BMG has renewed and expanded its direct music publishing agreement with TikTok, signaling a deeper collaboration aimed at modernizing digital rights and creating greater value for songwriters. The updated deal enhances reporting and attribution standards across platforms and introduces advanced tools for rights management and promotion. These improvements will give BMG increased visibility into music usage and strengthen its infrastructure for rights holders in today’s fast-evolving, social-first environment.

“BMG truly understands the power of TikTok and the opportunity it creates for songwriters today,” said Tracy Gardner, TikTok’s global head of music business development. “They understand the platform, they embrace innovation, and they work with us hand-in-hand to strengthen rights management and unlock meaningful value. This expanded partnership reflects the trust and momentum we’ve built together — and we’re excited to continue driving growth for the songwriters at the heart of music discovery on TikTok.” 

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Celine Joshua, evp of global marketing and streaming, said, “This agreement underscores our focus on building scalable, forward-looking partnerships that elevate the role of songwriting in today’s music economy. We continue to invest in systems and structures that protect rights, ensure attribution, and add value for creators across the digital landscape.”

The partnership with BMG comes as TikTok continues to shape music discovery and engagement. In a recent Billboard interview, Gardner emphasized that the platform’s relationship with the music industry remains strong despite layoffs and licensing challenges in 2025. Gardner, who joined TikTok in 2019 after six years at Warner Music, highlighted features like songwriter tagging and e-commerce integrations, including successful livestreams and fan events. Gardner noted that while TikTok requires users to tag AI-generated music, industry-wide solutions remain unclear, calling it “uncharted territory” and emphasizing the platform’s commitment to balancing innovation with rights protection.

Check out the rest of this week’s publishing news below:

Jung Kook might just be Nat King Cole undercover, because the BTS singer just released a rendition of “The Christmas Song” that’s buttery smooth.

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Released just a couple of days before Christmas, the festive cover finds Jung Kook delivering some of his sultriest vocals to date. “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose/ Yuletide carols being sung by a choir and folks dressed up like Eskimos,” he croons over chill, ambient keyboards. “Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe help to make the season bright/ Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow will find it hard to sleep tonight.”

As the song picks up, the K-pop star fleshes out the performance with his own lush harmonies stacked on top of each other. Staying true to the original lyrics, he ends with a message to “kids” from ages 1 to 92: “Merry Christmas to you.”

Cole’s “The Christmas Song” first charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. It reached its peak decades later, hitting No. 6 this year.

Jung Kook’s cover of the Christmas classic serves as a year-end gift to ARMY, as the fanbase eagerly awaits spring 2026, when BTS will finally make its comeback after two-plus years apart to fulfill South Korean military obligations and work on solo projects. In addition to a new album, the septet also has a world tour in the works.

“I think this spring will be more important than ever,” Jung Kook recently teased in an interview with Elle Korea. “So I sincerely hope you all have a safe and enjoyable spring.”

Check out Jung Kook’s version of “The Christmas Song” below.


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Is your T-shirt collection lacking a little Swiftie flair? If you’re both a Swiftie and a Disney fan, the Disney Store just dropped a women’s tee in a dreamy pink that makes reference to a fan-favorite Taylor Swift track, 2010’s “Today Was a Fairytale.” The graphic tee, retailing for $32.99, features that exact wording affixed to the front in black with dainty bow detailing, contrasting the pink background, accompanied by a graphic on the back featuring a few favorite Disney Princess. There’s Tiana, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle and Jasmine all smiles with sparkle graphics around them.

This tee is made of a comfy and breathable jersey knit in an oversized fit. The neckline is a ribbed style that transitions into dropped shoulders and a high-low hem, offering the otherwise basic tee a stylistic flair. Sizing for the tee is currently available from XS to 3XL. To style, we’d recommend wearing solo with a skirt or layered over a long sleeve or under a jean jacket. The style meshes two of the world’s most loyal fandoms — Swift and Disney.

Pink, Disney, Disney Store, fashion, cropped, tee, Taylor Swift

Disney Princess “Today Was a Fairytale” T-Shirt for Women

A women’s pink T-shirt from the Disney Store.


The Disney Store has a slew of stylish tees available to shop on the website, giving fans fashion-forward merch at an affordable price tag. If your wardrobe is lacking whimsey, this tee is an easy way to introduce color into your wardrobe, since the pink hue is gentle on the eyes and goes with just about everything.

Swift’s track “Today Was a Fairytale” was released in 2010 for the film Valentine’s Day, starring Julia Roberts, Jessica Biel, Anne Hathaway and Bradley Cooper, among others. The track is a mix of country and pop, and makes reference to a picture-perfect date Swift went on, whether real or fake. While the song is about 15 years old, it still holds up, still making waves with fans to this day.

This isn’t the only track of Swift’s that the star offered to use in the film. The Valentine’s Day soundtrack also features the song “Jump Then Fall.” The film soundtrack also features songs from other hit artists, including Maroon 5, Jewel, Stevie Wonder, Jamiroquai, Willie Nelson, Will.i.am, Foreigner, Nat “King” Cole and Jamie Foxx. The soundtrack peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard 200, while on Billboard’s Top Soundtracks charts, it reached No. 2.

This year, Taylor Swift spent her Christmas at Arrowhead Stadium, where fiancé Travis Kelce played his final Kansas City Chiefs home game of the NFL season.

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Showing up in her signature red lip and a matching bomber jacket alongside her parents, the pop star was all smiles as she entered the venue, as captured in clips posted online by the NFL. She hunkered down in her usual suite at Arrowhead Stadium to watch the tight end and his team play against the Denver Broncos, who ended up winning 20-13.

Kelce was visibly emotional during the national anthem, rocking back and forth with his hand over his chest. He was also clearly fired up as he first entered the field, striking his signature archer pose at the center of flashing lights, smoke and thunderous applause.

The Christmas Day matchup marked the Chiefs’ penultimate game of the 2025-26 season, with the team this year missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014 after quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered an ACL injury earlier in December. Their last game will be against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Sin City on a soon-to-be-scheduled date.

But the Chiefs’ final home game might have had even more significance for Kelce. Throughout this year, the Grotesquerie star has faced much speculation about whether he will retire after this season, something he has not yet confirmed or denied.

He did, however, address the possibility after the Broncos face-off, according to ESPN. “I’ll let that be a decision I’ll make with my family, friends, the Chiefs organization when the time comes,” he reportedly said, adding that he was feeling “a whole lot of emotions.”


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Howie Klein, the influential and forward-thinkinrecord executive and political activist whose artist-first philosophy helped bring alternative music into the mainstream, died Wednesday (Dec. 24) after a battle with pancreatic cancer, his sister announced on social media. He was 77.

Widely respected for championing creative freedom and resisting censorship, Klein left his mark on the music business through influential roles at Sire Records and Reprise Records, as well as earlier work in radio and independent labels.

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Born in Brooklyn, Klein began his music career while attending Stony Brook University in the late 1960s, where he wrote about music and booked concerts. After relocating to San Francisco in the 1970s, he emerged as a prominent DJ at KSAN-FM and co-founded 415 Records, an indie label that became a key incubator for punk and new wave acts including Romeo Void, Translator, Wire Train and the Nuns. At 415, Klein also developed forward-thinking ideas about record promotion, arguing as early as 1980 that labels should target college radio stations strategically rather than flooding the system with unwanted promo copies — an approach that anticipated modern data-driven marketing.

In the mid-1980s, Klein joined Seymour Stein’s Sire Records, working closely with a roster that included Lou Reed, the Ramones, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode and Uncle Tupelo. When Stein moved Sire’s distribution from one Warner Music label to another (Warner Bros. Records -> Elektra) in the mid-1990s, Klein hung back and was named president of Reprise Records. During his six-year tenure, he oversaw a remarkably eclectic lineup, including Green Day, Alanis Morissette, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Wilco, Fleetwood Mac, Paul Westerberg and Enya.

An April 1995 Billboard article noting Klein’s appointment as the president of Reprise.

Known for his hands-on, artist-friendly leadership style, Klein earned deep loyalty from musicians, particularly those who felt marginalized elsewhere in the industry. All-female rockers Babes in Toyland, for example, publicly praised his accessibility and respect for artists. “He came out and met us, and he was very excited about the record and was really pumped up,” the band’s Lori Barbero told Billboard in 1995. “They have a lot of women that work there, and they are not just secretaries… They don’t treat us like we’re stupid, and if we have a problem, we feel we can call Howie Klein, and he’ll talk to us.”

Klein’s steady leadership at Reprise made the label a haven for artists, and his sudden departure in 2001 following the Time Warner–AOL merger triggered a rift with one of its most acclaimed acts: Wilco. Soon after he left, execs asked the band to alter its finished album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Confident in the record as it stood, Wilco refused, sparking tense negotiations. Ultimately, the band bought back the rights to the album and exited its contract, which had called for several more releases.

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Beyond music, Klein was a passionate advocate for free expression and progressive causes. He supported Rock the Vote, opposed censorship and received honors including the Spirit of Liberty Award (his co-honoree? Rob Reiner) and the ACLU’s Bill of Rights Award. In 1994, while still at Sire, he curated the pro-choice compilation Just Say Roe, emphasizing music’s ability to spark debate on prickly topics.  “[Sire’s] goal as a label is to expose Sire artists and to sell records — I readily admit that,” he told Billboard. “But why can’t we also evoke positive thought and debate about important issues?”

After leaving Reprise, Klein turned his focus to political activism, serving on the board of People for the American Way and launching the ultra-liberal blog DownWithTyranny!. “From the beginning of time, singers and songwriters have always had a special role to play in alerting the public in current affairs,” Klein told Billboard‘s Steve Knopper following the election of Donald Trump in 2016. “This isn’t just a regular situation, of a Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan, or, for a Republican, a Barack Obama. This is something unique in American history. Donald Trump is an anomaly.”

In 2011, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum archived the Howie Klein Collection, preserving materials from his career that document a transformative era in modern music history.

U2‘s Bono was joined by fellow Irish singer Imelda May on Christmas Eve when they took part in a modern holiday tradition. The vocalists hit Grafton Street in Dublin just before the holiday to take part in the 15th annual round of busking to raise funds for local charities.

With hundreds of shivering fans gathered around the Gaiety Theatre in the Dublin city center, Bono and May took to a makeshift stage alongside a live band to perform Darlene Love’s 1963 holiday classic, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” After making a stop at a microphone that appeared to be on the fritz, Bono and May gathered around the same mic, with the U2 singer taking the first part of the verse and then stepping back as May belted, “They’re singing Deck the Halls/ But it’s not like Christmas at all.”

This year’s busking raised funds for the Dublin Simon Community, a charity supporting those at risk for homelessness in Ireland in the latest edition of the event that began in 2010 with an impromptu sing-along on Grafton Street.

According to NME, Bono and May were joined by Oscar-winning singer-songwriter and event organizer Glen Hansard, as well as The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue, the Riptide Movement and Danny O’Reilly of the Coronas and Shobsy, with a set-closing run through the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s holiday favorite “Fairytale of New York.”

In previous years Bono has performed with his bandmate guitarist The Edge at the busking fundraiser, including in 2018, when they played two Christmas carols, “O Holy Night” and “Night Divine” before joining the rest of that year’s performers for Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”


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Celine Dion definitely got the Christmas assignment. The iconic pop superstar went fully method for her holiday video this year, slipping into a lime green Grinch costume on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) for a recitation of the holiday baddie’s overstuffed schedule.

In a clip shared this week, the singer posted up in a chair by a fire pit in the backyard and crooned her indelible cover of Eric Carmen’s maudlin ballad “All By Myself,” which Dion first recorded for her fourth English-language album, 1996’s Falling Into You. Of course, the sight of famously well-attired Dion goofily crooning the song while wearing a Santa getup over her green, furry costume was enough of a gift.

But then Dion made it a notch sillier by cutting to a shot of her holding one of her little pups on her lap while reciting a version of the Grinch’s lament about his busy schedule from the 2000 Ron Howard-directed, Jim Carrey-starring How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

“The nerve of those Whos, inviting me down there on such short notice. Even if I wanted to go, my schedule wouldn’t allow it!” Dion says as the dog wearing antlers like the Grinch’s pooch, Max, wriggles out of her grasp. “4:00 — exercise my voice. 4:30 — wake my children up. 5:00 — solve world hunger. Tell no one. 5:30 — jazzercize. 6:30 — dinner with me. I can’t cancel that again! 7:00 — wrestle with my creative ideas.”

The dramatic recitation goes on, as Dion-as-Grinch honks, “I’m booked! Of course, if I bumped my creative ideas to 9:00, I’ll still have time to lay in bed and scroll TikTok videos endlessly. Or I can just simply wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year,” she adds mock contentedly before shouting, “boring!”

The video winds down with Dion crooning a bit more of the song, casually singing, “When I was young/ I never needed anyone.”

The appearance was one of the rare public outings this year from Dion, who was diagnosed with the neurological disorder stiff-person syndrome in 2022, which seriously affected her voice and caused uncontrolled tremors, forcing her to cancel a planned 2023-2024 world tour to focus on her health.


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For those of us who were good this year, Santa brought us Christmas Day gifts, good food and some Doggfather delights.

Snoop Dogg headlined the halftime entertainment for Netflix’s NFL Christmas Gameday Live, a matchup of Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings. And he didn’t drop the ball.

Martha Stewart introduced the “Snoop’s Holiday Halftime Party,” a colorful spot with a little something for everyone: hip-hip, country, K-pop and classical-crossover.

Snoop stepped into the centerfield at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN, wearing an all-red ensemble, a long red coat with furry trim over a double-breasted suit, as he hit a succession of classics.

The party started with Dr Dre covers “The Next Episode” and “Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang,” a rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” featuring EJAE, AUDREY NUNA and REI AMI, the singers that make up Huntr/x, the heroic girl group Netflix’s animated hit Kpop Demon Hunters.

Next up, Snoop served some homestyle cooking with “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and “Who Am I? (What’s My Name?),” before country star Lainey Wilson sledded on in for a performance of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

The spectacle wrapped up with a cover of Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas,” flanked by world-renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo Bocelli.

Earlier, Kelly Clarkson set the tone with a special gridiron-meets-white-Christmas themed video for “Underneath the Tree.”

Netflix announced the all-star special earlier this month. “NFL, Netflix and your uncle Snoop on Christmas Day? We’re servin’ up music, love and good vibes for the whole world to enjoy,” Snoop teased in a statement at the time. “That’s the kind of holiday magic Santa can’t fit in a bag.” To celebrate that statement, the streaming giant shared a festive teaser on its official social media pages, narrated by funk pioneer George Clinton.

Snoop Dogg’s halftime takeover comes one year after Beyoncé played Netflix’s inaugural Christmas Day extravaganza. Queen Bey, who earned the highest-grossing solo tour of 2025, treated her hometown of Houston to the first live performance of tracks from her three-time Grammy-winning Cowboy Carter LP. 

The 2025 Christmas Day doubleheader kicked off with the Dallas Cowboys facing off against the Washington Commanders. For the record, the Cowboys beat the Commanders 30-23, and the Vikings went on to beat the Lions by 23-10.

There are muses, and there is Coco Jones — an R&B artist who gives NBA star Donovan Mitchell a lift when she’s in the house.

Mitchell is an elite scorer for his Cleveland Cavaliers, a walking highlight package who combines deep range with flair for getting to the hoop, and impressive hops.

When the Cavs stopped by Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day to face off with the New York Knicks, Jones sat courtside as her fiancé got to work, notching 34 points, along with seven rebounds and six assists.

The six-time NBA All-Star and 2018 Sam Dunk Contest champion Mitchell also got up for some nasty slam dunks, inspired by his partner. The 6’2” shooting guard was mic’d up for the game, which aired on ESPN, and admitted Jones gave him wings. “I ain’t dunk in like three months. I only dunk when she here,” remarked Mitchell, per SportsCenter.

Their combined efforts weren’t enough as the Knicks ran out winners 126-124. It’s a long season.

Mitchell and Jones announced their engagement in July 2025, after dating for more than a year. Earlier, in March, Jones confirmed they were dating during an appearance on Club Shay Shay. “I love the Internet because they definitely clocked my tea. Little spies everywhere,” she told Shannon Sharpe. “I’m happy and I will say, my music is my outlet where I tell my stories and my truth. Some things I keep for myself because this is my life, too. I say some things and you can hear it on my album.”

Jones continued: “Secrecy is not what I prefer. I don’t want to feel like I have to be somebody secret. I don’t want to make anybody feel like they’re mine. For me, I’m trying to protect myself, and I’m trying to protect my family and who I love, so I am more private.”

While Mitchell is balling out in the NBA, Jones dropped her anticipated Why Not More? debut album in April, following the release last year of several singles, including her Grammy-nominated hit “Here We Go (Uh Oh),” which was up for best R&B song and best R&B performance at this year’s awards show. “Here We Go (Uh Oh)” also became her first No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay and received a remix with Leon Thomas

It’s Olivia Dean for the win, as the English singer and songwriter ends the year in charge of the ARIA Singles and Albums Charts.

When the national tallies were published late Friday, Dec. 26, Dean’s international smash “Man I Need” holds top spot on the singles chart for a sixth straight week, and its parent The Art Of Loving rules the albums rankings for a fourth non-consecutive week.

Following her appearance at the 2025 ARIA Awards, presented last month in Sydney, Dean has dominated the ARIA charts for much of December. Indeed, she claims the double for a third consecutive cycle in these final stages of the year, and this week bags one of four new releases on the ARIA Singles Chart, as “I’ve Seen It” drops in at No. 50.

Two of those fresh cuts belong to Liverpool, England rapper EsDeeKid, who converts a hot presence on TikTok and wild Internet speculation into multiple, improving chart positions. “4 Raws” impacts the ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart for the first time, up 54-28, as does “Century,” up 60-45, while “Phantom” featuring Rico Ace makes its move, lifting 31-21.

Fall Out Boy brings song holiday spirit to the latest frame, as “It Feels Like Christmas” unwraps at No. 29. The emo favorites’ latest top 40 hit is a cover, the original of which appeared in the 1992 film The Muppet Christmas Carol.

The only Australian artist taking a bite out of the national chart is Tame Impala‘s “Dracula,” down 35-41 in its 10th week.

At this time of year, Christmas-themed songs would typically swamp the all-genres singles and albums charts. That’s no longer the case, thanks to a sweeping overhaul of the chart criteria several months ago, which now sees golden oldies — those recordings that were released at least two years ago — relegated to the On Replay charts.

There are some familiar faces, and tunes, cleaning up there. Michael Buble’s Christmas reclaims No. 1 atop the On Replay Albums Chart and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is crowned on the singles side.