Next year things might look a bit different for Miley Cyrus, who says in a conversation with The New York Times that she’s looking forward to a “rebirth of how I look at my career.”

When asked about her relationship with mainstream success, Cyrus, who just released her ninth studio album, Something Beautiful, spoke of what she sees next for herself as an artist.

“I think it’s winding down, my attachment to mainstream success,” Cyrus said in the video interview, published on Saturday, May 31. (A shortened version of the full interview was published on the outlet’s website.)

“I kind of feel like this album, it’s definitely not a ‘last lap’ — I’m definitely not going 180 in my career necessarily right now — but I think it’s potentially the last time I’ll do it exactly this way,” she noted.

The singer announced Something Beautiful in March, when she gave fans a first listen to album track “Prelude” and the set’s title track. She’s since released two more singles, “End of the World” and “More to Lose,” and just before the album’s release held a private concert hosted by TikTok at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Still to come is a visual component to the project, a film set to show in theaters for one night only on June 12 in the United States and Canada, and internationally on June 27. 

Cyrus — whose previous full-length release, 2023’s Endless Summer Vacation, reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 — said, “I’m taking a big bet on this one [Something Beautiful]. I’m all in. But I don’t think I’ll put myself in a position that I add this much pressure to myself again.”

“A lot of things are going to change about that for me, towards the end [of this year] and the beginning of next year. That’s really kind of my focus, of using this year to kind of wind that idea I’ve had of myself down. There’s a song on the album called ‘Reborn’ and it’s kind of about this. I feel like next year for me is gonna be kind of this rebirth of how I do things and how I look at my career,” said Cyrus.

The conversation clocked in at nearly an hour, between Cyrus’ in-person sit-down with the publication and a follow-up call. Among the many topics discussed with candor: her present-day relationship with each parent (Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus), whether she’s interested in being a parent one day, what happened when she did E.M.D.R. therapy, growing up as a child star and why finally winning her first Grammy (for “Flowers,” in 2024) was so significant, and — when interviewer Lulu Garcia-Navarro brought up Cyrus’ peers in the industry — her rapport with other female pop stars.

“I find the relationship between female pop stars to be really interesting and often very fraught,” Garcia-Navarro suggested, to which Cyrus joked: “Divas.”

“Is that what you think is happening?” she asked Cyrus.

“I mean, probably on my end,” the singer said, and then clarified, “I don’t mind the word diva. Maybe I’m a little diva.”

Cyrus added, “It’s kind of cool. It’s a fantasy. You don’t have to be famous to be a diva — just be a diva. Diva does not mean difficult for no reason.” When asked whether she thinks she’s difficult, she quipped: “I’m difficult, but not for no reason.”

The interviewer followed up by prompting, “You have said you don’t feel part of the cohort of singers of your generation and age group … You’ve held yourself apart in a certain way.” She asked Cyrus why.

“I don’t think it’s so much of a conscious choice,” Cyrus said. “I think for me, my persona — the public’s idea of me — is ‘on,’ in some way, but in my own time, I’m very off. I like no makeup, my hair up messy. I don’t even look in the mirror in my own time.”

“It’s not that I haven’t found it,” she said. “I haven’t looked very hard. I’m sure girls in my community are going like, ‘Well, that’s me too and you haven’t reached out.’ No, I haven’t … I like doing my two worlds.”

Cyrus related her real life to that of her teenaged Hannah Montana persona.

“Maybe it’s something subconsciously from the show, like from Hannah Montana where I think my famous person has one life and then as a regular person I have another life,” she explained. “I think maybe subconsciously it programmed me — not even joking — to think who I am at home and who I am as a performer are kind of like two separate identities, and actually they are.”

Elsewhere in the conversation the former Disney star talked about the younger generation of pop singers, including Sabrina Carpenter, whom she’s met and sometimes worries about due to the hectic schedule the “Espresso” hitmaker keeps. “Every time I see her I have the urge to ask her if she’s OK. I’ll see she’s performing in Ireland, and then the next day she’s doing a show in Kansas. And I’m like, ‘I don’t know how that could be physically OK,’ because I was in that situation. I know what it feels like to fry yourself, and I don’t want anyone else to get fried. But I like all the new girls. I think they’re all unique and are very found,” Cyrus said.

See her full interview with the New York Times in the video below.

Robin Thicke and April Love Geary have officially tied the knot.

On Friday (May 30), the longtime couple exchanged vows in a romantic beachside ceremony in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, six years after getting engaged in 2018, People reports.

Thicke, 48, and Geary, 30, shared glimpses of the special day on their Instagram Stories. In one video, the “Blurred Lines” singer is seen kissing his new bride as fireworks light up the night sky. Another black-and-white photo captures the newlyweds with their children.

The couple shares three children together: daughters Mia, 5, and Lola, 4, and son Luca, 2. Thicke also has a 15-year-old son, Julian, from his previous marriage to actress Paula Patton. They were married for nine years before divorcing in 2015.

In another video, posted on Instagram by a wedding guest, Thicke is seen wearing black sunglasses while walking down the aisle to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” The ceremony’s star-studded guest list included Leonardo DiCaprio, Usher and Ken Jeong, according to TMZ.

Earlier this month, while in France for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Thicke proposed to Geary for a second time. The couple has been together since 2014 and first got engaged on Christmas Eve 2018 while Geary was pregnant with Lola.

“Robin surprised me during our trip to Cannes by proposing to me again with a new ring that one of my best friends @nikkiwhatnikkiwho @establishedjewelry made, I’m so obsessed with it, thank you!!!” Geary wrote on Instagram. “This trip was such a dream. I love you so much @robinthicke Also a huge thank you to @alilasky for clearing out the whole area and making sure there wasn’t a single person getting in the way.”

The Billboard Summit is launching in Canada with a global superstar who made history in the country.

Diljit Dosanjh will be a special speaker at the event, which will launch at NXNE in Toronto’s TIFF Lightbox on June 11, 2025.

The record-setting artist made history with his Dil-Luminati tour last year, with his stadium concerts at Vancouver’s BC Place and Toronto’s Rogers Centre going down as the biggest ever Punjabi music events outside of India. The musician and movie star has continued to spread Punjabi culture worldwide, recently bringing historic fashion to the Met Gala.

At the summit, Dosanjh will sit down for a special interview with another influential figure in the international music industry: Panos A. Panay, president of the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys.

Billboard Canada has also announced two big performers for The Stage at NXNE. 

Daniel Caesar is returning to where he played his first major headlining show: The Mod Club in Toronto on June 14.

The venue will be reverting back to its original name of The Mod Club, rebranded by owner Live Nation from the name Axis Club for the first time since 2021.

When he first played the venue, Caesar was a golden boy with a golden voice, gaining buzz with his EP Pilgrim’s Paradise and still a year away from his classic 2017 debut, Freudian.

In 2023, Caesar graduated to arenas, playing Madison Square Garden in New York and Scotiabank Arena in his hometown of Toronto. The Mod Club performance is a special, intimate show for his fans who have been with him from the beginning. A year after he played The Mod Club in 2017, Caesar also played NXNE — then an up-and-coming talent, and now, with the festival turning 30, an artist who has reached undeniable headliner status.

After the last girls have left the party for their special DJ set on June 12, The Beaches will also play a special concert at a well-known Toronto venue on June 15.

It’s a big summer for the breakout Canadian band, with a recent festival set at Coachella and another big one this summer at Osheaga in Montreal. The Beaches’ new album, No Hard Feelings, comes out Aug. 29 on AWAL.

The band has also just announced the Canadian dates on its No Hard Feelings Tour, including its first hometown arena show at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 6. The Beaches’ special Billboard Canada Live show will be considerably more intimate, a chance to get up close and personal with the band at a surprise venue. – Richard Trapunski

Quebec to Impose Quotas for French-Language Content on Streaming Platforms

Quebec may soon be getting stricter language regulations on streaming services.

Quebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe tabled a new bill on May 21 that aims to add more French-language content to major streaming platforms, as well as increase its discoverability and accessibility by establishing quotas. The bill will directly impact platforms that offer media content such as music, TV, video and audiobooks, including giants like Netflix and Spotify.

Lacombe wants to push French-language and Quebecian content to the forefront on these apps, saying it is not always readily available. He pointed out that consumption of local and French-language content is low, comprising just 8.5% of the music streamed in Quebec.

In accordance with the bill, platforms would have to display their default interfaces in French within the province, also including platforms that produce original French-language content within that selection. Companies that disobey the rules could face financial penalties, although Lacombe says that those who cannot comply due to their business model can enter a deal with the Quebec government to establish “substitute rules.”

The bill states that the Quebec government would have to establish content proportions or quotas on how much content needs to be produced or featured on these platforms, although no numbers were specified.

Bill 109 — officially titled “An Act to affirm the cultural sovereignty of Quebec and to enact the Act respecting the discoverability of French-language cultural content in the digital environment” — will be closely tied to existing Quebec legislation and institutions. All platforms will be required to register with the Minister of Culture and Communications, and the bill will amend the right to access French-language cultural content in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

While Quebec is tightening regulations, the streaming services are already pushing back against existing content policies, arguing that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) should not impose content obligations upon them. A CRTC hearing is currently underway from May 14 to 27 to outline a new definition of Canadian Content (CanCon), including regulations.

Major companies have been pushing back against the CRTC’s implementation of the Online Streaming Act in the hearing, which includes a plan to require major foreign streaming companies to invest in Canadian Content funds. – Stefano Rebuli

Niko McKnight, the estranged son of singer Brian McKnight, died on Thursday after a yearslong battle with cancer. He was 32.

Niko’s mother, Julie McKnight, confirmed the tragic news in a statement on social media, writing, “Nikolas was a cherished husband, son, brother, grandson, uncle, and nephew whose warmth, laughter, and love touched the lives of all who knew him. Nikolas was a self taught artist of music and photography. His passing is an immeasurable loss to his family and all those who held him dear.”

After asking for “privacy and continued prayers,” Julie concluded the statement by writing, “Mama Bear and the entire family appreciate the outpouring of love and support from friends, fans, and the public.”

Hours before the statement was released, Niko’s uncle, Claude McKnight, also spoke about his nephew’s death in a TikTok video, explaining that the musician had been “bravely battling cancer for the past two years or so.”

“Niko was one of those amazing kids — quirky and curious and ridiculously talented,” Claude, the lead singer of a cappella group Take 6, continued. “Amazing singer, amazing guitar player. Had a great eye as a photographer. And one of those kids, at least in my estimation, that you always wanted to be around, and so it really sucks that he’s no longer with us.”

Brian McKnight has yet to break his silence on Niko’s death, though the pair had reportedly been estranged for a number of years, dating back to the elder McKnight publicly referring to his oldest kids — Niko and older brother Brian Jr. — as “products of sin” on social media.

In April 2024, the “Back at One” singer claimed his ex-wife Julie (Niko and Brian Jr.’s mother) had “forced” him to stop contributing to Niko’s cancer treatments. She responded by slamming the claim as a “false narrative.” At the time, Niko himself tweeted, “When I was about to die in the hospital from complications from my cancer, I just wanted to bury the hatchet and hear him say he loves me and he told me he couldn’t arbitrarily tell me he loves me. Still cuts so deep.”

In addition to his parents, Niko is survived by his wife, siblings and various other extended family members.

Amidst new reports about a South Korean investigation into its chairman, HYBE shares fell 6.8% to 266,000 KRW ($192.69) during the week ended May 30. That was the biggest decline for a music stock in a week marked by modest gains and losses. 

Reports out of South Korea this week said police in Seoul have resubmitted a search and seizure warrant for HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk in an investigation into allegations of fraudulent stock transactions by the music mogul. Bang allegedly misled previous shareholders about HYBE’s intention to go public, which caused them to sell HYBE shares ahead of the company’s initial public offering in 2020. Sources told Yonhap News Agency that Bang netted $291 million in 2020 from deals with private equity firms to share a portion of the gains from HYBE’s IPO. 

The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) was unchanged at 2,800.84 as the index had an even number of winners and losers. In a week with a remarkable amount of unremarkable movement, the majority of companies fell within a narrow band between a 2% gain and a 1% loss. 

Music stocks underperformed numerous market indexes. In the U.S., the Nasdaq gained 2.0% to 19,113.77 and the S&P 500 rose 1.9% to 5,911.69. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.6% to 8,772.38. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index jumped 4.1% to 2,697.67. China’s SSE composite was flat at 3,347.49. 

But music stocks have posted big gains in 2025. The BGMI is up 31.8%, far surpassing the gains of the Nasdaq (14.2%) and the S&P 500 (up 12.0%). Spotify, the index’s most valuable component, has risen 42.8%. Universal Music Group (UMG), the BGMI’s second-largest company, has gained 17.8%. 

The lone music company to report earnings this week, Reservoir Media, rose 7.9% to $7.80. The quarterly earnings released on Wednesday (May 28) showed a 10% revenue gain and a 14% improvement in adjusted EBITDA. Meanwhile, the only company to post a double-digit gain was Cumulus Media, which rose 15.4% to $0.15. Cumulus tends to have wild swings, however, since it was delisted from the Nasdaq on May 2 and began trading over the counter. 

iHeartMedia jumped 6.5% to $1.31. Spotify, the BGMI’s fourth-best performer, rose 1.9% to $666.25. Madison Square Garden Entertainment improved 1.5% to $37.11, and UMG gained 1.4% to 28.16 euros ($31.95). 

Live Nation fell 5.4% to $137.24, lowering its year-to-date gain to 6.0%. On Thursday, the company fell 2.9% on heavier-than-average trading volume following reports that it canceled concerts at Boston’s Fenway Park by Shakira and Jason Aldean due to safety concerns about the venue’s stage. 

Both Chinese music streamers had off weeks that reduced their stellar year-to-date performances. Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) fell 4.0% to $16.82, lowering its year-to-date gain to 50.9%. Netease Cloud Music, the BGMI’s biggest gainer of 2025 at 88.2%, fell 2.9% to 211.20 HKD ($26.94).