Irenic Capital Management LP, a Manhattan-based hedge fund, has taken an 8.1% stake in Reservoir Media and believes the music company is “undervalued,” according to a regulatory filing dated Monday (Sept. 30). 

Described as an “activist investor” by The Wall Street Journal, Irenic called on Reservoir to “undertake a full strategic review of all alternatives to maximize shareholder value and to form a special committee to the Board to oversee such a process.” 

“The Reservoir Media board of directors values shareholder input and we remain focused on executing our strategy to drive value, in line with our fiduciary duty to all shareholders,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to Billboard. 

Reservoir’s stock has outperformed many of its peers in the multi-sector, record label/music publisher sector in 2024. Through Wednesday, Reservoir’s 7.7% year-to-date gain has bested Universal Music Group (down 8.3%), Warner Music Group (down 12.5%) and the four K-pop companies: HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment (down an average of 33.1%). 

Only French music company Believe, which has gained 42.5% because it was the target of a management-led takeover, has done better than Reservoir. In explaining the move to take it private, Believe CEO Denis Ladegaillerie said the company had “outperformed its objectives” but its success “has not been reflected in the share price evolution.”

Still, Reservoir is well below its original $10.00 price when it merged with Roth CH Acquisition II Co, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in 2021. Wednesday’s $7.68 closing price is well below its 52-week high of $9.20.  

Irenic owns stakes in trucking company Forward Air, Canadian software company Kinaxis and industrial technology company Barnes Group Inc., where Irenic CEO Andy Katz gained a board seat in March. On its website, Irenic explains that it “invests in public companies and works collaboratively” with management for improvements in operating and financial performance “that create long-term value for the company and its owners.” Katz previously worked at Elliot Management and focused on “special situations” such as public equity activism and distressed credit. 

Shawn Mendes is leveling with his audience about where he stands with Camila Cabello, as well as his thoughts on the recent uptick in gossip regarding their former romance and breakup.

The conversation first started in late September, when the “Stitches” singer-songwriter opened up on the Jay Shetty Podcast about how he and the C,XOXO artist have been “preserving [their] private little fire of love for each other” despite breaking up in 2023, two years after they first ended their romance in 2021. A couple days later, a fan commented, “they don’t play about each other” on a tweet quoting his podcast interview — and Mendes retweeted the comment and agreed, “no we don’t” on Wednesday (Oct. 2).

A couple hours after that, he came back online to clarify why he engaged with the comment in the first place. “i guess to be honest it came from a place of being a little annoyed with all the projection over the last few months about us,” Mendes wrote, referring to Cabello. “I’m usually pretty good at just watching all the ‘noise’ go by but lately it’s been kinda bugging me 🤷🏻‍♂️ feeling human i guess.”

In a follow-up tweet, Mendes added, “yeah part of me knows quoting a tweet and saying that is gunna start a little spin up and i guess to be honest part of me just wanted to address it and actually have a real honest relationship with you guys about how it feels from my side.”

The “Mercy” artist didn’t specify in his posts, but much “noise” has indeed been made about his and Cabello’s relationship this year — particularly as it relates to Sabrina Carpenter. Following his first breakup from Cabello, Mendes was rumored to be dating the “Espresso” singer in early 2023, shortly after which he got back together with the “Havana” vocalist. Their rekindled romance only appeared to last a few months after that, and Cabello later confirmed that they’d split once again on Call Her Daddy.

Many fans have since speculated that Carpenter sings about the situation on her Billboard 200-topping new album Short n’ Sweet, particularly the track “Coincidence.” “What a surprise, your phone just died/ Your car drove itself from L.A. to her thighs/ Palm Springs looks nice, but who’s by your side?/ Damn it, she looks kinda like the girl you outgrew,” reads the song’s lyrics. “What a coincidence/ Oh wow, you just broke up again.”

No matter what, though, Mendes says that he and Cabello put in the work to stay on good terms. “I’ll be the first to text her, she’ll be the first to text me,” he added on Jay Shetty’s show Sept. 30, noting that the exes maintain “immense honesty” and “over-communication” to this day. “As long as we’re good, all the noise is just noise.”

See Mendes’ tweets below.

no we don’t https://t.co/N15C8OzP8i

— Shawn Mendes (@ShawnMendes) October 2, 2024

here we go i can do that ♥️

i guess to be honest it came from a place of being a little annoyed with all the projection over the last few months about us. I’m usually pretty good at just watching all the “noise” go by but lately it’s been kinda bugging me 🤷🏻‍♂️ feeling human i… https://t.co/Kl7vcey8gl

— Shawn Mendes (@ShawnMendes) October 2, 2024

and yeah part of me knows quoting a tweet and saying that is gunna start a little spin up and i guess to be honest part of me just wanted to address it and actually have a real honest relationship with you guys about how it feels from my side. I also would love to know how it…

— Shawn Mendes (@ShawnMendes) October 2, 2024

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Thursday Night Football is back with its biggest season yet. The Atlanta Falcons will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the fourth TNF game of the 2024-2025 season, streaming exclusively on Prime Video on Thursday (Oct. 3).

Like other TNF games, pregame coverage will launch at 7 p.m. ET, one hour before the Buccaneers vs. Falcons matchup. A total of 17 games will stream on Prime Video including the Black Friday game and the NFL Wild Card Game.

Amazon secured exclusive rights to stream Thursday night NFL games on Prime Video in 2022, marking a new era for sports fans. According to The Wrap, TNF’s season opener snagged nearly 15 million viewers making it the third, most-watched TNF game in Prime Video history despite a small, one percent drop in viewership compared to last year.

Speaking of which, last year’s Black Friday game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins averaged around 11.18 million viewers in total but the TNF season opener hit a streaming high with 15.05 million people tuning in to watch the Philadelphia Eagles win over the Minnesota Vikings (34-28). At the time, the ratings increased by two million from the previous season, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Prime Video scored another ratings high this season after Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance at the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos game last October.

Swift was in the building to support her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and witnessed Kansas City triumph over the Broncos (19-8). Ratings for the game spiked to 13.83 million viewers — a 57 percent increase compared to a TNF football game around the same time last year, per Deadline.

The Grammy winner is no stranger to Prime Video and TNF. Swift premiered a teaser trailer for her Midnights album during a TNF game in 2022.

The Chiefs are expected to play in this year’s Black Friday game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 29, but Swift might not be there. The singer will be on the road for the second leg of her Eras tour launching next month.

In other music news, Garth Brooks headlined the Amazon Music Live Concert on Black Friday last year. The Grammy winner treated fans to a “Diver-Bar” concert event live streamed from the grand opening of Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk, Brooks’ new bar in Nashville. The first-of-its-kind Black Friday concert streamed live on Prime Video and Twitch.

Amazon Music Live returns Oct. 17 with a performance by Jelly Roll. The weekly concert series airs after Thursday Night Football. Season 2 featured performances from stars such as Ed Sheeran, Lil Durk, Feid and Metro Boomin.

Viewers can log in to Prime Video to begin streaming tonight’s TNF game in addition to other football programs including previous games from last season that are available to stream right now.

Not familiar with Prime? Read on for the 2024 Thursday Night Football schedule and a step-by-step guide on how to join Amazon Prime for free.

What Is Prime Video?

Prime Video is Amazon’s streaming platform where you can watch Thursday Night Football and other sports, including NBA, MLB, WNBA, One Championship and soccer.

Additionally, Prime Video has a mega-library of movies and countless TV episodes, plus Prime Originals and a ton of sports documentaries and docuseries such as Kelce, about retired NFL player Jason Kelce featuring his brother, Travis. Also streaming on Prime: The Money Game: LSU, Coach Prime and All or Nothing featuring the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles and other football, soccer and hockey teams.

How Much Does Prime Video Cost?

Prime Video is included with Amazon Prime memberships, but there’s also an option to join Prime Video by itself under a free, 30-day trial.

Not a Prime member? Subscribe now and get the first month free. The membership, which is $14.99 a month after the free trial, unlocks instant access to Prime Video and Amazon Music, along with free shipping on millions of products, member-only discounts and a year free membership to GrubHub+, so you can order food while you enjoy Thursday Night Football.

How to Save on Your Prime Membership

Amazon Prime’s annual membership ($139.99 a year) saves you around $40 a year. Prime also provides a 50% discount for eligible students and young adults (ages 18-24) and recipients of SNAP, Medicaid and other government assistance.

How to Watch Thursday Night Football Games on Prime Video

Prime Video is the exclusive streaming destination for Thursday Night Football. All games will begin streaming live at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Pre-game coverage starts at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. 

How to Stream Prime Video on Your TV & Other Devices

To stream Thursday Night Football, download the Prime Video app (or sign in online via Amazon.com) from a smart TV, laptop or another compatible streaming device to log into the platform. You can also save programs to your watchlist and view them later. This season, Prime Video will introduce nine AI-powered features to “enhance the NFL viewing experience,” according to Amazon.

Thursday Night Football recordings are free on Prime Video, which means that you can pause, rewind and replay any TNF games or related programming this season. The final TNF game of the year is scheduled for Dec. 26.

To help Prime members secure exclusive deals during games, Amazon offers a selection of discounts on holidays gifts, game-day gear, NLF gear for golf lovers and must-haves for tailgating parties.

See the full 2024 schedule of TNF games below.

Prime Video Thursday Night Football Schedule:

Sitting in her childhood bedroom and noodling on her guitar in February 2024, 24-year-old Gigi Perez was thinking about the scope of her songwriting. She’d been ruminating for a while on the idea of a frantic kind of love, and how to connect it to her lyricism. “When that person is so constant in your life, it’s kind of like you fall into it, and you have nothing else to grasp on to,” she tells Billboard. “It came from that desperate place.”

All of a sudden, a line popped into her head: “Kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor.” As she kept strumming and writing out new lines to add to the chorus of her growing song, the singer-songwriter realized she wasn’t the only one listening. “My door happened to be open, and my little sister walks by and says, ‘Oh, Gigi, that’s really awesome,’ ” she recalls.

And as the idea has moved from work in progress to completed product, it’s clear that the world feels the same way. After Perez began teasing the track in earnest on her TikTok in the spring, users quickly latched onto the hook, clamoring to hear a full version. They finally got to hear it on July 26, when Perez unveiled “Sailor Song,” a stirring, emotionally raw ballad that sees Perez turning her feelings of longing into a sweeping, queer-coded love song. The song debuted on the Aug. 31-dated Billboard Hot 100 at No. 98, and it has since spent six weeks on the chart, reaching a No. 46 high on the list dated Sept. 28.

For Perez, the sudden, rapid success of “Sailor Song” feels like a culmination of all the work she’s put into her independent career — and one that enabled her to accept a record deal with Island Records in September. “I feel truly ready for this,” she says. “And I know exactly what I’m looking for.”

Perez walks Billboard through the writing process of “Sailor Song,” explains why she learned how to produce her own work and breaks down what it means to have a queer love song making waves in modern pop culture.

When did you first start working on “Sailor Song”? What was the original idea that led you to making this?

A lot of the process for me is typically just having my guitar and freestyling, and that’s mostly how the songs come — I was in that progression of writing, and I just said, “Kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor.” So, I kept going; I had the chorus done that night.

It really just stayed as a chorus for a while, and the lyrics had changed. There were certain little words that changed the meaning of what [the song] was. Once I had written the verses, I pulled a melody from another song I had written and put that into this song. It really is one of those things where it was a puzzle putting it together, but there wasn’t much resistance. Other times, in order to get something like that, you have to really dig for it.

I love a song that is good at creating imagery without having to explicitly spell out the imagery — the use of the sailor as an image almost makes the song feel mythical in scale, which is really effective.

There’s something about this thought — and I don’t know if it’s because I grew up by the water and spent so much time in my childhood at the beach — that little by little, these beach and sea and water themes just kept appearing in my songs. It’s really sweet because I was thinking, “How do you compile the things that are on your heart and that you want to say in a way that makes sense?” It wasn’t until “Sailor Song” that I looked back and was like, “There’s been a whole path being laid subconsciously,” which is very cool.

I was struck by the fact that your voice sounds like it’s in the distance on this track — what did your setup look like when recording and producing “Sailor Song”?

I went into this chapter of my life [feeling] in my soul like I hit a point where I wasn’t collaborating with people because I wanted to, but because I relied on it. There was a lack of expression on the production side, [but] I think things ended up falling together perfectly. I moved back home, and in the same way I taught myself the guitar, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos and messaged the collaborators who I really admired to ask them questions about producing. It was a lot of throwing things at the wall and learning little things here and there. Like, how does EQ [equalization] really work? What is a compressor? I was allowed time to really experiment with production and recording. It makes me feel the same way that I felt when I was 17 — that’s something I keep coming back to: That first rush of recording, when I was just doing it with my high school band, and we were just uploading files on Spotify and SoundCloud.

As far as the recording and what happened, I use an SM7 [microphone], and I started doing this thing [while recording my voice] where I do three vocals and I pan [one] a little bit to the left, [one] a little bit to the right and one right in the middle. And then I threw in certain kinds of reverbs that give it a roomy kind of sound. I also have an amazing mixer, Matt Emonson, and he just takes it away from there. I just wanted something that felt really intimate and yet really big.

Once you started teasing this song on TikTok, it blew up and fans were itching to hear the full thing. What was that like for you to witness in real time?

I was really happy. I feel like I’d gotten to a certain point where I just started enjoying music again in a way that I truly felt like was honoring my happiness. That was the main principle that I felt through being independent and being able to work on music in a different way. And then when I saw that people were really enjoying it, I was like, “That’s so genuinely awesome.” It was a slow burn in terms of getting to where it’s gotten to now but to know that it was something that really pulled on people means everything to me.

One of the things in life that I’ve struggled with — and part of why I decided that I wanted to be an artist — is the feeling of loneliness that comes with the lie that no one understands you. I think about the artists that changed my life in that way, and one of the first gay projects that I had that with was Troye Sivan’s [2015 debut album] Blue Neighbourhood. That changed my life. I couldn’t even imagine that somebody could be there for me during a time when I couldn’t express or understand what I was feeling. I didn’t grow up in a space where that was something that existed, and if it did, it was very taboo. It’s so beautiful now that there’s so much media that really highlights the gay and queer experience. Kids need that. Actually, people in general, not just children. There are still people all around this world [who] live in an online world and escape through music. It’s very special to me that, in any capacity, I could be a part of that.

To that point, it feels like queer messaging in music is having a genuine moment this year where songs that are about queerness are hitting the charts in a major way. What is your reaction to that level of visibility in the mainstream?

I think we’re only scratching the surface right now. Representation is so, so important. It’s the thing that gives people the courage and the ability to dream that you can do whatever. You, as a person, can take up space. I think there’s an identity part of it, and then there’s just the actual human part of it, and those two things are very important to me. Every queer artist is going to share their story and their identity differently. I’m only one person, and my message is only going to connect [with] and reach the people that it’s meant to. That’s why I think it opens up the bridge [for other artists], and I’m really excited to see everything that’s happening in queer music.

You recently signed to Island Records — what has the transition from independent artist to being signed at a major looked like for you so far?

I feel so blessed. It’s been such a weirdly spiritual experience, in terms of things happening behind the scenes. It feels like this thing is really guided. I didn’t know a year ago that any of this would happen, and I think I had a very clear vision where I said, “I’m going to stay independent, and this is the way I’m going to do it.” The fact that that has changed [means] I’m so grateful for all of the experiences that I’ve had over the last few months to lead me to this moment. They’re going to be an amazing home.

A version of this story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.

“I try not to listen to pop radio, ever,” Amy Allen proclaims as she scrolls through Spotify on her phone. The singer-songwriter is recapping her recent listening: She has been on a Vince Gill kick; she always has The Cardigans in rotation; she recently discovered Donna Summer’s 1974 single “Lady of the Night”; she’s a fan of indie star Adrianne Lenker of the band Big Thief. Allen goes for early-morning runs on the boardwalks of Venice Beach in Los Angeles near her home, and while she used to soundtrack them with a classic rock playlist, for the past six months she has been blasting ABBA’s greatest hits, starting each morning jogging to “Dancing Queen” and “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight).”

Allen has plenty of pop radio classics in her queue — but new pop is never in the mix. “It’s a very concerted effort I make to not do that, and to try to be influenced by things that I love and not what’s current,” Allen explains, “because what’s current now is not going to be current by the time anything I write comes out.”

Whether she hears today’s biggest hits or not, Allen is now the one doing the influencing when it comes to the shape of current pop. After years of bouncing around the industry and absorbing sonic ideas, the 32-year-old from a small town in Maine has found her niche in studio sessions with superstars, braiding her appreciation of dense lyricism and 2000s bubblegum — “I’ve always loved a big pop chorus and I’ve always loved intricate storytelling,” she says — into an ability to create hits perfectly suited for the TikTok era, but likely to last long beyond it.

Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, which spent three weeks atop the Billboard 200 following its August release, has been Allen’s highest-profile win as a co-writer to date, with three smash singles (“Espresso,” “Taste” and Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Please Please Please”) full of idiosyncratic one-liners that have helped augment Carpenter’s inventive wit and transform her into an arena headliner. Yet Allen’s studio résumé preceding that breakthrough — credits on songs by Olivia Rodrigo, Justin Timberlake, Jonas Brothers, Maren Morris, Koe Wetzel and Niall Horan over the past 18 months alone — underline her status as a collaborator who helps A-listers at all stages of their careers land the right level of emotional punch and unlock the viral-ready turns of phrase that will transform a song into not only a hit, but a cultural moment.

“She knows how to articulate feelings in a way that most writers would envy,” says Tate McRae, who tapped Allen for the majority of her 2023 album, Think Later, including its slippery rhythmic-pop hit “Greedy,” which peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100. “I feel incredibly lucky to have written my last album with Amy, and I sincerely look forward to all that is to come together in the future.”

Two years after landing her first songwriter of the year, non-classical nomination at the Grammy Awards (she was one of the inaugural nominees for the relatively new honor), Allen seems like a shoo-in to get a nod for the 2025 ceremony — and potentially become the first woman to take home the prize — thanks to the whirlwind success of her past year. Yet her manager, Gabz Landman, points out that, even if Allen is now hitting critical mass, she was a force in the songwriting world years before she was nabbing headlines, now six years removed from co-writing her first Hot 100 No. 1, Halsey’s “Without Me,” and two years after winning an album of the year Grammy for contributing to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House.

“She was an athlete growing up and still runs marathons, and I think a big part of her writing career is this incredible stamina,” says Landman, who’s also a vp of A&R at Warner Chappell Music. “Amy doesn’t quantify or feel proud of things based on chart metrics. She gets contacted by many people to collaborate, and it’s always about whether she’s inspired by [an opportunity] more than ‘What is this person’s standing in the music industry?’ ”

That outlook helps explain why, days after Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet gave Allen a dozen new Hot 100 writing credits, she independently released a self-titled solo album of her own: a 12-song set full of quiet arrangements and understated melodies that sound as far removed from top 40 as possible. The project is the opposite of an iron-hot cash grab — Allen says that some of its songs date back to six years ago, before her songwriting career took off, and they were too meaningful to leave unreleased.

“One of the reasons why I love Amy is because I really see the both-ness in her — she’s a songwriter and she’s a solo artist,” says Jack Antonoff, another studio whiz who also releases his own music with Bleachers. After Antonoff and Allen worked on four songs together for Short n’ Sweet, including “Please Please Please,” he invited her to open for Bleachers overseas during their summer tour. Allen will also support the band at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 4.

For Allen, her co-writing career and solo work represent two separate parts of her creativity and manifest through disparate processes. “When I’m writing with and for somebody else, I always start with the chorus — listening back to the great pop songs of the ’60s and ’70s through today, the chorus is the crux of the song,” she says. “When I’m writing by myself, I always start with the first verse and I just tell the story in a through line, start to finish. That helps me keep them separate, and it allows me to still keep falling in love with songwriting all the time.”

Allen didn’t know which musical role she wanted to play when she was growing up in Windham, Maine: Her first experience performing was in her older sister’s band, which needed a bassist and tapped Allen, even though she was 9 and had never played the instrument. After kicking around the music scene in nearby Portland as a teenager, Allen went to nursing school at Boston College (“As a mistake,” she quips) before transferring to Berklee College of Music, despite not knowing any theory or even how to read sheet music.

“I was literally failing all of my classes,” Allen recalls, “but I could at least skate by in some of the songwriter classes. The class that helped me the most was actually this poetry class, where we studied great lyricists and poets. Something in my brain clicked about lyric writing, the cadence of rhymes and lines — the little things that might make people roll their eyes and be like, ‘Oh, that’s so songwriter-y.’ ”

After graduating, Allen fronted the pop-rock group Amy & The Engine, playing around New York in the mid-2010s before the band broke up and she committed to sharpening her skills as a solo writer. In late 2017, Allen was packing up for a West Coast move, and in her final New York session, she presented songwriter Micah Premnath with a melodic concept that had been stuck in her head — which, after some lyrical workshopping, morphed into “Back to You,” a top 20 hit for Selena Gomez. Soon after Allen touched down in Los Angeles, she linked with producer-songwriter Louis Bell to help make “Without Me,” then contributed to Styles’ “Adore You,” which turned into his first Pop Airplay chart-topper as a solo artist.

Allen’s transition from fledgling writer to hit-maker may have been sudden, but she had been studying the greats for a while. She grew up admiring Carole King, John Prine, Dolly Parton and Tom Petty, while also analyzing Max Martin’s pristinely crafted hits for Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys. By the time she attended Berklee, Allen had started to identify her favorite studio minds and study their discographies. “I remember listening to my favorite pop songs, and Julia Michaels was behind all of them — it was like, ‘Who is this chick that is soundtracking my college years?’ ” she recalls with a laugh. Now Allen and Michaels share credits on five Short n’ Sweet tracks and sing background vocals together on the song “Coincidence.” (Allen also harmonizes with Carpenter on “Espresso.”)

Like Michaels, Allen has developed a knack for taking straightforward lyrical phrases and contorting them until they stick in your cerebrum — think Carpenter declaring, “That’s that me, espresso,” or McRae exclaiming, “Obvious that you want me, but/I would want myself.” While Allen says she would probably have more 10-second hooks at the ready if she paid closer attention to TikTok, the majority of her biggest co-written choruses have resulted from actual conversations with artists — common ground discovered, then whittled down into universal refrains.

“Production trends turn over and change every six months, in my opinion,” she says. “But I think a great song, if it’s stripped down to guitar and piano, melody and lyric — it doesn’t change a ton.”

With Carpenter — whom Allen started working with for her last album, 2022’s Emails I Can’t Send, contributing extra bite to tracks like “Vicious” and “Feather” — Allen has found a confidante and kindred spirit, unafraid to embrace a double entendre or, in the case of the “Please Please Please” chorus, a well-placed “motherf–ker.” Antonoff says that he, Allen and Carpenter knocked out three songs for Short n’ Sweet, including “Please Please Please,” in a single day together at New York’s Electric Lady Studios, often taking breaks to double over in laughter. “The depth of the d-ck jokes just goes on and on,” he says, “and then a song can happen randomly — that’s the magic of a studio space.”

Short n’ Sweet earned 1.2 million equivalent album units in just its first three weeks out, according to Luminate, with 11 of its 12 tracks reaching the Hot 100’s top 40. Allen says there are “so many reasons why I feel like I owe Sabrina my first-born child,” but the album’s commercial success isn’t the biggest one.

“Her musicality and personality blow me away every time that we work together,” she says of Carpenter, “but I’m also so grateful to her because I’ve never gotten to be part of every song on an album before. That’s so in line with what I grew up loving — digging in like that.”

Landman notes that one sign of Allen’s growth is her increased involvement in major pop projects beyond a co-write or two: Along with all of Short n’ Sweet, she contributed to six songs on Timberlake’s Everything I Thought It Was, six on Wetzel’s 9 Lives and eight on McRae’s Think Later. Landman chalks that up to two reasons: She picked the right collaborators, and, post-­pandemic and post-Zoom sessions, in-person studio hangs have let her personality shine. “She’s had a great rapport with so many artists that have turned into friendships,” Landman says. “And I think that people have noted [that] if you’re winning with somebody, keep doing what you’re doing.”

Allen is heeding that advice as she continues picking up co-writing projects and supporting her self-titled solo debut. Releasing an album under her own name has made her realize that the paths can coexist after previously thinking it impossible. “The last year-and-a-half has made it crystal clear in my brain that I only live once, so why do I have to pick?” she says.

Allen likens the balancing act to the way that any songwriter must find a happy medium between working at a breakneck pace and accruing enough life experiences to have something to write about. Amid a whirlwind professional year, “in terms of taking time off, I’ve done that more this year than any other year in my life,” Allen says. “And I’ve been writing my favorite songs I’ve ever written.”

This story appears in the Oct. 5, 2024, issue of Billboard.