberts, Miky Lee, Sir Steve McQueen, Tilda Swinton

2021: Haile Gerima and Sophia Loren as well as Academy Museum campaign leaders Annette Bening, Bob Iger and Tom Hanks