All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Chefs, foodies and fans of men in white T-shirts will find something to love in the smash hit series The Bear on Hulu, which took over streaming services in June 2022.

All 10 episodes of season four of The Bear are available to stream online starting on Wednesday (June 25), in addition to seasons one, two and three. The previous season left off with Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) trapped in anxiety with his newly-restored restaurant. While Carmy has a meltdown due to his fear of failure, the team gets it together to steer things back on course.

Now, season four focuses on the repercussions of Carmy’s outburst as he continues to push himself and those around him to an almost unattainable perfection while trying to keep his new establishment afloat.

Keep reading to learn how to watch the new season.

How to Watch The Bear Season 4

Although The Bear is an FX original, the hit TV series streams exclusively on Hulu at no additional charge for subscribers, which means you won’t be able to watch it on network television. The entire fourth season drops on the streamer on Wednesday (June 25) at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

If you’re not already subscribed, Hulu offers a free 30-day trial, so you can stream the entire series for free. Hulu’s most popular plan is $9.99 per month (or $99.99 per year), allowing you to stream thousands of episodes of TV shows and movies such as Flamin’ Hot, Love Island UK, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, Jagged Mind, Tiny Beautiful Things, Unprisoned, Only Murders in the Building, The Handmaid’s Tale, Life & Beth, The Dropout, How I Met Your Father and other Hulu exclusives, in addition to network TV and cable shows like Abbott Elementary and The Masked Singer.

Not a fan of ads? Hulu (No Ads) provides commercial-free streaming for just $18.99 per month.

Looking for more streaming deals? Get HuluDisney+ and ESPN+ for $16.99 per month with the Disney Trio.

Hulu subscribers can create up to six profiles under one account and stream from up to two different screens at once and from compatible devices, including a smart TV, phone or computer.

If you’re looking for a streaming plan with live television, join Hulu + Live TV for access to more than 95 live channels, plus everything on Hulu and Disney+, starting at $82.99 per month.

Additionally, The Bear features an awesome soundtrack with rock hits with recording artists, such as Refused, Wilco, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, LCD Soundsystem and many others.

In the meantime, watch the trailer for season 4 of The Bear below.

Want more? For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox dealsstudio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.

Dareyes de la Sierra is hitting the road this year with the 2025 Redención Tour, marking the Mexican act’s first U.S. trek, Billboard can exclusively announce.

Presented by Live Nation, the 20-date tour — “a celebration of culture, legacy and the enduring spirit of música de la sierra,” according to a press statement — will kick off Aug. 1 at the Belasco in Los Angeles and wrap Sept. 21 at the Roseland Theater in Portland, Ore. Dareyes, led by vocalist and accordionist José Darey Castro, will make stops in Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston, to name a few cities.

With a career that spans more than 20 years, the act from Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico, has been charting on Billboard since 2005, when “El Jabali” hit No. 21 on Regional Mexican Airplay. The second chart entry arrived in 2008, with “Hasta El Dia De Hoy” spending 11 weeks at No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay, and climbing to No. 3 on Hot Latin Songs, becoming the act’s first entry on that tally. In 2023, Dareyes debuted on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 with Peso Pluma and Edgardo Nuñez’s “VVS.”

Tickets for the Redención Tour — in support of the 2025 album that debuted at No. 10 on Top Regional Mexican Albums chart in May — go on sale at noon local time on June 27 via Ticketmaster.

See the Redención Tour dates below:

  • Aug. 1 – Los Angeles @ Belasco
  • Aug. 2 – Las Vegas @ House of Blues
  • Aug. 3 – Anaheim, Calif. @ House of Blues
  • Aug. 14 – Riverside, Calif. @ Fox Performing Arts
  • Aug. 16 – San Diego, Calif. @ SOMA
  • Aug. 17 – Phoenix @ The Van Buren
  • Aug. 21 – Chicago @ House of Blues
  • Aug. 23 – Boston @ Citizens House of Blues
  • Aug. 24 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Kings Theatre
  • Aug. 28 – Silver Spring, Md. @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
  • Aug. 29 – Charlotte, N.C. @ The Fillmore Charlotte
  • Aug. 31 – Atlanta @ Tabernacle
  • Sept. 4 – Houston @ House of Blues
  • Sept. 5 – El Paso, Texas @ Abraham Chavez Theatre
  • Sept. 6 – San Antonio, Texas @ The Aztec Theatre
  • Sept. 7 – Dallas @ House of Blues
  • Sept. 11 – Sacramento, Calif. @ Ace of Spades
  • Sept. 13 – Berkley, Calif. @ The UC Theatre
  • Sept. 20 – Seattle @ Moore Theatre
  • Sept. 21 – Portland, Ore. @ Roseland Theater

Seoul-based Beyond Music said on Monday (June 23) it bought the publishing rights to 33-songs by songwriter and producer Bekuh Boom, best known for her work with K-pop superstars BLACKPINK.

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Boom, an American musician now releasing her own music as BOOMBBY, cowrote BLACKPINK hits “Kill This Love,” “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” “Ice Cream,” “BOOMBAYAH,” and “Pretty Savage,” songs that have each accumulated over half a billion streams on Spotify, according to Beyond.

Formed in 2016, BLACKPINK was the first K-pop girl group to top Billboard‘s Top Album Sales charts with their 2020 debut The Album. Featured on that record was “Ice Cream,” a 2020 collaboration with Selena Gomez, that became the group’s highest charting success yet, peaking at No. 13, and “Kill This Love,” which topped out at No. 41 in 2019.

One of Asia’s leading music catalog and data management companies, Beyond Music recently bought a stake in the copyright of BTS’ “Butter,” a chart-topper that spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 over the summer of 2021. While the terms of both acquisitions — for rights to the song performed by BTS and those written by Boom — were not disclosed, the deals cement Beyond Music’s presence as a major influencer in the future use of these K-pop megahits.   

“By acquiring rights to signature tracks from both BTS and BLACKPINK — two of the most iconic acts in K-pop — we’ve reached a major milestone in executing our global strategy,” Jinwoo Jo, CEO of Beyond Music, said in a statement. “It’s also an honor to invest in the work of Bekuh Boom, a world-class songwriter whose catalog continues to resonate with audiences worldwide. We look forward to supporting her future creative endeavors and building a long-term partnership.”

Boom has penned over 10 No. 1 K-pop hits for artists including Winner, Jeon Somi and TAEYANG, for whom she wrote the 2014 chart-topper “Eyes, Nose Lips,” according to Beyond Music.

Beyond Music previously bought the catalogs of Greg Wells, a Grammy-winning Canadian songwriter-producer whose credits includes music recorded by AdeleTaylor SwiftDua LipaKaty Perry and Quincy Jones, and Puerto Rican reggaetón star Yandel, whose catalog included his publishing interests and royalties, his share of performance royalties and neighboring rights royalties. 

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Summer is here and it’s already proving to be a hot one, with more than 88 million people(!) under heat alerts across the U.S. in the last few days alone, as reported by the National Integrated Heat Health Information System. Staying cool has never been more important for your safety, as dehydration, heat exhaustion and other temperature related sickness are easier to obtain if you’re not careful.

It’s all the more important if you’re heading outside this summer or a big trip or to a music festival. Standing outside in the heat will do a number on your energy levels and alertness, not to mention lead to fatigue.

Chugging water (say, from your Stanley Cup) is just one of the necessary steps you can take to beat the heat, but incorporating a personal AC or portable fan can also make a major difference in your comfort — especially while you’re at work or commuting outside. Another easy way to cool off: Amazon’s $20 neck cooling tube, which gives off a chunky necklace vibe with major “chill factor.”

Keep reading to find out exactly how this “neck cooling tube” works and shop the Amazon deal.

Best Neck Cooler 2025: $20 Amazon Cooling Tube Neck Wrap to Stay Cool

AMAZON DEAL

DICEVER OutCool U-Flex Neck Coolers

$19.99 $24.99 20% off

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This neck cooling tube does exactly as its name suggests, serving as a way to keep your body temperature cool and comfortable. It works by using a built-in compartment that houses ice cubes or cold water — sort of like how you put rice or flaxseed in a heating pad, only with the opposite effect. And while you would put a heating pad in the microwave to warm up, this neck cooler can be placed in the freezer to lower the temps. Leave it in for 20-30 minutes to turn the tube into an “ice pack” for your body.

We saw a ton of people using this Amazon neck cooler at Coachella and Stagecoach, and we’ve spotted people using them at the park and beach too. Reviewers are in awe over how effective the cooling neck tube is, likening it to a “personal AC unit” that won’t leave behind any condensation or moisture on your clothes (just be sure to wipe off any moisture after taking it out of the freezer). Worn like a loose necklace or wrap, the accessory can also provide up to 30 minutes of non-stop and instant cooling, per shoppers. When the cooling effect has worn off, simply stick it back in the freezer or re-fill it with ice cubes or water.

This neck cooler comes with a bonus cooling towel that you can use on its own, or wrap around the U-shaped tube. Its flexible body is made from smooth and gentle materials and can adapt to your neck, but the towel will add a little softness. Size-wise, the cooling tube is similar to a pair of headphones, only worn around your neck.

Amazon has this cooling neck tube available for just $20. Regularly $24.99+, you’re saving 20% just in time for summer. You can also choose from five different colors depending on your personal preferences. See full details here.

Do Neck Coolers Really Work?

Personal neck coolers can help regulate your body temperature on hot days when you’re outside or if you’re looking to save money and limit your AC use. While a portable neck cooler won’t be able to chill an entire room, it’ll act as your own personal cool breeze wherever you go — and for an affordable price.

What Are the Benefits of a Neck Cooler?

Unlike a portable AC unit, neck coolers don’t require electricity for power — just pop it in the freezer for up to 30 minutes and you’ll get immediate cooling relief. Health-wise, using a personal neck cooler could help reduce your risk of heatstroke by helping to regulate your body temperature and keep you from overheating. This is great for outdoor gatherings, beach days and festivals too and some people say it helps with recovery after a run or workout.

Best Neck Cooler 2025: $20 Amazon Cooling Tube Neck Wrap to Stay Cool

AMAZON DEAL

DICEVER OutCool U-Flex Neck Coolers

$19.99 $24.99 20% off

Buy Now ON AMAZON


Shop the $20 Amazon neck cooling tube here.

For more product recommendations, check out ShopBillboard‘s roundups of the best handheld fans, inflatable pools and music coolers.

The wait is over — almost. Cardi B announced her much-delayed sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, on Monday (June 23). Release day is still just under three months away, with the project slated to arrive on Sept. 19.

Cardi released her fiery “Outside” single to set the tone for the summer on Friday (June 20), and hinted at the album announcement over the weekend.

She made it official while revealing the album’s striking cover art, which finds Cardi sporting a red body suit while holding onto a matching bloody heel, as black birds circle the stormy clouds around her.

It’s been a long, winding road in the seven years since Cardi’s Grammy-winning Invasion of Privacy debut album in 2018. There’s been plenty of starts and stops as she released a handful of singles in the years since, including anthems like “WAP” and “Up,” both of which are set to appear on Am I the Drama?.

“Seven years of love, life and loss,” Cardi said in a voiceover teaser. “Seven years I gave them grace, but now, I give them hell. I learned power is not given, it’s taken. I’m shedding feathers, and no more tears. I’m not back, I’m beyond. The time is here, the time is now.”

It’s unknown whether she plans to release more singles in the time leading up to Drama’s arrival, but she alluded to the delay being partially due to waiting on verses from guests slated to appear on the LP.

“I really need these f–king features,” she said in late April. “And it’s like I’m not really trying to press or go crazy on these artists because I love them down. But it’s like come on now! I need that! I need that right now! Helloooo! Y’all don’t want to miss this opportunity. I’ll sing this s–t myself! But I really need y’all and I need y’all to hurry up and I love y’all. I feel like nobody want to miss being on this album.”

With Cardi on the release calendar, she has one of the most anticipated albums of 2025. Before we start the countdown clock, here are five things we want to see from Am I the Drama?

Nezza may have reportedly faced backlash from the Los Angeles Dodgers after singing the national anthem in Spanish on June 14, but the Latin pop singer who grew up in California’s Bay Area is proud of what she did, and is urging others to speak out in support of what’s right.

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“Look at everything that’s been happening. When I originally got booked for it, the state of L.A. was very different … and as we got closer to the date, I was like, ‘I feel like I have to do something,’” the artist, who is of Colombian-Dominican origin, told guest host Diego Luna during her Monday (June 23) appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “I feel like this would be a really just beautiful gesture out of love.”

Nezza shared that one week ahead of her performance, she and her team asked if she could perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” in both English and Spanish, and was told simply, “You have 90 seconds.” That led her to consider performing in Spanglish, but three days before she was set to appear at Dodgers Stadium, Nezza said even more was happening in terms of ICE raids in the city. Then, a friend pointed out to her that she also happened to be performing on the day planned for the No Kings nationwide protest.

“I was like, ‘Oh my god, look at God. Perfect. I’ll do it fully in Spanish.’ So I went into that stadium fully thinking I was OK because all they said was ‘You have 90 seconds,’” explained the singer, who performed the national anthem’s Spanish translation “El Pendón Estrellado,” which was the U.S. Department of Defense commissioned in 1945 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy focused on improving the relationship of the U.S. and Latin American countries. “I went in there with a smile on my face … I thought it was going to be this fun, beautiful day getting to do this for my Latino community. And as obviously everyone knows at this point, this isn’t what happened.”

Nezza previously told Variety after the performance that even before she had made it out of the stadium, she was told to never contact the Dodgers again, and that she wasn’t welcome back. That conflicted with the statement a spokesperson for the team had released, saying that “there were no consequences or hard feelings,” and that they would be “happy” to have her return. Billboard previously reached out to the Dodgers, but did not hear back.

The singer went on to explain to Luna on the late-night show that she was incredibly nervous to perform the song in Spanish. “I’ve never broken a rule in my life. I can’t even cut in line! So if teenage me saw that video of what I did, I think she would pass out from anxiety,” Nezza said. “I still have no words for what came over me, but I’m so happy that I did it.”

Luna, who portrays Cassian Andor on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Andor, said he was really happy that the singer was sharing her story. “Things like that is what a first generation should be doing,” he said. “You can get out there and be disruptive and do whatever feels natural.”

Nezza agreed. “If you’re going to take away one thing, just look at the outcome of what happened,” she advised. “The Latino community fully came in to support me, I hope people take this as ‘Don’t be scared, speak out,’ because I was so terrified to speak out, but I’m so happy that I did because it showed how powerful the Latin community is when you band together.”

Watch Nezza’s interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! above.

After Five Finger Death Punch learned its original indie label, Prospect Park, had sold its master recordings without its knowledge, the veteran hard-rock band looked to Taylor Swift for inspiration. 

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“She could have gone into a costly lawsuit, or she could have felt sorry for herself. [Instead] she just sprung into action and did what she had to do,” guitarist Zoltan Bathory tells Billboard. “That’s the way of life, and we will do what is necessary and legally can be done.”

Like Swift, Five Finger Death Punch is re-recording its early hits, including “Under and Over It” and “Far From Home,” and will release them in two greatest hits albums, beginning with Best Of, Volume 1, due July 19. “She got them to think a little bit about what their rights were,” says the band’s manager, Allen Kovac of 10th Street Entertainment. “They want to be able to determine how these songs are promoted, marketed, licensed, visualized.”

Since Kovac took over Five Finger Death Punch’s management roughly 15 years ago, he and the band have been locked in a battle with Prospect Park and its founder, longtime artist manager Jeff Kwatinetz. Kovac says Kwatinetz, who launched Limp Bizkit, Korn and many others beginning in the 1990s and still manages Limp Bizkit and Ice Cube, signed the band to “the worst deal I’ve ever seen.” According to Kovac, Kwatinetz took 50% of the band’s touring, publishing and merchandising revenues and promised a 50-50 joint venture in which the band “never had ownership and they thought they did.”

Several of the Prospect Park productions were hits. These include 2013’s The Wrong Side of Heaven … Volume 1 and 2015’s Got Your Six, which both peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and 2011’s American Capitalist, which landed at No. 3. But though “they did very well, financially,” says Kovac, “on the record side, [the band] kept seeing less and less money.” He adds that Five Finger Death Punch had to make a deal with Kwatinetz promising two new albums in exchange for control of touring, merch and publishing. 

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In 2016, Prospect Park filed a lawsuit against Five Finger Death Punch, accusing the band of attempting to rush-release a “mediocre studio album” while “shamelessly attempting to cash in before the anticipated downfall of their addicted bandmate,” a reference to singer Ivan Moody, who had publicly disclosed his alcohol-addiction issues. The band and the label settled in 2017, but, Kwatinetz tells Billboard, Kovac stopped cooperating with his company, so “I sold my half.” 

Kwatinetz declined to report who bought his half of the joint venture between the band and the label, or the sale date, due to a non-disclosure agreement. Kovac identifies the company as Spirit Music Group, which lists Five Finger Death Punch on the “masters catalogs” section of its website, although Spirit reps declined to comment on the band’s status with the company. “He never contacted the band to tell them he was selling,” Kovac says. “He didn’t even give them the opportunity to go to the bank, get a down payment and pay him with assets from their side.”

“Allen’s allegations, as usual, are utterly false,” Kwatinetz responds. “We took a band no one else wanted to sign [and] made them the most-played band at active rock for over a decade. The band made millions and millions of dollars, had nine or 10 gold or platinum records. Allen’s intent was always to try to break the contract so he could put it out on his own label.”

Kwatinetz adds that he’s “glad” the band is re-recording its earlier tracks, because the re-recorde  versions of “I Refuse” (featuring Maria Brink, singer of metal band In This Moment), “Jekyll and Hyde” and a cover of Bad Company‘s “Bad Company,” from the forthcoming Volume 1, have given “a boost in airplay and streaming to all of the original recordings.” 

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Five Finger Death Punch’s dispute with its early label is similar to Swift’s. In 2019, the superstar publicly expressed her outrage when Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber‘s manager, bought the Nashville record company Big Machine Label Group, which had released her original recordings. Angered that control of her catalog went to Braun, who’d worked with Kanye West — with whom Swift has had a notoriously rocky relationship — she tried and failed to buy back the masters from Braun, then Shamrock Capital, which later purchased her masters for $300 million. But on May 30, after re-recording four of her first six albums and marketing them as “Taylor’s Versions,” Swift announced she had purchased the masters from Shamrock for an undisclosed price.

Other artists, including Wheatus, Bowling for Soup and Switchfoot, have also re-recorded original material, and credited Swift for educating fans on the business reasons for doing so — allowing them, for example, to keep any licensing fees from movies and commercials. Five Finger Death Punch’s re-recordings coincide with its 20th anniversary, which Bathory calls a “coincidence,” and says: “I don’t want to say the obvious — the lemons are being made into lemonade — but basically that’s what happened.”

By phone from the band’s Las Vegas home base, Bathory adds that Five Finger Death Punch members did not follow Swift’s meticulous approach to making sure most of the new “Taylor’s Versions” resembled the originals. The band re-recorded their parts in separate studios, beginning in February, then mailed them to each other to combine them later — a procedure that is considerably easier than coming up with entirely new songs. “This process is pretty quick,” he says. “Some of these songs we’ve played 1 million times.”

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Beating the heat doesn’t have to require upping your electric bill but it does require a little bit of clever thinking, especially when you’re out and about. Portable ACs may make it easier to keep your home cooler on a budget, but taking an A/C on the go isn’t feasible.

One of our favorite options during the hot summer months: keeping a portable fan in our bag for an instant pick-me-up breeze when we need it. This one from Amazon is currently just $12.99 and lasts for 10+ hours on a single charge. The best part: when you don’t need it, it folds down to the size of a tube of lipstick for easy storage in your bag or pockets.

Read on to find out more about this Amazon portable fan deal, which is sure to come in handy during the heatwave or sweltering summer months.

Best Amazon Portable Fans: $12 Handheld Fan Deal, 19% Off Shop Online

AMAZON DEAL

FrSara Portable Handheld Fan

$12.99 $15.99 19% off

Buy Now On Amazon


More than 75% of shoppers have given this handheld fan a full, five-star review on Amazon, with reviewers raving about how lightweight it is, the mini size and the surprisingly powerful breeze.

The mini fan charges up via USB and in our experience, it gets to a full charge in about two hours or so. The manufacturer, FrSara, says the fan can stay powered for up to 14 hours, though in our experience it’s been closer to 10-12 hours on a single charge. Still, that means our portable fan can take us through an entire day at a music festival or at the beach, and it’s great for travelers too.

What we like: the handle doubles as a power bank, with the ability to charge your other devices too. And when you’re done, everything folds down into a tiny tube that tucks away easily.

Regularly $15.99, get this portable handheld fan on Amazon for just $12.99 here. Choose from seven colors.

Looking for another option? Amazon also sells this portable fan that you can wear as a fanny pack or necklace. The gadget has already been catching shoppers attention with more than 400 purchased in the past month alone with a 4.6-star review out of five. Reviewers describe it as wearing a “portable AC unit” and say it’s surprisingly cool.

model wearing gray wearable fan

Socool Belt Personal Fan


In addition to providing a consistent cool breeze, the Socool Belt Personal Fan also comes with a rechargeable battery that can last up to 40 hours (when on low). There are four different ways you can mount it including clipped to your clothing, around your neck, freestanding or mounted with the built-in stand.

Besides being a fan though, the device can transform into a flashlight that’ll illuminate your path during nighttime walk and is also equipped with a backup battery.

Amazon reviewers can’t seem to stop praising the small but mighty gadget saying they “love the digital display that shows the battery health” as well as how it’s “very easy” to use.

Even TikTok has given the portable fan its stamp of approval as it seems users can’t get enough of the device. So far, more than 27 million videos have been made for the search term “Socool Belt Fan” with each one reviewing its effectiveness in beating the heat.

For more product recommendations, check out ShopBillboard‘s roundups of the best box fans, air conditioners and adjustable fans.

“It’s important for songwriters to understand that they already have the power to strike,” David Israelite, president/CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), said at the organization’s annual meeting on June 11.

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Speaking to a room of some of the most powerful music executives and songwriters in the business, Israelite’s annual speech is seen as a state of the union address for music publishing — and it also often includes a rousing call to action. This year, as new royalty opportunities and negotiations with AI companies and other tech platforms lay on the horizon, Israelite focused much of his remarks on how the music business can begin to work together to ensure better payments for songwriters in the future. 

But in an industry as fractured as music, is that really possible?

As Israelite himself pointed out, songwriters are not able to unionize — the National Labor Relations Board ruled them independent contractors, and thus not eligible for union status, in 1984. But his point about songwriters’ ability to band together to stand up for better treatment is still correct. In their own way, songwriters could “strike” because they have “the power to say no” and walk away when Big Tech wants to license music at subpar rates. 

Israelite explained later in his remarks, though, that often when music companies representing songwriters push back on Big Tech for better rates, “songwriters don’t stick together” with their representatives fighting for the better pay. Israelite also called upon “artists and their teams” to stand with songwriters in their plight, noting that “without a healthy songwriter economy, the entire system suffers.”

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Often, the music business looks longingly to Hollywood, which is built on a deep respect for unions and solidarity with their fellow workers, an underpinning that music largely doesn’t have. Last year, when the Screenwriters Guild of America decided to strike in pursuit of better working conditions, their colleagues in other movie trades stood by them, even though it meant halting thousands of jobs and projects for the largely working-class people of the industry. Eventually, actors also joined in with their own strike. The result was improved protections around AI, minimum writers room sizes and bonuses for actors due to the success of made-for-streaming titles. 

Why is it that the music industry is always divided and stuck in a race to the bottom while it seems those in the film/TV business are holding hands in solidarity? One important reason is that film and music are two very different art forms, and thus, very different businesses. The comparisons only go so far.

Every film that gets made is the result of at least a few million dollars, a number of corporate sign offs, endless permits, years of development and the artisanal labor of dozens-to-hundreds of people. The resulting artwork may be marketed by pointing out its biggest star, but it’s easy to see that these works are team efforts, and even the biggest egos in the room know they couldn’t do it on their own. Viewers know it, too — when a movie-goer sees Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, they know it was not just the result of the genius of Scorsese, but also Leonardo DiCaprio’s acting, perfect costuming, expert set design and the bestselling book from which it was adapted.

To put it simply, everyone sees film as a team sport — but music is seen as an individual one, and many artists these days want the bragging rights of having done all the creative work themselves. Of course, the reality is that today’s average Hot 100 hit has two-to-five songwriters, at least one producer and a recording artist, not to mention session musicians or other contributors. But the sheer fact that one could technically do it alone remains imprinted in the minds of musicians and their fans.

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This individualistic mindset is furthered when one considers that a song, even if it was written with 20 other people, is marketed and sold as the extension of the recording artist alone — and as if it is a peek into their soul. Listeners don’t want to think that one artist’s new breakup anthem was really based on one of her producers’ relationships, not hers, or that another’s new hit was pitched to her by a group of songwriters she’s never met. Artists are the sole public salespeople and face of the songs, and if the song succeeds, its triumph is almost always publicly attributed to the artist.

But if the song fails, it’s also seen as all their fault — even if it was actually their A&R who pushed them to choose that single. It’s an enormous amount of pressure that often forces recording artists to think like cutthroat entrepreneurs fighting it out in a wildly competitive space, not members of a collective artistic class that can achieve better results if they stick together. (Meanwhile, Dakota Johnson has a good argument that the box office bomb that was Madame Web wasn’t entirely her fault).

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that during the latest chance musicians had to stand together with a company for better pay, it didn’t go smoothly. Last year, Universal Music Group decided to pull its catalog off TikTok, to fight for the “fair value” of music. The company also expressed concerns about AI and artist safety on the platform. 

Yet some of its top talent did not stand in solidarity with them: artists like Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, Beyoncé (who worked with a UMPG songwriter on “Texas Hold Em”) and Taylor Swift found savvy ways to get back on the platform so they could continue to market the songs and albums they had slated for that period. Non-UMG artists asked their UMPG songwriters to not submit their metadata to streaming and social media services until the ban lifted — effectively foregoing all payment indefinitely — so that their songs could continue to stay on TikTok. All of that undercut artists’ and writers’ own financial interests in the long term in the hope of TikTok virality in the short term.

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For artists, the pressure and risk of losing the audience for their art or ruining the momentum of a campaign was too high to stand with UMG, which didn’t give them a heads up that this was going to happen. The same thing went for the writers who supported them. Apparently, some top UMG signees were given a few days of warning about the TikTok boycott, but it still wasn’t enough time to halt album campaigns that were already in motion. 

UMG had good intentions — getting a higher royalty from TikTok — but it put its artists in a tough spot: One album flop and an artist can leave the zeitgeist forever. One album flop and the tour the artist already booked doesn’t sell. One album flop and they never sell their vinyl inventory. One album flop… and UMG could drop them!

If the music industry tries to pursue a voluntary strike or boycott for fairer rates again, it also must contend with the added challenge that the three major music companies are publicly traded, and may not have a long-term appetite for financial suffering. Forget about the artists’ and songwriters’ issues for a second — are the music companies ready to stand up with creatives in a strike that lasts for more than one financial quarter? 

The trick to getting a non-unionized push for better remuneration to happen, and to achieve industry-wide solidarity with that push, is rooted in greater communication. When I think of a successful, widespread coalition in music, I think of the passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) in 2018, which brought together multiple groups in the music business to support the much-needed bill.

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Not everyone got exactly what they wanted from the MMA, but practically everyone agrees that life after the MMA is better than life before it. It wasn’t a strike, but this coalition building, spearheaded in part by the NMPA itself, could help inform a voluntary strike in the future. 

The main difference was that without the MMA, millions of dollars were left on the table due to passive attribution and credit information, and it took the industry negotiating with itself to solve it; any collective action against a Big Tech company, on the other hand, would require active collaboration by the majority against an entity that may be paying some royalties to some participants, even if others feel like it is not enough.

It’s going to be a hard road to get the music industry to treat each other like comrades and not competitors. As Israelite notes, “this is not an easy conversation” to have. Music is not film, and it never will be, but it doesn’t mean headway is impossible.

Summer may have just begun, but a new music festival is already aiming to close out the season with a bang.

Planet Brooklyn, a two-day music festival headlined by Billboard chart-topping global soca superstar Machel Montano, will land in its namesake New York borough on Saturday, Aug. 23, and Sunday, Aug. 24. Founded by BSE Global, Planet Brooklyn seeks to be “a celebration of cultural connection through Brooklyn’s music history and diversity,” chief products and experiences officer DeJuan Wilson exclusively tells Billboard. 

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On Aug. 23, Brazilian superstar Ludmilla will bring MUTHA — a Live Nation-produced micro-festival — to the Brooklyn Paramount. MUTHA will feature a full lineup of BIPOC queer talent, including CupcakKe, Junglepussy and Mykki Blanco. The Planet Brooklyn BAM experience will also double as one of the academy’s BAM Free Music nights. 

On Aug. 24, Montano’s Barclays Center-headlining set will include a Majah Hype-hosted showcase of soca and dancehall’s buzziest talents, including Ayetian, Bunji Garlin, Lady Lava, Problem Child, Ravi B, Skillibeng, Skinny Fabulous and DJ Travis World. Following a pair of sold-out Vybz Kartel shows (April 11-12) and a headlining turn from Bounty Killer (July 5), Machel’s is the latest in a string of New York arena-headlining Caribbean shows.

“Brooklyn has always felt like a second home to me. The vibes, the culture, the people — there’s nothing like it,” Montano said in a press release. “Every time I step on that stage in New York, especially in a place as electric as Barclays Center, it’s a celebration of Caribbean spirit and unity. I can’t wait to feel that energy again and share this moment with everyone who knows what it means to ‘come alive’ through music.” 

Montano has earned three top 10 entries on Reggae Albums: 2015’s Monk Monté (No. 2), 2016’s Monk Evolution (No. 5) and 2019’s G.O.A.T. (No. 1). At the top of the year (Jan. 13), the Trinidadian icon played NPR Tiny Desk’s first-ever soca set, and the following month (Feb. 25), he released his One Degree Hotter LP, which featured the Road March-winning anthem, “Pardy.”

Ten months in the making, Planet Brooklyn boasts three major stages across Downtown Brooklyn — Barclays Center, Brooklyn Paramount, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The festival’s flagship venues will be connected by free block parties packed with activations, local food vendors and merchants, and performances from local and independent talent. Famed live music event experience brand Everyday People will host a DJ Moma-helmed function, Xanadu Skate Crew will team up with Brooklyn father-son DJ duo St. James Joy at the Bushwick venue, and Bangladeshi-American rapper-singer Anik Khan will host a Menasa Sound System-soundtracked event. 

“Brooklyn is known for its rich history in the music space, and this is just a unique way to tell that story,” says Wilson. “The purpose of Planet Brooklyn is to reflect the diverse cultures of Brooklyn [through who we program]. Brooklyn has about 150 diverse cultural groups, so you have a lot of history and cultural elements to pull from. The festival will be a great way to celebrate that.” 

With a lineup steeped in the sounds of the Global South and a host city facing increased ICE presence and routinely prickly tensions with its police force, security for all Brooklynites to safely and freely enjoy the event is crucial. When asked about safety measures as they pertained to ICE and the NYPD, Wilson declined to comment. 

Planet Brooklyn tickets will be on sale at 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 25 at planetbrooklynfest.com. With access available for individual performances across all three venues, fans can personally curate their experience. Barclays Center presale tickets are available now.

Check out the full lineup for 2025 Planet Brooklyn below.

Planet Brooklyn

Planet Brooklyn

Courtesy Photo