Sabrina Carpenter had a big year in 2025, propelled by the momentum of her Man’s Best Friend album era, which kicked off with the release of lead single “Manchild” in June.

And as the final weeks of the year count down, the pop star is looking back at the cinematic music video she released for the track through an episode of “Vevo Footnotes” posted Thursday (Dec. 18). In the clip, she recalls how she hid a secret clue about her seventh studio album in the visual long before the full-length had even been announced.

“I basically hid the acronym for my new album ‘Man’s Best Friend’ on the motorcycle license plate,” Carpenter wrote over the shot of herself and one of many male actors in the project riding on a motorbike stamped with “MBF_0000.” “I didn’t see fans make the connection until after I announced the album, which was funny.”

The two-time Grammy winner unleashed the “Manchild” music video on June 6. It wasn’t until five days later that she announced Man’s Best Friend, which went on to become her second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, and is now up for album of the year at the 2026 Grammys. “Manchild” also debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 and is nominated for song and record of the year.

Elsewhere in the new recap, Carpenter revealed that “every man that you see driving a vehicle was really driving that particular vehicle” in the “Manchild” music video, so she chose to “just let Jesus take the wheel” while on set. 

She also shared how a certain comedy legend inspired the project. “I think Lucille Ball is one of the first great females that used humor as her superpower,” she wrote. “I like to think that it sort of happened through my writing; I felt more connected to songs that really embraced that part of my personality.” 

Watch Carpenter’s episode of “Footnotes” above.

Screen-melting chemistry, endless yearning and passionate sex (lots of it) have made Heated Rivalry, a Crave-produced, queer hockey drama streaming on Max in the States, the final cultural lightning rod to emerge from 2025. 

Comprised of moody indie rock, pounding Russian and French electronic tracks and an original score from Danish rocker Peter Peter, the Heated Rivalry soundtrack, crafted, in part, by showrunner Jacob Tierney, is one of the most unique television soundtracks of the year. “I try to use the music I listened to while writing my scripts,” Tierney tells Billboard, noting Peter Peter’s Ether LP stayed in constant rotation. “I’m from Quebec, and I listen to and love a lot of French pop… [also] I don’t want directive lyrics in there… I just want you to have a feeling.” 

Tierney and Peter Peter’s rich musical soundscape, which they built alongside music supervisor Scotty Taylor, also facilitated the series’ most instantly memorable moment yet: the deliciously anxiety-inducing, t.A.T.u.-soundtracked extended club scene that closes out episode four. 

Illuminated by bisexual lighting, leads Connor Storrie (Ilya) and Hudson William (Shane) miserably go through the motions and perform infatuation with their respective partners in the club — but their unbreakable, magnetic eye contact proves they truly just want each other, even if the physical setting renders that option impossible. As the scene transitions away from the club, Shane and Ilya deliver some of the coldest, most emotionally despondent sex scenes that hinge on their unactionable lust for one another.  

During this climactic conclusion to the episode, t.A.T.u.’s original version of “All the Things She Said” morphs into a dance cover by London-based artist-producer Harrison, which resulted in streaming boosts for both tracks. Following the Dec. 12 premiere of episode four, t.A.T.u.’s original earned over 1.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the four-day period of Dec. 12-15, according to Luminate, up 103% from its Dec. 5-8 streaming activity. Similarly, Harrison’s cover jumped an eye-opening 114,173% to over 685,000 official streams during Dec. 12-15. Previous episodes sparked streaming increases for songs by Feist, Wet Leg and Wolf Parade, but this particular needle drop found Heated Rivalry and its showrunner, Jacob Tierney, intentionally wading into a key component of 21^st-century queer pop culture. 

“I don’t know that I thought we would be able to pull it all off based on experience at first,” Taylor admits. “I was concerned, but then we got into a vibe. When it was in our little silo, there was some weird energy that told me I needed to be a part of this.” 

“All the Things She Said” arrived in 2002 as the lead single from Russian music duo t.A.T.u.’s first English-language studio album, 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane. Thanks to a controversial, era-defining music video that depicted a lesbian kiss between the duo’s members, “All the Things” soared to No. 20 on the Hot 100, awakening and emboldening a generation of young queer listeners in the process. As the lyrics “If I’m asking for help, it’s only because/ Being with you has opened my eyes,” reverberate across the club, Shane and Ilya’s mutual yearning reaches a fever pitch. Their longing glances must remain just that, and their inability to act on those feelings offers undeniable confirmation that they’re really, truly in love. 

Already a beloved scene from the novels, Tierney and Taylor ensured their television reimagining surpassed all fan expectations. And given the seemingly endless social media chatter about that scene and the needle drop, they’ve done just that.  

Tierney first reached out to author Rachel Reid, who wrote the Game Changers novel series Heated Rivalry is based on, in 2023 to discuss potentially adapting the books, and by January 2025, Crave picked up the show. Taylor, who earned a Guild of Music Supervisors Awards nod for his work on Megan Park’s My Old Ass this year, says he likes to get into the production process as early as possible.  

“Sometimes you are so restricted by limitations of associated budget that everything becomes a reference,” he explains. “That’s why I like to get the value of music understood early.” He entered conversations about joining the Heated Rivalry team at the top of 2025, having already worked with Brendan Brady, one of the series’ executive producers, alongside Tierney, under their Accent Aigu Entertainment production company. Those preliminary convos evoked Taylor’s favorite “table tennis” vibe — where he, Tierney, Brady and Peter Peter could bounce ideas back and forth. 

Those early conversations confirmed two key things. First, according to Taylor, Tierney was open to having “some awareness” of the show’s timeline (it’s largely set between the very late ‘00s and mid-2010s), but if anachronistic selections like Wet Leg’s “Mangetout” (which opens episode two) “really, really make sense and feel good, they could look left.” Second, “All the Things She Said” was absolutely going to close episode four in some fashion; budget constraints be damned. “Sometimes money makes the decision for you!” Tierney quips. 

“In a rough cut of that [club] scene, once we had the track [temporarily added], we had to figure out how to get across the tension and vibe we were chasing just based on [how long the song was playing],” he explains. “That tension that’s created when we do that… sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes it’s too much of the same song. Because of the tone of this series and this feeling of anticipation, it really works.” 

The six-minute scene is relentlessly intense. With most of the episode’s emotional threads coalescing into a climactic finale, Taylor and Tierney were left with the question of how to stretch “All the Things” for that entire duration. They knew keeping the original for the entire scene might be overkill, so Tierney started toying with different versions of the song. 

“I always wanted to transition there; something had to change,” explains Tierney. “I wanted a clubby song that went into a dreamier state. When I’d be looking up t.A.T.u., I found all these covers [of ‘All the Things’] and I loved that [the Harrison version] was a male vocalist.” 

Once the angst and frustration of t.A.T.u.’s original morphs into the carnal thirst of Harrison’s rework, episode four reaches a queasy emotional place everyone has previously been, but nobody enjoys. Between that energy and the shift from a feminine tone to a masculine voice, which nods to both Ilya’s bisexuality and Shane’s closeted-ness, Taylor and Tierney helped craft one of the strongest musical gut-punches on television this year. Case in point: Harrison’s cover soared into the top 10 on iTunes and the top 15 on Shazam in the U.S. 

“I don’t know that it was a conscious choice, but once we assembled it, it couldn’t go any other way,” Taylor says. “Instead of tripping out at the club, you’re lusting out; Shane’s going home with Rose, and Ilya is overheating. We had to land on an adaptation of [‘All the Things’] that could support the steamiest of steamy scenes.” 

Of course, the queer legacy of t.A.T.u.’s original is complicated by the homophobic remarks from member Julia Volkova — and the fact that neither she nor co-frontwoman Lena Katina is queer, making the duo an OG pop music “queerbaiter.” That history has inspired several viewers to send Tierney messages of disappointment, but, while the showrunner can “understand and appreciate” those sentiments, he’s sticking by his creative decision. 

“I didn’t really know much about [their controversial comments]; this was the only queer Russian pop song I can think of,” he says. “I’m old enough to remember when that song came out, and I was like, ‘I don’t know if those are lesbians, they look like they’re being forced to do this.’ Ultimately, I know how much that song resonates [with] queer people and how impactful it was for a certain generation. And it’s really not easy to license Russian pop music! It was important to me to at least make an effort to do that.” 

With just two more episodes to go before its first season wraps on Dec. 26, Heated Rivalry fans can expect more Easter eggs connected to the novel, a nod to another “special” Montreal band, and the return of Wolf Parade, whose “I’ll Believe in Anything” opened episode three. Notably, “Anything” is one of the songs Tierney made sure he cleared before filming started. Last week (Dec. 12), Crave renewed Heated Rivalry for season two, with HBO Max continuing to license the series for U.S. streaming without producing. With the show’s masterminds already knee-deep in the planning stages for future episodes, fans can expect even more musical offerings connected to the series. 

“We’re definitely in discussions about doing something along the lines of a soundtrack,” Tierney reveals. “And putting together an official Heated Rivalry [compilation] so that people can listen to all the songs they like in the same place, and the score as well.” 

Episode five of Heated Rivalry streams on Crave and HBO Max on Friday (Dec. 19). 

If you’re still looking for that perfect holiday gift, take a tip from Justin Bieber and hire a professional to help you cook a killer meal. On Wednesday (Dec. 17) the “Daisies” singer shared a pair of videos of a recent night in he shared with wife model Hailey Bieber in which the couple, with some assistance from of a fleet-handed itamae (sushi chef), made their own sushi rolls.

In the first time-lapse clip we see Bieber, dressed in a yellow sweatshirt, learning how to gently cut a piece of tuna with a super-sharp knife, followed by Hailey trying her hand at chopping up the fish with some help from the pro.

Luckily for the couple they were taking their lesson at home, because not long into the video Bieber pops back in, this time shirtless, with his underwear on display above his low-riding grey sweats, in a code-violating display that would surely not pass a proper food inspection. The couple appear to be quick studies, though, casually massaging the tuna as they prepare to roll it all up in the nori seaweed wrap.

In the second video, Bieber, now wearing a white flannel long sleeve, joins Hailey in rolling the sticky rice into the wrap and adding the fish before digging right into their super fresh meal. Some fans in the comments were super impressed with JB’s rolling skills, with one saying, “Rolled that sushi like a joint [laughing crying emoji] looked good though!”

The sushi vid dropped the same day that Bieber surprised fans with a (sideways) Christmas-themed video from his Twitch livestream space in which he performed, “Mistletoe,” the reggae-spiked title track to his 2011 holiday album, Under the Mistletoe with a full band while dressed in long, baggy black and white shorts, a white t-shirt and red sunglasses.

The Spanish edition of Vive Latino festival in Zaragoza has announced its program for 2026. The famous Mexican rock fete will mark its fifth anniversary in Spain when it returns to the Expo venue on Sept. 4 and 5, with a lineup headlined by Julieta Venegas, Rawayana, Amaia, Ed Maverick, Guitarricadelafuente, Rigoberta Bandini and Loquillo, announced Mexican promoter Ocesa on Thursday (Dec. 18).

Ultraligera, M-Clan, Buena Vista All Stars, Esteman and Daniella Spalla, Hermanos Martínez, Plastilina Mosh, Sonido Gallo Negro, Siloé, Niña Polaca, Veintiuno and División Minúscula are also part of the lineup comprised of 33 solo artists and bands participating in the Festival Iberoamericano de Cultura Musical Vive Latino España, which, according to the organizers, will feature three stages.

Overall, the rock fest will bring together artists from six nationalities: Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia and Cuba.

“Vive Latino will once again give us an opportunity to discover national and international artists,” said Natalia Chueca, mayor of Zaragoza, during the lineup announcement on Thursday. “This festival holds a special place and is a hallmark of our musical offerings.”

The mayor highlighted the economic impact the festival has brought to the city, stating that since its arrival at the Expo venue in 2019, it has exceeded 25 million euros in revenue, with more than 155,000 attendees.

Since its creation in 1998 in Mexico City, the Festival Iberoamericano de Cultura Musical, better known as Vive Latino, has had a transgressive personality that challenges stigmas. For example, it was the first to incorporate pop, reggaeton, cumbia and Mexican regional music artists into its lineup; it added Anglo bands while being the ultimate celebration of rock en español; and it is the first festival in Latin America to have its own edition in Spain.

El Vive, as its audience lovingly calls Mexico’s longest-running music festival, debuted on Nov. 28-29, 1998, at Foro Sol (now Estadio GNP Seguros) in Mexico City, where it has been held every year since, except for 1999, 2002, and 2021 — the latter due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2026 edition, its 26th, is set for March 14-15 at the GNP Seguros Stadium.

Check out the official lineup for 2026 Vive Latino España below.

Christmas music is big business. According to a Billboard estimate in 2022, Christmas records make over $177 million a year in the U.S. alone each year — not bad for a genre that is only consumed for about six weeks out of the year.

Those lucky artists, like Mariah Carey, Brenda Lee, Bobby Helms and Ariana Grande, who end up recording a Christmas hit find themselves re-entering the Hot 100 top 10 year after year, but what’s perhaps even luckier is being the songwriter who wrote the song itself.

Guy Moot, CEO and co-chair of Warner Chappell Music, calls writing a top Christmas song “the holy grail” for songwriters, given the song is likely to be covered by other artists in the future and could become a true Christmas standard. But Moot notes that because tradition plays such a key part of the holiday season, it’s extremely unlikely to write a Christmas hit today.

“Every year, people want nostalgia,” says Moot. “But I still think it’s possible [to make a new holiday hit]… It just might be that some newer songs need time to age.”

Streaming has played a major role in propelling Christmas music, and it’s fundamentally changed the industry of holiday hits. Instead of needing a full album of seasonal songs, in order to sell physical records, now the game for artists making holiday music is to write a catchy single that could work on a hot Spotify playlist.

Carianne Marshall, COO and co-chair of WCM, adds that the streaming economy has had a major impact on propelling the success of older, less-known Christmas songs, now that entire albums are no longer the focus. “In the beginning, when [consumers] were buying albums, you’d go to the classics. You’d buy Dean Martin or Donnie Hathaway,” Marshall explains, adding “No one’s buying the album for ‘Dominic the Donkey’” — but they will stream it.

To break down the industry behind hits like “Frosty the Snowman” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” and more, Moot and Marshall came on Billboard’s new music business podcast, On the Record w/ Kristin Robinson this week.

Below is an except of that conversation.

Watch or listen to the full episode of On the Record on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts here, or watch it below.

To me, Christmas music really does feel like an important part of the industry for songwriters, because if you write a hit, it becomes a standard and will get covered over and over and over by various recording artists. But it still feels extremely hard to get one of those evergreens. Is it worth the effort?

Moot: I think it’s one of the most difficult things, like the Holy Grail, to write a new contemporary Christmas hit. I guess people want that nostalgia. You grow up with certain Christmas songs that you play for your children, and it symbolizes Christmas. But still, people try for it, and in fact, we just actually had a writer’s camp. We had 50 of our writers in different cities put together a Christmas album, which we just released. We also wrote it to pitch for synchronization. [Music supervisors] often ask for the same titles, which is great for our business, but we want to also have new songs to pitch. I think to try and write new Christmas songs is challenging, but ultimately, it’s a huge prize if we can do it.

Marshall: It’s interesting too, because I think about some of the songs that are considered holiday evergreens that aren’t really even Christmas songs. They just tend to get licensed more around Christmas, like, “What a Wonderful World.” It’s a really big one that gets licensed for a ton of holiday ads. But that’s not a Christmas song. I think it’s that feeling of joy that gets captured in the song that makes it work.

Is it still worth it for artists to try, given how challenging it is to create a new classic?

Moot: While it’s tough to write new Christmas songs, they’re going to be on streaming services forever. Who knows — someone could pick it up. Maybe it will go viral. I think it’s difficult in the immediate but there’s always long term value in Christmas songs. It’s very possible it could end up on a top playlist, or that someone finds it and does a new version of it, or it goes off on TikTok. I don’t want to deter people from going out and writing Christmas songs, it’s just not immediate.

Marshall: It is funny which Christmas songs go in and out of favor…. We all know these classic Christmas songs, like ones from Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Brenda Lee, but somehow, a few random songs have also made their way onto streaming playlists [alongside the classics] in recent years, and now [these less popular songs] are all over the place, like “Dominick the Donkey” or “I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas.”

Was “I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas” not previously popular?

Marshall: Yes, but it wasn’t on the Bing Crosby Christmas album — no one was buying that album. My point being, when we were in the days of buying albums the most successful songs were really just the classics on big albums.

Yeah, in an age of streaming you can way more easily consume individual songs… Carianne, have you ever worked on a sync that totally changed the life of a holiday song?

Marshall: Yes, but nothing like today when things can go viral [after the sync.] There were definitely song songs that had a couple uses here and there that helped sell some copies and would extend the life of the album, but I think now one of the things that is really exciting is there aren’t album cycles so much anymore. So we have great songs, holiday classics we can pitch every year. There’s no time frame anymore. Part of that is awesome because nothing goes stale, but part of it’s really hard, because you’re competing against everything — not just things that are released within a certain amount of time. But this is what makes curation even more important than ever.