SYDNEY, Australia — After three editions, SXSW Sydney is calling time.

On Wednesday, Jan. 14, organizers announced that South by Southwest “will not proceed” in Sydney this year, and that the summit would “conclude its run.”

The decision “reflects a changing global environment that is impacting major events, festivals and cultural programs worldwide,” reads a statement.

Produced by TEG, SXSW Sydney worked closely with the NSW government and SXSW’s global owners, Penske Media Corporation, parent of Billboard, to explore potential pathways forward for the event, the statement continues. However, “prevailing market conditions” meant the Sydney leg “will not be going ahead at this time.”

SXSW Sydney’s brief lifespan was bright, and busy. According to a statement from TEG, the event generated an estimated A$276 million in total economic impact across its three-year run; attracted more than 63,000 out-of-region attendees; and recorded a 35% year-on-year growth in international visitation between 2024 and 2025.

For last year’s final SXSW Sydney, more than 345,000 attendees attended its showcases, panels, keynotes and more, a 15% year-on-year increase.

A social post from the SXSW team confirms the worst. “Every great story has a final page, and it is with a heavy heart that we share that SXSW Sydney has reached its closing chapter and will not be returning in 2026. It’s bittersweet to be saying goodbye while the momentum is so high.”

SXSW Sydney represented the brand’s first expansion outside of the United States, and a push into the vibrant Asia-Pacific region. But it did so post-COVID, as costs soar across the board. Money is tight. And competition is tough, both from the established BIGSOUND event, which is presented one month earlier in Brisbane, and the Amsterdam Dance Event, which overlapped with the first two editions of SXSW Sydney.

It was a “Golden” night at the 2026 Golden Globes for the KPop Demon Hunters crew, with the Netflix hit’s eight-week Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper winning for best original song and the film itself being named best motion picture – animated. Plus, Ludwig Göransson took home the prize for best original score for his work on the Ryan Coogler film Sinners.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are talking about what the music wins could mean for the 2026 Oscar race, with voting starting this week and nominations set to be announced on Jan. 22. Listen to the latest episode below:

Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem is back at No. 1 on the BIllboard 200 for the first time in four months — and for a 13th total week — and how Olivia Dean climbs into the top three for the first time (and hits new peaks on two more key charts). Plus, how Djo (aka Joe Keery) rides the Stranger Things finale to big gains on the charts — including his first top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)

Music creation platform Splice has designated Afro house as its sound of the year following the genre’s 778% growth surge on the platform in 2025 — a number driven by 1.3 million searches for and 6.7 million downloads of the genre, the company revealed Tuesday (Jan. 13).

The surge helped lift the broader house genre itself up from the platform’s fifth most downloaded genre in 2023 to its second most downloaded genre in 2025, with Afro house driving 70% of that growth. Meanwhile, melodic house downloads on the platform grew by 75%, garnering 3.2 million downloads.

These stats come from Splice’s new report, Sounds of 2026: An In-depth Look At the Trends Driving Music Creation, which looks at significant trends on the platform. The report was prepared by data analysis firm MIDiA Research and covers data from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30 in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Download the full report for free here.

“This year, more than ever, we are seeing a world where the biggest trends are reaching a subset of people,” the report states. “In an industry now dominated by microtrends, it is nearly impossible for a single person to keep track of them all. With Splice’s data, however, we can zoom in on the trends and microtrends driven by the music industry’s biggest fans and most influential tastemakers: creators.” 

Other key takeaways include hip-hop remaining Splice’s most downloaded genre, while trap remains its top subgenre. The report notes that generally, “growth in hip-hop is being driven by subgenres such as rage, boom bap and pluggnb, highlighting a shift away from a single defining sound.”

Meanwhile, pop returns to the top three genres, with bedroom pop being pop’s top subgenre, owing to a 297% rise in downloads. Other key subgenres here under the pop umbrella include hyperpop and indie pop.

Beyond Splice’s top three genres — hip-hop, house and pop — Splice’s top 10 genres are RnB at No. 4, trap at No. 5, soul at No. 6, EDM at No. 7, cinematic at No. 8, techno at No. 9 and tech house at No. 10.

Notably, electronic music was also one of Splice’s fastest-growing genres, with speed garage climbing 625% year-over-year to more than three million downloads in 2025. Also among the fastest-growing genres on the platform were hardwave, phonk and hard dance.

“Music has entered an era where the biggest trends are personal,” Splice CEO Kakul Srivastava said in a statement. “Our data shows creators pulling inspiration from everywhere at once, blending global sounds and local scenes to create music that feels both deeply human and culturally expansive. Sounds of 2026 captures that shift in real time.”

“In a music economy increasingly shaped by micro-trends, sample usage offers one of the clearest signals of what’s coming next,” added Mark Mulligan, MIDiA Research’s managing director and music analyst. “The sounds creators choose today reflect not only genre evolution, but deeper cultural shifts towards global exchange and scene-driven growth.”

Most K-pop groups are formed through a familiar process: a company selects a fixed lineup of members, and the team debuts as a complete unit. Challenging that convention was SM Entertainment’s NCT system, first introduced in 2016. NCT  members were meant to rotate through various configurations under the banner of ‘NCT U,’ emphasizing flexibility over permanence. While the concept made waves, it ultimately settled into a more traditional unit-based structure — an ambitious experiment that achieved only partial success.

However, leading this experiment even further is a K-pop label and creative house ready to take it head-on: MODHAUS. As a part of the label’s strategy, the act’s members are introduced one by one rather than being revealed all at once, and fans actively participate in shaping unit combinations through voting. All of this interaction takes place on COSMO, the company’s proprietary fan platform — distinct from HYBE’s Weverse or paid messaging services like Bubble — designed specifically to support MODHAUS’ participatory system.

MODHAUS is led by producer Jaden Jeong, a first-generation K-pop producer whose résumé spans groups, bands and solo artists, including JYP’s 2PM. With a deep understanding of both the industry’s mechanics and its long-term evolution, Jaden Jeong’s belief is clear: in a K-pop landscape dominated by major agencies, “modular idols” and meaningful fan participation can offer a viable alternative.

idntt is MODHAUS’ first boy group to emerge from this system. Following the debut of their first unit unevermet (7 members) last August, two additional units — yesweare (8 members) and itsnotover (9 members) — will be introduced in sequence. By 2026, idntt will operate as a full 24-member group. The members come from vastly different backgrounds: Some gained recognition through audition programs or as TikTok creators; others spent six to eight years as trainees at different K-pop agencies; some even lived entirely outside the idol system before joining. As they open up their journey — growing closer, making music together, and gradually becoming a team — fans are invited to take part in that process of discovery, shaping identity alongside the members themselves. One example: the choreography draft for unevermet’s “Adolescence” was selected through fan voting.

On January 2, the faces of yesweare, idntt’s second unit, were finally revealed. Just days before their comeback showcase on Jan. 5, Billboard Korea was able to capture a rare moment with all 15 members together — an encounter kept strictly under wraps until then. Watching the boys move through the studio, what stood out most was not the unit names or concepts, but the individuality each member carried.

jiwoon, the group’s leader and the eldest, began his trainee life at 22 — by industry standards, a relatively late start. When he says, “Age is definitely a factor in this industry. But it shouldn’t stop you from chasing your dream,” the conviction feels unmistakably real. dohun, who debuted at 23 after eight years of training at a major agency, speaks with similar candor about his journey. There’s towa, who came to Korea from Japan less than a year ago to pursue his dream, and kyuhyuk, idntt’s youngest, born in 2010. The time it took each of them to reach this point may differ, but their goal is the same: to stand onstage.

Fifteen individuals with distinct identities now step onto the same starting line. The title of the first song they will perform together? “Pretty Boy Swag.” Curious about the kind of swag idntt will bring? Step into their world. You may find it far more layered — and far more compelling — than you expect.