Papa Roach extends its career-best streak of No. 1s on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, lifting a place to No. 1 on the March 22-dated survey with “Even If It Kills Me.”

The track is the band’s fourth No. 1 in a row and 11th overall. The group’s streak dates to the one-week reign of “No Apologies” in 2022, followed by triumphs for “Cut the Line” in 2023 and “Leave a Light On” in 2024.

The Jacoby Shaddix-led band takes over sole possession of the 10th-most No. 1s in the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart’s 44-year history. The act first reached the chart with the No. 4-peaking “Last Resort” in 2000 and first led with “Lifeline” in 2009.

Most No. 1s, Mainstream Rock Airplay:
20, Shinedown
18, Three Days Grace
15, Five Finger Death Punch
14, Foo Fighters
14, Metallica
13, Godsmack
13, Van Halen
12, Disturbed
12, Linkin Park
11, Papa Roach

Concurrently, “Even If It Kills Me” holds at its No. 4 high on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 3.6 million audience impressions, up 7%, in the week ending March 13, according to Luminate. It’s tied for the band’s best placement on the ranking (which began in 2009), alongside “Kill the Noise” (2021) and “No Apologies.” The song is also bubbling under Alternative Airplay, where the band boasts 20 career entries, including the No. 1 “Last Resort.”

On the most recently published, multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart (dated March 8, reflecting data Feb. 28-March 6), “Even If It Kills Me” ranked at No. 7, after hitting No. 4 in February. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 634,000 official U.S. streams in that span.

“Even If It Kills Me” is currently a standalone single. The band’s most recent album, Ego Trip, debuted at its No. 6 peak on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart in April 2022 and has earned 180,000 equivalent album units to date.

All Billboard charts dated March 22 will update on Tuesday, March 18, on Billboard.com.

The music business has earned a reputation for being recession-proof. In bad economic times, people still pay for their music subscription services and want to go to concerts. Some synch opportunities may dry up as advertisers make cutbacks, but overall, the music is a hearty business that doesn’t follow typical economic cycles.

Music business stocks, however, aren’t immune to fluctuations in the market and investors’ worries about the increasingly fragile state of the economy. This week, just three of the 20 companies on the Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) finished with gains, and five stocks had losses in excess of 10%. Despite a host of strong quarterly earnings results in recent weeks, President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, China and Europe have caused markets to panic, taking down music stocks along with the industrial and agricultural companies most likely to be affected.

The S&P 500 entered correction territory on Thursday (March 13) when it closed down 10% from the all-time high. The Russell 2000, an index of small companies, was down 18.4% from its peak. Most stocks improved on Friday (March 14) as markets rallied — despite a decline in the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence index — but the first four days of the week were too much to overcome. The S&P 500 finished the week down 2.3% and the Nasdaq composite closed down 2.4%.

Markets outside of the U.S. fared better than U.S. markets. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 dropped just 0.5%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 0.1% and China’s SSE Composite Index improved 1.4%.

Even though 17 of the 20 companies on the BGMI posted losses this week, the index rose 0.5% to 2,460.71 because of Spotify’s 8.1% gain, and the dollar’s nearly 1% increase against the euro offset the weekly declines of 17 other stocks. Spotify is the BGMI’s largest component with a market capitalization of approximately $117 billion — more than twice that of Universal Music Group’s (UMG’s) $50.2 billion. The stock also received rare good news this week as Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage of Spotify with a $545 price target (which implies 5.5% upside from Friday’s closing price) and a neutral rating.

UMG shares fell 8.8% on Friday, a reaction to Pershing Square’s announcement on Thursday that it will sell 50 million shares worth approximately $1.5 billion. Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman called UMG “one of the best businesses we have ever owned.” JP Morgan analyst Daniel Kerven admitted the news was “a near-term negative for confidence” in UMG but saw Pershing Square’s decision to sell shares as a move to take profits and re-weigh its portfolio (UMG was 27% of Pershing Square’s holdings) rather than a commentary about UMG’s long-term potential or recent operating performance. UMG shares ended the week down 8.2% to 25.46 euros ($27.78) but remained up 6.5% year to date. 

Live Nation shares dropped 6.5% to $119.22, marking the stock’s fourth consecutive weekly decline. During the week, Deutsche Bank increased its Live Nation price target to $170 from $150 and maintained its “buy” rating. On Friday, a judge denied Live Nation’s request to dismiss an accusation that the promoter illegally forced artists to use its promotion business if they wanted to perform in its amphitheaters. 

Other U.S.-based live entertainment companies also fell sharply. Sphere Entertainment Co. fell 10.1% to $31.55. MSG Entertainment dropped 1.3% to $31.46 despite Wolfe Research upgrading the stock to “outperform” from “peer perform” with a $46 price target. Vivid Seats, a secondary ticketing platform, fell 28.1% to $2.86 after the company announced fourth-quarter earnings. 

Radio companies, which tend to suffer when economic uncertainty causes advertisers to pull back spending, had yet another down week. iHeartMedia fell 12.0% to $1.61. Cumulus Media dropped 11.5% to $0.46. And SiriusXM, which announced layoffs this week, fell 10.1% to $22.67. Year to date, iHeartMedia is down 24.4% and Cumulus Media is down 40.3%. SiriusXM, on the other hand, has gained 1.4% in 2025. 

K-pop stocks also fell sharply despite South Korea’s market finishing the week with a small gain. HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment had an average decline of 7.4% for the week. Collectively, however, the four South Korean companies have had a strong start to 2025 and, after this week, had an average year-to-date gain of 19.3%.

A new release from Radiohead could be on the way, if a historical trend of new legal entities is to be believed.

According to the British Government’s Companies House agency, the five members of Radiohead established a new limited liability partnership under the name RHEUK25 LLP on Monday (March 10). An LLP is a legal business entity which allows the band to exist and conduct their own dealings outside of the typical framework of a record label.

While the establishment of an LLP may mean nothing on face value, historical activities have indicated that a new release or tour usually follows after Radiohead or its members establish a new LLP. 

In 2007, the group prefaced the release of In Rainbows with the creation of Xurbia Xendless Ltd., which was followed by Ticker Tape Ltd. ahead of The King Of Limbs’ arrival in 2011, while 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool was rumored after the discovery of the Dawn Chorus LLP.

It’s not just restricted to Radiohead’s movements as a whole, with frontman Thom Yorke having been a part of Unsustainabubble Ltd. in 2010 before Atoms for Peace released their solo album in 2013, with the partnership also being used for his later solo releases. In 2021, Self Help Tapes LLP was incorporated before the release of The Smile’s debut album, and has since been used for their subsequent releases.

The most recent partnership to be created with all five members of Radiohead was Spin With a Grin Ltd., which arrived ahead of their 2021 reissue of Kid A and Amnesiac, dubbed Kid A Mnesia. It should be noted though, the nascent establishment of RHEUK25 LLP also coincides with the anniversary of Radiohead’s second album, The Bends, which was released 30 years ago on Thursday (March 13). Currently, it’s unknown whether the new LLP could be related to new music or a potential reissue.

Radiohead haven’t released a new studio album since 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 at the time. Band members have remained active since, with Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood teaming with Tom Skinner to craft The Smile. On Tuesday (March 11), Yorke also announced a collaborative album with Mark Pritchard, with Tall Tales slated to arrive on May 9.

Speaking to Australian radio station Double J ahead of his Australian tour last year, Yorke noted his ignorance of online speculation regarding the band’s future. “I am not aware of it and don’t really give a flying f–k,” Yorke said. 

“No offence to anyone and err, thanks for caring. But I think we’ve earned the right to do what makes sense to us without having to explain ourselves or be answerable to anyone else’s historical idea of what we should be doing.”