It’s a new era, new look for BTS.

The K-pop superstars return next Friday, March 20 with Arirang, for what will mark the group’s fifth album and first full-band release in six years.

Ahead of the big day, BigHit Entertainment shares the LP’s artwork, which sees RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook looking dapper, and rather serious, in suits.

All grown up. Ready for business. Each member of the septet gets a closeup, too.

The septet has previously posted the 14-song tracklist for Arirang, the followup to 2020’s Be, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2020 and housed the Billboard Hot 100-topping hits “Life Goes On” and “Dynamite.”

The mature new look for BTS is appropriate for this K-pop juggernaut, which assembles after its members last year completed their service in the South Korean military, opening the door for another album cycle.

The lads are without question one of the giants of K-pop, with six No. 1s on the Billboard 200 chart, including the 2022 anthology Proof, and six No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100. BTS was awarded the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year twice, in 2020 and 2021, becoming the first act to win consecutively.

The long-awaited comeback will be accompanied with a live experience, BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG, which will stream live from Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, South Korea, the following day, on March 21. 

Arirang takes its name from a traditional Korean folk song. “Transcending time and generations, the song has long been associated with emotions of connection, distance, and reunion,” reads a press release on the collection, issued by BigHit in January. The recording is said to be “a deeply reflective body of work” that explores the pop superstars’ “identity and roots,” the statement continues.

Check out the Arirang artwork below.

BRISBANE, Australia — Bluesfest 2026 is down and out.

The beloved Easter long-weekend festival had previously-announced a lineup led by Split Enz, Parkway Drive, Earth, Sublime, Wind & Fire, and others, and was coming off a particularly strong edition in 2025, which was initially billed as its “last” hurrah.

As it stands, 2025 will remain the final party.  The bite of rising costs associated with putting on the show, along with slow ticket sales, have torpedoed this year’s camping fest.

“After 36 years as Australia’s most awarded festival, Bluesfest has made the difficult decision not to proceed with the 2026 event. We are proud of what we have achieved – the music, our artists, the busking competition, our staff, our community, and everyone who has been part of the Bluesfest journey,” reads a statement.

​“Rising production, logistics, insurance and touring costs, together with a more challenging environment for major live events, mean it is not possible to deliver the festival to the standard audiences, artists and partners expect.”

​A liquidator has been appointed to “manage all financial matters, including vendor and partner obligations,” the message continues.

According to organizers, last year’s show gathered about 109,000 attendees over its five days, the best result since the pre-pandemic 2019 edition, and good enough for a top three all-time result for Bluesfest, which first opened its gates in 1990.

Bluesfest has weathered the storm, both figuratively and literally. The pandemic wiped out the 2021 edition. The next year, a last-minute cancellation due to a public health order from the NSW Government. Then, in 2022, a return to business and upwards of 105,000 ticket sales. A solid return for a mudfest – thanks to the intervention of Mother Nature. The Tyagarah site, north of Byron Bay, flooded weeks before showtime, and again on the eve of the action.

Attendance for 2024 was down to about 65,000. Bluesfest director Peter Noble announced 2025 was the swansong for this long-running event. Tickets, predictably, sold out. Then, the 2026 show was announced.

Noble got roasted online for his change of heart, but in an interview with this reporter, the veteran impresario suggested he was exhausted from the growing challenges with putting on the show, and that “I didn’t want to do it anymore.”

Previously, Noble had described the festivals landscape in these parts as an industry facing an “extinction event.” Not every event will survive.  “People are doing it tough in Australia right now. And they’re not going out as much as they did,” he remarked. The numbers check out. Bluesfest reported 60,000-65,000 attendees in 2024, down from a pre-COVID average of 85,000.

Bluesfest 2026 was scheduled for April 2-5 at the Byron Events Farm, Tyagarah, near Byron Bay, NSW. 

The show is the latest to festival to fall on hard times. In recent years, the likes of Rolling Loud Australia, Esoteric Festival, Caloundra Music Festival, Splendour in the Grass, Groovin the Moo, Listen Out and others have paused their events, or disappeared entirely from the calendar.

Bluesfest ticket holders, including parking pass customers and campers, will be contacted directly by the appointed liquidator, according to the Bluesfest statement. Additional information regarding the process for submitting claims and any potential refund arrangements will be shared in due course.

New York City festival series We Belong Here has announced the lineup for its June 19-21 event at Brooklyn Army Terminal, a site located on the waterfront in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood.

Happening at this site for the first time, the fest will feature Kaskade and deadmau5 performing as their supergroup Kx5, trance leaders Above & Beyond, UK techno producer Eli Brown, Lane 8, Sultan & Shephard, Oliver Heldens and more. See the complete lineup below.

Pre-sale tickets for We Belong Here go on sale March 19, with a general on sale beginning March 20. This event extends successful 2025 editions of We Belong Here at smaller sites in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Central Park’s Wollman Rink, two sites where We Belong Here happened over two weekends last October.

“The response to last year’s Brooklyn and Central Park events showed us how hungry this city is for a festival experience built on community, intentional design, and music discovery,” We Belong Here co-founder Charles Hochfelder says in a statement. “With the extra space at Brooklyn Army Terminal, we’re able to bring that vision to life across multiple stages, bringing together some of our favorite global artists, while providing a platform to the local crews and collectives that make New York’s dance music scene so incredible.”

Along with the headliners, We Belong Here Brooklyn will feature a stage for New York-based artists and brands including Aqutie presenting her Pele Pele brand, Bushwick-based collective Raw Cuts, New York Party series Dance Here Now and Nervous Records. New York’s famed open-air food market Smorgasburg will be the official food partner.

Karma may be coming for Taylor Swift fans in Vancouver.

Those who bought obstructed view resale tickets to her Eras Tour concerts may be eligible for a refund.

A new agreement between Consumer Protection B.C. and StubHub Canada states that concertgoers who sat in certain sections during the pop star’s Eras Tour shows between Dec. 6-8, 2024, could receive reimbursements if their tickets didn’t disclose an obstructed or limited view. The affected Vancouver concert sections were situated beside or behind the main stage.

Unique, “no view” tickets — which offered fans a view of the screens beside the stage but not the stage itself — were listed on Ticketmaster for $16.50. They were promptly scooped up by resellers and priced at approximately a 150% markup, causing outrage amongst fans.

The obstructed seats were released to give more fans a chance to catch Swift on-stage during the final dates of the highly popular Eras Tour.

A recent consumer complaint prompted an investigation into StubHub’s ticket sales practices. The resulting legally enforceable agreement, known as an undertaking, was signed on Feb. 23, 2026.

As part of the undertaking, the secondary ticket operator commits to improving how it reveals ticketing information, including the face value of the ticket, its fees, service charges and refund guarantees.

Consumer Protection B.C. claims that StubHub broke provincial laws, in accordance with the Ticket Sales Act, which requires ticket sellers and ticketing platforms to clearly state ticket costs and other relevant details to the buyer in the sales descriptions. This includes any line-of-sight obstructed or limited views caused by a pole, speakers or a sound board.

“We are here to ensure ticket purchasers have protections under the law and the law is followed,” Louise Hartland, director of public relations at Consumer Protection B.C, tells Billboard Canada. “That includes secondary ticket platform operators and sellers disclosing the face value of a ticket and offering refunds when events are cancelled or the ticket doesn’t match what was advertised.”

The deal specifies that concertgoers will need to provide proof that StubHub failed to disclose the obstructed view. Eligible concertgoers will be contacted by May 1, 2026.

“If someone buys a ticket from a secondary ticket seller or a secondary ticketing platform operator and an event in B.C. is cancelled or postponed, ticket buyers are entitled to a refund on the money paid,” Hartland says. “They don’t have to settle for a credit, which is often the only option offered by ticket sellers.”

In addition to repaying buyers, the resale ticketing platform must pay over $6,000 in inspection fees to Consumer Protection B.C. and distribute $2,500 to the Consumer Advancement Fund.

Amidst the ticket chaos, the Vancouver crowd managed to get a special shoutout from the singer on her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, as fans’ cheers and screams can be heard in the background of the album’s Sabrina Carpenter-featuring title track. Subsequently, the final Vancouver show was released as a concert film, Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show.

Showgirl is Swift’s most successful release to date, breaking several records in Canada, notably becoming the biggest album debut in the country in the modern streaming era.

During Swift’s multi-year, era-spanning tour, many cities pulled out all the stops for the chart-topping pop singer, ensuring a seamless experience for fans. In Toronto, Swift spent six nights in the city, bringing in an estimated $39.7 million from direct and indirect spending during the two November 2024 weekends.

This story was originally published by Billboard Canada.

After conquering the New York Times Bestsellers List with her Stripped Down memoir, Bunnie Xo is bringing her written revelations to the silver screen.

On Thursday (March 12), Variety exclusively revealed that 101 Studios, the producers of Emmy-nominated neo-western Yellowstone, have fast-tracked Stripped Down for a film adaptation under its new first-look deal with Universal Pictures.

“Writing this book was one of the most vulnerable things I’ve ever done. I told my story the only way I knew how: raw, real and unapologetic,” Bunnie Xo said. “Seeing it now move from the pages to the big screen is something I never could have imagined. I can’t wait for audiences to experience the chaos, the heartbreak, the humor and the redemption in a way that only film can capture. If this film does anything, I hope it reminds people that your past nor your trauma can ever define you, your comeback does. It’s never too late.”

Bunnie celebrated the news with a pair of Instagram posts. The first clip found her shaking her head, overwhelmed with emotion as she recorded herself in front of a screenshot of the Variety article; the second featured a carousel of sweet posts, including a message from her Grammy-winning country superstar husband Jelly Roll. “To my #1 NYT best-selling wife,” he wrote. “Every dream you ever dreamed you have made come true. Honored to be your husband.”

Stripped Down, an autobiography tracing Bunnie’s journey from Las Vegas trailer parks to podcast stardom and multimedia powerhouse, arrived last month and has since spent three consecutive weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers List. Subtitled Unfiltered and Unapologetic, the memoir offers fans an unflinching look at the woman born Alisa DeFord, known to the world as Bunnie Xo. Outside of Yellowstone, 101 Studios has also produced Emmy-nominated spy thriller Lioness, Emmy-nominated biographical miniseries George & Tammy and British crime drama MobLand.

“Bunnie Xo’s story is the kind of raw, unfiltered journey that audiences immediately connect with – honest, fearless and ultimately inspiring,” said 101 Studios CEO David Glasser. “At 101 Studios, along with our partners at Universal Pictures, we’re excited to bring Stripped Down to the screen and capture the resilience, humor, and humanity that makes her story so powerful.”

While the adaptation marks Bunnie’s first major foray into the world of film, her husband has recently explored the theatrical realm. Last month, Jelly soared to No. 2 at the domestic box office with the animated sports comedy film, Goat, which opened with $35 million, marking the biggest opening weekend for an original animated film since 2023’s Elemental.