Shares of SM Entertainment gained 11.8% to KRW 117,900 ($92.88) this week, making the K-pop company the greatest gainer on the Billboard Global Music Index. The home of groups such as NCT 127 and Red Velvet, SM got good news this week after boy band EXO’s latest release, EXIST — The 7th Album, sold over 1 million copies in South Korea on its first day of release. In the United States, the group currently has four of the top five songs on Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs chart. Year to date, SM Entertainment shares are up 37.5%.

Led by SM Entertainment’s double-digit gain, 13 of the Billboard Global Music Index’s 21 stocks finished in positive territory this week. The index rose 1.7% to 1,355.35, its third-straight weekly increase and the sixth in the last seven weeks. Music stocks lagged behind many major indexes, however. In the United States, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite gained 2.4% and 3.3%, respectively. The United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 improved 2.4%. And South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 4%.

Spotify continues its hot streak by gaining 9.6% to $172.03, bringing the stock’s year-to-date improvement to 117.9%. The streaming giant got a boost this week after analysts at Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo increased their price targets to $185 and $250, respectively. Wells Fargo analysts are enthusiastic about Spotify’s prospects to improve its margins following the company’s layoffs and reduction of podcast content costs. Long-awaited price increases in the United States could improve Spotify’s gross margin by three percentage points and add nearly $727 million of revenue in 2024, according to the analysts.

Another K-pop company experienced the index’s largest decline this week: Shares of HYBE, home to BTS and Tomorrow X Together, fell 10.3% to KRW 256,500 ($202.08). The company was in the South Korean media this week following complaints of sexual harassment by security guards at an &TEAM singing event in Seoul. In a statement, HYBE apologized to the fans and explained that attendees at such events are searched to prevent recordings from leaking to the public.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd.’s decline of 3.9% to 0.74 pounds per share was the index’s biggest decline of the week after HYBE. On Thursday (July 13), Hipgnosis reported a $12.9 million improvement in pro-forma annual revenue million in calendar year 2022, although both gross and net revenue declined due mainly to two large, non-recurring adjustments. Still, investors remain wary of the stock, which has declined 14.3% year to date. As Billboard reported this week, Hipgnosis is shopping some assets that could help bolster its share price if sold. Shareholders will get a chance to weigh in on the fund’s future at the annual meeting in September by voting to change fund managers, liquidate the fund or stay on course.

Radio and music industry trade website All Access will cease operations on Aug. 15 due to “a marked decrease in revenues that makes moving forward impossible,” according to a bulletin from the company, which also noted that the site will remain online for an undetermined amount of time.

A statement from All Access reads, “This was not a decision that was reached lightly nor without earnest tries to find a path forward. It comes on the heels of major changes in the music industry announced in January of this year. These strong financial headwinds also extend to our non-music partners as well. Both downturns have greatly affected how All Access operates. The dollars are just not there to support our operation and staff any longer.”

According to the All Access website, the company has just over two dozen staff members.

All Access launched in 1995 and has been an essential source of news for the radio and music industries across genres including rock, pop, country and gospel/Christian, with the website providing news, editorial insights, community, industry events and job postings to many in the business for nearly three decades.

You can read the statement from All Access founder/president/publisher Joel Denver below.

This is without question the saddest and most heartbreaking moment of my professional life to have to tell you that allaccess.com will cease publishing and will be going out of business.

All Access began nearly 28 years ago and with the help of an amazing staff of professionals, the best in the business. We’ve weathered many changes and obstacles in the industry over these years. We’ve carved an incredible path and have taken each part of our operation to amazing levels of success through honesty, hard work, and passion for the radio industry, the music, the artists and our many readers, marketing partners, clients and our many contributing editors. Thank you all so much — we could not have done any of this without you.

The goal of All Access has always been to provide cutting edge content for all sectors of our business. We’ve strived to provide the best and most credible NET NEWS coverage, help people find jobs and stay connected. We have been blessed with wonderful partnerships and have created many valuable services for all parts of the radio and music businesses and have the support of nearly 100,000 active users.

Looking back over nearly three decades of service, we have much to be proud of. We’ve created amazing editorial and service products that will be benchmarks of our success like: All Access Downloads, First Alert, co-creation/presentation of Worldwide Radio Summit and creation/presentation of the All Access Audio Summit, among many others along the way.

Again, I cannot begin to express my sincerest appreciation and thanks to all of our many thousands of readers, our many amazing partners, wonderful clients, and the incredible ALL ACCESS staff for your love and devotion to All Access, our mission, and our success for nearly 28 years. I will miss working with all of you.

Closing All Access doesn’t mean that I am retiring from the business. I will take a moment to catch my breath and focus on new horizons and opportunities.

I hope that you will give all of our All Access team members a good strong look as well at new opportunities — they are the best of the best, and I will provide a glowing recommendation for all. There is not one person on the All Access team that I wouldn’t hire again. Please reach out to them by visiting our Team Page.

It has been a true honor to have served the radio and music communities. We have had a blast doing this. We will all miss serving and working with all of you — our readers and clients. I truly wish everyone much success in the future.”

Karol G dropped a new single called “S91,” inspired by the popular Psalm 91 Bible verse, and in its impactful music video out Thursday (July 13) she made an important announcement.

In the emotional and ultra-personal release, produced by Ovy on the Drums, the Colombian artist sings about overcoming adversity over an EDM-meets-trap fusion.

The music video, directed by Pedro Artola and produced by WeOwnTheCity, is just as powerful as the lyrics, demonstrating Karol running away from a group of people backed by a pack of wolves trying to bring her down, but she’s protected by a lone panther. Karol also used the opportunity to announce that Mañana Sera Bonito (Bichota Season) is coming soon.

A week ago, the “Bichota” singer hinted that she was up to new projects when she posted a photo all smiles and with a line from Psalm 91: “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.”

A couple of days later, and a month ahead of her Mañana Sera Bonito stadium tour kicking off, she surprised fans with a new music video teaser assuring them that she has an announcement “so important that it deserved its own song and music video” and that she planned to release it on July 13 because 13 is her favorite spiritual number. “Remember I always save the best for last. This video is dedicated to my people, the ones from the start,” she noted. 

On the eve of the “S91” release, Karol posted a TikTok video of her mother reacting to the production in tears. “This video is special for many reasons,” she shared in the caption. 

“One, there is no more beautiful feeling for me than knowing that my family is proud of me and that my music can cause them reactions like that,” she continued. “Two, my mom took us to school and taught us to pray Psalm 91 after leaving home every day in the morning because she said they were sacred words of protection, and three, I am grateful to God and to life for giving me a family that supports me, that has believed in me from the very beginning and that is still with me today, celebrating together so many beautiful things that happen to us.”

Beyond its personal connection to the artist, “S91” is charged with a message of celebration, pride, love, triumph and “many beautiful feelings,” according to Karol’s TikTok caption.