UNIFIED Artist Management Expands Team

Melbourne, Australia — UNIFIED Artist Management (UAM), part of Australia’s UNIFIED Music Group, is expanding.

Announced, Thursday, Jan. 29, Maddy Smith and David Zietsman join the UAM team, and bring their artist roster with them, including Cat & Calmell, Ben Gerrans, Sixten, and Benjamin.

Smith joins UNIFIED with more than a decade of experience in artist management, global touring, and label management, having worked with the likes of ARIA Award-winning artists Genesis Owusu and Golden Features.

Until now, Smith teamed with Mardi Caught’s marketing services specialist The Annex on Keli Holiday’s campaign for “Dancing2,” which dropped in at No. 2 on triple j’s Hottest 100 countdown for 2025; tour-directed DICE’s 25-date tour across the United States and Canada; and served on a panel of industry-advisors for Music Australia’s Export Development Fund.

Zietsman boasts experience in artist management, A&R, bookings, development and touring, and will utilize his skillset across both UAM and distribution platform Community Music – a dual role that’s said to reflect the “unique integrated approach” for artists across the independent music company’s ecosystem.

Previously, Zietsman held roles with Plus Bits Agency and Teamwrk Music Group.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Maddy and David to the team; both are joining with a wealth of experience and are achieving incredible results for their artists,” comments UAM general manager, Ash Hills, recipient of the Lighthouse Award at the 2025 Association of Artist Managers (AAM) Awards.

“They are managing some of the country’s most exciting emerging artists, all who are gearing up for a huge year ahead. Cat & Calmell continue to share their Live Laugh Cool Star EP with global audiences and are supporting Renee Rapp, and Ben Gerrans is backing up his Primrose EP with new releases and shows all over the world.”

At UAM, these acts join the likes of Australian artists Wade Forster, Vance Joy, Ocean Alley, and Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers. Just last week, the management team and its artists landed eight tracks in triple j’s Hottest 100.

Helmed by CEO Jaddan Comerford, UNIFIED launched in 2011. Today the multi-service music company is active in artist management, recorded music, publishing, and live events, and boasts offices in Sydney, Los Angeles, London and its headquarters in Melbourne.

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Time Is Fleeting: ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ Sets 2026 Broadway Run, Full Cast

Let’s do the time warp again, only this time at Studio 54.

Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show gets the Broadway treatment this year at the legendary Studio 54 (254 West 54th Street), with a production by Roundabout Theatre Company, direction by Tony Award winner Sam Pinkleton (Oh, Mary!), and a full cast, details of which are announced today, Jan. 29.

Joining the previously-announced Luke Evans (Beauty and the Beast, High-Rise, Backstairs Billy), who makes his Broadway debut as the iconic Frank-N-Furter, is Rachel Dratch (POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, SNL) as Narrator; Andrew Durand (Dead Outlaw, Shucked, Little Shop of Horrors) as Brad; Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, Be More Chill) as Janet; and Amber Gray (Eureka Day; Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) as Riff Raff.

Also making their Broadway debuts are Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows, Companion, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish) as Eddie/Dr. Scott; Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets, Cape Fear) as Magenta; Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (Loot, Pose, Rent) as Columbia; and Josh Rivera (American Sports Story, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, West Side Story), who will play the quiet hunk Rocky.

The cast will also include Renée Albulario, Anania, Boy Radio, Caleb Quezon, Andres Quintero, Larkin Reilly, Paul Soileau, and John Yi. 

The Rocky Horror Show will begin previews on Thursday, March 26, 2026, ahead of an opening on Thursday, April 23, 2026. This is a limited engagement through Sunday, June 21, 2026, producers insist.

Yes, time is fleeting for this production.

Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show has been in continuous production around the globe for 52 years, and is recognized as the only musical to have such a remarkable longevity — despite critics deliver an early “turkey” verdict.

The show originally opened on London’s West End at the Royal Court Theatre in 1973, and has been seen by over 40 million people in 15 languages. The subsequent film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, premiered in 1975 and is now a bonafide camp, cult classic.

Initially a box-office donut, the Jim Sharman-directed film, with its singalong soundtrack and loveable, off-the-wall characters, played by Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Meatloaf and others, found fans everywhere. To this day, it’s still playing in limited theatrical showings around the United States, making it the longest big-screen run for a film in history. A 50th anniversary vinyl edition of the soundtrack hit shelves last October.

Check here for the full performance schedule and visit roundabouttheatre.org/subscribe for more.

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Stationhead and Mellomanic Merge, UMG Invests In ‘Ultimate’ Direct-to-Fan Platform

LOS ANGELES — Stationhead and Mellomanic have merged, creating what the group’s leadership are describing as the “ultimate direct-to-fan platform the industry needs.”

The enlarged company will carry the Stationhead name, and is led by David Rappaport, who becomes chief executive officer. Previously, Rappaport was head of Mellomanic and chief operating officer of global touring at AEG Presents before that.

At the same time, Ryan Star, Stationhead’s co-founder, CEO and a Billboard charting recording artist, is named as chief creative officer of Stationhead. Steven Taslitz, chairman and co-founder of Sterling Partners which, along with Universal Music Group and other organizations, is investing in the company, will now serve as Stationhead’s chairman. Rappaport and Star will additionally serve as board members.

Financial terms of the merger weren’t disclosed.

Stationhead, the global fandom platform which allows fans to host listening parties for their favorite artists, last year boasted a user base of 20 million, with 50% of those aged between 18 and 25. Since then, the platform has added several new features, including the Stationhead Shop, an e-commerce experience that allows artists to offer merch directly by hosting their own “Shops,” an integration made possible with Shopify.

Soon after, Stationhead rolled out Collections, which allows users to show off the physical and digital merchandise that they have bought through the brand.

Mellomanic, formerly known as We Are Giant, closed a $6 million funding round in late 2024, raising its total capital to $13.8 million, with Sterling Partners among its backers.

It too is a community-centric space for artists and superfans to connect, with expertise in presenting exclusive listening parties and digital events. With over 400,000 monthly active users, the platform has attracted partnerships with major labels such as Atlantic Records, Def Jam, Sony Music Nashville and Virgin Music Group.

“This merger creates the ultimate direct-to-fan platform the industry needs,” comments Rappaport. “Even as far back as when I was an artist attorney, I felt that copyrights and artist businesses were substantially under-monetized and that an all-encompassing solution could be created for the industry that allowed all industry stakeholders to win.”

By combined the companies, Rappaport continues, “we’re building an additive, ecosystem-wide solution that drives real business and data for artists, record labels, music publishers, and streaming services.”

Adds Star, “through live listening parties that have already driven billions of streams on premium streaming services, we’ve demonstrated the commercial power of fandom at scale. This is the next evolution of music fandom, and it’s the future we’ve been building toward from the very beginning.”

In addition to its minority investment in the business, UMG nabs more skin in the game through a commercial agreement to use Stationhead’s technology.

“At Universal Music Group, we see tremendous potential in technology innovation that brings artists and their biggest fans more closely together, and Stationhead’s independent platform exemplifies that opportunity,” comments Michael Nash, EVP and chief digital officer at Universal Music Group. “Collaborative, artist-centric, super fan-focused innovation like this is essential to the future of our industry.”

Goldman, Sachs & Co. advised Stationhead on the merger, announced Wednesday, Jan. 28.

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Imran Majid & Justin Eshak Presents the Executive of the Year Award to Janelle Lopez Genzink | Billboard Power 100 Party 2026

Janelle Lopez Genzink accepts the Executive of the Year Award from TBD & Billboard’s Chief Brand Officer, Danna Droppo, at Billboard’s Power 100 Party 2026.

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Sherry Lansing Presents the No. 1 Award to Lucian Grange | Billboard Power 100 Party 2026

Lucian Grange accepts the No. 1 Award from Sherry Lansing & Billboard’s Executive Director, Leila Cobo, at Billboard’s Power 100 Party 2026.

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Here’s What Connor Storrie Said About His Viral Madonna ‘Like a Prayer’ Dance Video

He can strike a pose, but Connor Storrie confesses he’s not much of a dancer.

At Paris Fashion Week yesterday (Jan. 27), the Heated Rivalry actor was reminded of the viral video of himself dancing to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” When asked by Dazed to name something he’s bad at, but loves to do, Storrie joked, “I’m not bad at anything,” and then added “uhm, I don’t know dancing?”

The Dazed reporter replied “I saw the Madonna dance, I think you’re good,” with Storrie responding, “That was me, that was me just living.”

Dazed spoke with Storrie at Saint Laurent men’s fall 2026 ready-to-wear show in Paris, where he was seated in the front row alongside fellow Heated Rivalry actors François Arnaud and Robbie G.K. The Saint Laurent moment comes after the show’s co-star, Hudson Williams, walked the runway at Dsquared2’s fall 2026 runway show in Milan on Jan. 16.

It’s been a month since Storrie lit up social media with a video of himself dancing and lip-syncing to Madonna’s classic hit. The short was filmed for Interview magazine and uploaded on Dec. 27. Since then, it has generated over 9 million views across the publication’s Instagram, TikTok and Twitter accounts.

As for numbers around Madonna’s own “Like a Prayer” song, it generated 1.420 million official on-demand streams in the United States in the week ending Jan. 22, according to Luminate — marking its biggest streaming week in seven months. It last posted a bigger streaming week in the week ending June 5, 2025, when it tallied 1.473 million clicks.

“Like a Prayer” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks in 1989.

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Sharon Osbourne Accepts the Visionary Award From Clive Davis & Michelle Anthony | Billboard Power 100 Party 2026

Sharon Osbourne accepts the Visionary Award from Clive Davis, Michelle Anthony & Billboard’s Executive Director, Leila Cobo, at Billboard’s Power 100 Party 2026.

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Jean-Michel Jarre Remembers Challenger Astronaut Ron McNair and the Performance that Never Took Place

Astronauts, as we know, are the rarest of people. Ron McNair was the rarest of astronauts.

McNair was just the second African American to fly in space, doing so in February 1984, and he was a talented artist. A jazz musician. By taking a curved soprano saxophone aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger STS-41B mission that year, he became the first person to play a musical instrument in space.

Four decades ago, McNair was on the cusp of creating another piece of music history, by performing a sax solo that would’ve resonated around the world.

Jean-Michel Jarre had planned the out-of-this world performance, which would’ve seen McNair play the part from the final track on the French electronic composer’s eighth album, 1986’s Rendez-Vous.

Sadly, the performance never happened. On Jan. 28, 1986, just 73 seconds after liftoff, the Challenger shuttle exploded. None of the seven crew members survived.

“Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Challenger space shuttle tragedy,” writes Jarre in a social post. “My heart is with all the families and loved ones who continue to carry the weight of this loss.

“I pay special tribute to my dear friend Ron McNair – astronaut, musician, and pioneer – who was due to perform a saxophone solo live from space as part of my Houston concert.”

As a salute to McNair, the album’s sixth and last piece is entitled “Last Rendez-Vous (Ron’s Piece) – Challenger.”

Later on April 5, 1986, Jarre paid tribute to McNair and his colleagues on the space shuttle with “Rendez-vous Houston: A City in Concert,” an open-air concert that celebrated the city’s 150th anniversary and NASA’s 25th, and featured a state-of-the art laser show which turned the city’s skyscrapers into art installations.

The concert set a Guinness World Record for the largest concert audience (1.5 million), and was later released as a live album.

A South Carolina native, McNair experienced segregation as a child. That didn’t rob him of chasing his dreams. In 1976, he completed a PhD in physics from MIT, he earned a 5th-degree black belt in karate, and mastered the sax. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 2004, and his pioneering work is preserved with The MIT Black History Project and through The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, established to encourage underrepresented students to pursue doctoral studies.

His musicianship lives on, too.

“That performance never took place,” Jarre writes, “but Ron’s Piece lives on. His heartbeat is in the music, echoing into eternity.”

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Pusha T Presents the Breakthrough Executive Award to Alex DePersia | Billboard Power 100 Party 2026

Pusha T & Billboard’s Chief Brand Officer, Danna Droppo, present Alex DePersia with the Breakthrough Executive Award at Billboard’s Power 100 Party 2026.

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Mariah Carey Presents the Executive of the Decade Award to Jody Gerson | Billboard Power 100 Party 2026

Mariah Carey & Billboard’s Executive Director, Jason Lipshutz, presents Jody Gerson with the Executive of the Decade Award from at Billboard’s Power 100 Party 2026.

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