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It didn’t take long for Kim Kardashian’s Beats Fit Pro Headphones to sell out at Apple.com. The neutral-colored, true wireless, noise-canceling earbuds flew off the shelves after being released online and in Apple stores last August.
Available in dune, earth and moon, the earthy headphones offer active noise cancellation with three listening modes (Active Noise Cancelling, Transparency Mode, and Adaptive EQ) and wingtips to help them stay snuggly and comfortably in place. These must-have headphones are no longer in stock on Apple’s website, but you can get them on sale for $20 off at Amazon with free shipping for Prime members.
“I wanted to break away from the idea that headphones have to be colorful to make a statement,” Kardashian said in a statement when they were released last year. “This collaboration is special because it allows you to blend in or stand out, and Beats is known for creating products that showcase individuality.”
Perfect for studying, workdays and workouts, Kim K x Beats Fit Pro Bluetooth headphones provide up to six hours with ANC/Transparency on (24 hours with charging case). Get up to seven hours in Adaptive EQ with ANC/Transparency off (30 hours with charging case).
Buy: Beats Fit Pro x Kim Kardashian – True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds $179.95
The headphones are enhanced by the Apple H1 chip for Automatic Switching, Audio Sharing (to pair with other Beats headphones or Apple AirPods), and “Hey Siri” voice control. The sweat and IPX4-rated, water-resistant headphones support spatial audio and feature dynamic head tacking to provide an immersive listening experience, whether you’re jamming away to your favorite songs, gaming, or streaming videos, movies or TV.
Like other Beats Fit Pro earbuds, the Kardashian edition retail for $199.95 and are available at Amazon.com. The headphones are compatible with iPhone and Android.
Beats Fit Pro aren’t the only neutral headphones on the market. For those on a tighter budget, the top-rated, JLab Go Air Tones True Wireless Earbuds retail for $25 and are available in six different shades of brown. Purchase these affordable earbuds at Amazon, Best Buy, Kohl’s and JLab.com.
Shares of SM Entertainment gained 15.3% this week, making the K-pop company the greatest gainer among the 21 music stocks in the Billboard Global Music Index. Although the company wasn’t the subject of any significant news items that typically affect share prices — earnings, investments or partnerships — its shares nonetheless rose to 117,600 KRW ($92.07), bringing the year-to-date gain to 53.3%.
It’s not just SM Entertainment, though. K-pop is booming in 2023. Shares of the index’s other South Korean music company, HYBE, gained 6.1% this week and have gained 71.5% in 2023. Outside the index, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment have gained 100.6% and 88.4%, respectively, year to date.
With 16 of its 21 stocks in positive territory this week, the Billboard Global Music Index improved 5% to 1,334.28, its best one-week performance since November. The biggest contributors to the index’s value posted strong single-digit gains. Spotify improved 6.3% to $159.99, Universal Music Group gained 3.8% to 20.16 euros ($22.11) and Warner Music Group jumped 9.3% to $27.16. Meanwhile, Live Nation gained 7.2% to $90.18 and on Thursday (June 15) closed above $90 for the first time since Sept. 15.
Two other stocks had double-digit gains this week. Streaming company LiveOne added 13.3% to $1.53, bringing its year-to-date gain to 137.6%, while Sphere Entertainment Co. climbed 10.9% to $29.29. Since Sphere separated from MSG Entertainment’s concert promotion business on April 20, its shares have gone up more than 14%. On Sept. 29, U2 will launch the MSG Sphere at the Venetian with a residency that extends through Dec. 16.
While stocks were generally up this week, music stocks fared better than the major indexes. The S&P 500 gained 2.6% to 4,409.59, its best week since March. The Nasdaq composite improved 3.2% to 13,689.57, also marking its best week since March. Outside the United States, South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 0.6% to 2,625.79, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. gained 1.1% to 7,642.72.
German promoter and ticketing company CTS Eventim had the week’s largest decline at 18.2%, making it the only music stock on the index with a double-digit loss. As Billboard reported on Wednesday, the German company’s share price fell precipitously in the two days following a critical segment on the German public television show ZDF Magazin Royale.
Michael Jordan is finalizing a deal to sell the majority share of the Charlotte Hornets, the franchise announced Friday, leaving the 30-team NBA without any Black majority ownership.
Jordan is selling to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall, the Hornets said. Plotkin has been a minority stakeholder in the Hornets since 2019. Schnall has been a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks since 2015 and is in the process of selling his investment in that team.
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It’s not clear how long the process of selling will take to be finalized by the NBA’s Board of Governors. Jordan plans to keep a minority stake in the Hornets, the team he bought in 2010 for about $275 million.
Jordan’s decision to sell ends his unsuccessful 13-year run overseeing the organization.
“In the same way that it’s wonderful that one of our greatest, Michael Jordan, could become the principal governor of a team, he has the absolute right to sell at the same time,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month at the NBA Finals. “Values have gone up a lot since he bought that team, so that is his decision.”
In that same news conference at the finals, Silver said the Board of Governors are focused on diversity in ownership groups.
“I would love to have better representation in terms of principal governors,” Silver said. “It’s a marketplace. It’s something that if we were expanding that the league would be in a position to focus directly on that, but in individual team transactions, the market takes us where we are.”
The sale price was not immediately announced; ESPN, citing sources, said the franchise was being valued at $3 billion. The most recent sale of an NBA team came when Mat Ishbia bought the Phoenix Suns, a deal that when struck in December valued that franchise at $4 billion.
Jordan declined comment on the sale through his spokesperson, Estee Portnoy.
For as great as Jordan was on the court — national champion at North Carolina, two-time Olympic gold medalist, six-time NBA champion and in the never-ending conversation for best player ever — the Hornets never reached a championship level during his time as the owner.
Charlotte went 423-600 in his 13 seasons in charge, the 26th-best record over that span. It never won a playoff series in that time and hasn’t even been to the postseason in the last seven seasons.
Other members of the new potential Hornets ownership group — pending the approval — are recording artist J. Cole, Dan Sundheim, Ian Loring, country music singer-songwriter Eric Church, Chris Shumway and several local Charlotte investors, including Amy Levine Dawson and Damian Mills.
Along with the Hornets, HSE ownership includes the NBA G League’s Greensboro Swarm and NBA 2K League’s Hornets Venom GT, as well as managing and operating the Spectrum Center, each of which is included as part of the sale.
When Jordan, who grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, purchased majority ownership in the team, it created a great amount of buzz.
But the Hornets’ struggles and inability to turn things around bothered Jordan. The first inclination that he was looking to get out of the NBA ownership business came in 2020, when he sold a minority stake to Plotkin and Sundheim.
The Hornets are coming off an injury-plagued 27-55 season and hold the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft. Victor Wembanyana is expected to go first overall on Thursday night, leaving Charlotte with the choice of either G League star guard Scoot Henderson or Alabama’s Brandon Miller.
Charlotte’s biggest star is LaMelo Ball, and the team still has some decent foundational parts to build around including Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, P.J. Washington and Mark Williams, the team’s starting center who played well last year as a rookie.
Jordan was often criticized as an owner for not spending enough in free agency to make the Hornets competitive.
He took over a team in 2010 that had won 44 games the year before but had been swept by the Orlando Magic in the first round.
It went downhill from there.
Charlotte — still the Bobcats at the time — was 34-48 in its first year under Jordan and then an NBA-worst 7-59 the following year. But despite the abysmal record, Charlotte failed to land the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft lottery and Anthony Davis.
Charlotte got back to the playoffs in 2013-14 but was swept by the Miami Heat. Two years later, the Hornets won 48 games but lost again to the Heat in the first round, this time in seven games.
In the seven years since, Jordan’s Hornets have had only one winning season and have twice exited early in the play-in tournament as the 10 seed.
Charlotte has not won a playoff series since the 2001-02 season and has never won an NBA championship
It’s Friday, June 16th, and we’ve got a ton of new music! ATEEZ’s new EP is here, Doja Cat is back, Leigh-Anne makes her solo debut and more! Olivia Rodrigo is officially moving into her next era, but will Lana Del Rey be coming with her? ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season 15 winner Sasha Colby talks about her start in drag, defies drag misconceptions, and more for our Billboard Pride Cover with Maren Morris. And more!
Tetris Kelly:
New Music from Doja Cat and more. We take you to Janet Jackson. Are Olivia and Lana collabing? We hang with Sasha Colby and learn more about Nate Smith. Welcome back to Billboard News. It’s Friday, June 16th. And I’m back after a birthday bender. We got a lot of new music to get through so let’s jump into our Friday music guide. Everyone’s been wondering what Doja Cat’s new sound would be and she’s back with ‘Attention.’
Tetris Kelly:
Not only does Doja croon on the track, she brings the rap game per usual. We’ll have more from our Friday music guide throughout the show. But for now, our top story Olivia Rodrigo posted a somewhat cryptic message on IG and now fans think she’s got a collab with Lana Del Rey on the way.
Tetris Kelly:
Olivia Rodrigo got fans in a frenzy with her latest IG post. The pop star posted a seemingly innocent mirror selfie posing next to a bright-red lipstick kiss print on the glass in front of her captioning the post “Bang bang kiss kiss,” lyrics from Lana Del Rey’s ‘Venice B*tch.’ Now fans are convinced Olivia and Lana have a collab together. It could be because the two are fans of each other. Or it could be because this is the first post from Olivia after announcing her new single ‘Vampire’ drops June 30th, the first release since her blockbuster debut ‘Sour’ in 2021. Only time will tell, but we love the idea of these two together on a project. Leigh-Anne of Little Mix has made her solo debut with ‘Don’t Say Love’. The mom of two even celebrated the release of her first song with her Little Mix bandmate Jade.
Watch the full video above!
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Get ready to rumble this weekend! Saturday (June 17) will see Marvin Vettori attempt to climb the rankings from No. 3 to No. 2 during UFC Fight Night Presented by Modelo: Vettori vs. Cannonier. The UFC 75 event will stream exclusively on ESPN+ with other fights and more taking place beforehand.
The main event will see Vettori go up against No. 4-ranked fighter Jared Cannonier with both seeking to claim the title of victor. Prior to the main event, viewers can tune in to the co-main event featuring a lightweight match between No. 8 contender Arman Tsarukyan and Joaquim Silva. This will be a turning point for Tsarukyan as he returns to prove his top-contender worth in the lightweight division while Silva uses the opportunity to try breaking into the rankings for the first time.
For those antsy to catch some of the action before the main event, viewers can see the pre-show presented by DraftKings on Friday (June 16) at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Keep reading to learn how to watch the big fight.
UFC Vegas 75: Vettori vs. Cannonier — Ways to Stream
ESPN+ will exclusively be streaming the big night with preliminary events occurring at 7 p.m. ET and the main event taking place at 10 p.m. ET. You’ll be able to catch the action on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+ and SiriusXM Fight Nation.
You can catch the fight through any streaming service or cable network that offers ESPN.
ESPN+
ESPN+ is home to exclusive live events, dozens of sports series, TV shows and groundbreaking originals from the top names in sports including The Captain, America’s Caddie, Man in the Arena With Tom Brady, More Than an Athlete With Michael Strahan, Our Time: Baylor Basketball, Al Davis vs. The NFL, Vick, Be Like Water, Breakaway, the entire 30 for 30 series and other original content like UFC fights, including the upcoming Vettori vs. Cannonier bout.
For additional savings, consider bundling ESPN+ with Hulu and Disney+ or you can check out Hulu + Live TV for access to hundreds of channels including ESPN, Starz, Showtime and more.
Looking for other streaming options? You can tune in through Philo, Vidgo, DirectTV Stream and Sling TV for live and on-demand streaming, including ESPN and other sports channels, in addition to DVR recording. If you’re streaming outside the U.S. then make sure to use ExpressVPN.
Tune into the main event June 17 at 10 p.m. ET.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez publicly kicked off his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination with a speech Thursday evening at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. Suarez, a … Click to Continue »
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