The Grammys are music’s biggest night, but how are the votes really counted, and who decides which artists take home the trophies? Harvey Mason jr., Grammy-nominated producer, songwriter, and CEO of the Recording Academy, pulls back the curtain on how the Academy works, from membership to voting processes and AI’s role in modern music. He joins host Kristin Robinson to unpack his journey from producing hits for Brandy, Destiny’s Child, Michael Jackson, and Toni Braxton to leading music’s most influential institution, all while getting his Grammys knowledge put to the test. Mason explains the challenges of ensuring fair representation across genres, and how the Academy is evolving to serve music and musicians in a rapidly changing industry. He also reflects on moving from creative work to executive leadership, the collaborative process that has defined his career and what it takes to keep the Grammys credible, inclusive, and impactful.

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Billboard On The Record is a podcast in partnership with SickBird Productions. 

Host: 

Kristin Robinson

Executive Producers: 

Diona DaCosta

Hannah Karp

Jade Watson

Produced By: 

Kayla Forman

Mateo Vergara

Edited By:

Rachel Derbyshire

Kristin Robinson:

The Grammy Awards. As they say, it’s music’s biggest night. I mean where else are you going to see Lady Gaga hatching from an egg, or see Tracey Chapman uniting with Luke Combs, or see the entire lineage of hip hop take the stage together on the genre’s 50th anniversary. Although the awards are not until February, this is actually the time when the final round of Grammy voting is about to take place and the preparations for the awards are in full swing. And as a podcast that is dedicated to giving you a peak behind the curtain of the music business, I actually think there couldn’t be a better time than right now to go inside the event with my very special guest today. Today we have on the show, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. Welcome back to On the Record, a music business podcast from Billboard and SickBird Productions. As always, I’m your host Kristin Robinson and I am thrilled to have Harvey Mason jr. on the show today to talk about the ins and the outs of the Grammys. Harvey got his start in the music business as a songwriter and producer. Both his parents are musicians themselves, but Harvey Jr. made a name for himself in the late ‘90s working with talents like Brandy, Destiny’s Child, Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton and Michael Jackson. He worked on iconic soundtracks like ‘Dreamgirls,’ ‘Straight Out of Compton,’ and ‘Pitch Perfect’ one and two.

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The BBC has acquired the six-part documentary series Hamburg Days, a drama series that tells the story of the Beatles‘ early days as a scrappy band trying to make a name for themselves in the German city’s smoke-filled clubs. The series is based on the autobiography of Beatles associate Klaus Voormann, the musician and producer who lived with the group in a London flat in the early 1960s, designed the cover of the band’s Revolver album and performed on solo albums by John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in the 1970s following the band’s break-up.

According to the BBC, Voormann, 87, was a consultant on the series, which it said is set in the early 1960s, in the “smoke-filled clubs of Hamburg’s St. Pauli’s red-light district, [where] an inexperienced young rock ‘n’ roll band from Liverpool collide with two young artists, Klaus Voormann and [early Beatles photographer] Astrid Kirchherr. Together they help spark a transformation that turns a scrappy group of teenagers into the greatest music phenomenon the world has ever known: The Beatles.”

The BBC’s head of scripted pre-buy acquisitions, Sue Deeks, said in a statement that the series tells the “fascinating story of how, in the space of two short years, a raw young band from Liverpool honed their music skills in Hamburg, before returning home to become an overnight worldwide success. It is an incredible story, accompanied (of course) by an amazing soundtrack!” At press time an air date for the series — which will screen on the BBC iPlayer and BBC One — had not yet been announced.

No cast has been announced either, but the showrunner will be The Crown director Christian Schwochow, who will be joined by director Mat Whitecross (Oasis: Supersonic, Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams) and composer David Holmes (Ocean’s Thirteen, Good Vibrations).

The story of the band’s early years playing Hamburg clubs was previously covered in the 1994 movie Backbeat, which focused on the same period and the relationship between early bassist Stu Sutcliffe and Lennon.

It’s just one of a number of Beatles projects to sate fans’ insatiable thirst for Fab Four material, including the just-released remaster of The Beatles Anthology, which revisits the eight-part 1995 documentary series, adding a new ninth chapter. In addition, director Sam Mendes (Skyfall, 1917) is hard at work on The Beatles — a Four-Film Cinematic Event, an expansive four-part series due out in April 2028 that will tell the stories of Lennon, Harrison, Starr and Paul McCartney in separate chapters.


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Post Malone is headed to the Super Bowl – again. 

In 2024, Posty was booked as the pre-game performer, singing “America the Beautiful” in Las Vegas. And earlier this year, he headlined both the YouTube Tailgate Concert and a one-night-only Bud Light Backyard concert in New Orleans. 

Come February, Posty will return to headline Bud Light’s Super Bowl concert: Bud Light Presents Post Malone & Buddies. For the performance, Posty will take over Fort Mason, San Francisco (about an hour outside of Santa Clara, where the game is set for Levi’s Stadium).

Post Malone

Post Malone

Courtesy of Bud Light

“We show up every year to provide football fans with bucket-list experiences,” Todd Allen, Bud Light’s SVP of marketing, shared in a statement. “We’re pumped to run it back with Posty, our buddy of nearly a decade, for what will be one of the most electrifying shows of Super Bowl [weekend].”

As for if Post would ever want to book the weekend’s prime headlining slot – the halftime show – Posty tells Billboard that he “would love to.” Over Thanksgiving weekend, he headlined the hometown halftime game between his beloved Cowboys and the Kansas City Chiefs. And while he knows a Cowboys Super Bowl “is not in the cards as of this moment,” he also is “sick of the f—ing Chiefs. Can we stop with the Chiefs Super Bowl bulls–t?” he asks with a laugh.

Yet, has not one but multiple Kansas City tattoos. “Not by my choice. This was a gentleman’s bet,” he says. “And you know what happens? [Travis] Kelce cheated, and I’m gonna say [Patrick] Mahomes cheated a little bit too. And there was a tattoo artist right in the corner, so I have both of their signatures on me — and a KC logo.” (Naturally, he has a Cowboys tattoo as well.)

As for his Bud Light headlining gig, Post teases he may have new music ready to live debut by then – offering a signature “yes ma’am” – after telling Billboard back in April that he was working on his next album, another country set.

“A hundred percent,” he says of performing new songs. “We’ve been working very, very diligently on new music. And we have 45 songs. It’s just a matter of finishing said songs. And the schedule has been so very busy. So we’re working and working, but there will be new music by then…Allegedly.”

Allegedly a hundred percent maybe, definitely,” he teases. “Keep your ears [open].”

Six months after his death, Ozzy Osbourne posthumously received Birmingham’s Lord Mayor’s Award on what would have been the heavy metal icon’s 77th birthday. The prestigious annual honor presented to an individual (group or organization) for “outstanding achievement or exceptional service to the city and people of Birmingham” was an especially fitting tribute to the late rocker given his love for him hometown.

In a video message from daughter Kelly Osbourne, she said, “I just want to take a second to thank the people of Birmingham for not only showing my family so much love, but for showing up for my father in a way that made him the happiest man on the planet.” Kelly was on hand to receive the honor alongside her mother, Sharon Osbourne, and the family were also gifted with the book of condolences featuring what Kelly said were “hundreds of thousands” of tributes from fellow Birmingham citizens.

“The one thing my father was most proud of is that he was a Brummie,” said Kelly, using the popular nickname for people from Birmingham. “And Birmingham has done him proud.”

Osbourne died on July 22 at age 76, just 17 days after he performed his solo hits and reunited with Black Sabbath at his home soccer stadium, Birmingham’s Villa Park, for the all-star Back to the Beginning tribute show that also featured sets from Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Anthrax and many more.

A post from the city’s Lord Mayor showed Kelly and Sharon receiving the official Award as well as the condolence book with the caption, “Today, the Deputy Lord Mayor and I was honoured to meet with the Osbourne family and posthumously present Ozzy Osbourne’s Lord Mayor’s Award and the Book of Condolences following his passing An iconic and much missed son of Birmingham, the city he loved so much [black heart emoji].”

Sharon Osbourne also shared a moving birthday tribute to her beloved husband in an Instagram video set to Ozzy’s wistful 1995 metal ballad “See You On the Other Side” featuring images of a birthday tribute to Ozzy in Birmingham, as well as sentimental pics of the couple throughout the years. “My darling husband, I celebrate the day you were born. I will never let go of your hand until I see you on the other side,” Sharon wrote in the caption.

Son Jack Osbourne also got in on the birthday wishes, with a similarly wistful video cued to Ozzy’s cover of the Beatles’ “In My Life” featuring touching pics of father and son over the years. The official Ozzy X account marked his birthday with a video featuring his beloved 1991 ballad “Mama, I’m Coming Home” along with a link to a commemorative T-shirt featuring a childhood portrait of Ozzy with the message “Made in Birmingham” underneath.

Watch Kelly Osbourne’s message below.


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Christmas has come early for Gwen Stefani. The veteran pop singer will reunite her old band No Doubt for a residency at the MSG-owned Sphere in Las Vegas. She has a new Christmas song, “Shake the Snow Globe,” which appears in a holiday movie. And her yuletide album from 2017, You Make It Feel Like Christmas, has had an updated deluxe release. All of them gifts, for Stefani and her fans.

Stefani stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for a chat about her busy year-end, and her dream realized by locking away that weeks-long slot at Sphere.

“We’re excited,” she tells the late-night show’s host. “We did Coachella (in 2024) and it was so unbelievably amazing. It was like, amazing. And we were kinda talking for a while. We do everything slow, it seems like. But we were talking for years, again. And trying to find that thing that would be, you know, as good, you know? And I think the Sphere is, like, the future. It’s kind of a cross between a concert and a movie.”

As previously reported, an initial stretch of 12 No Doubt shows were booked for May 2026. The goal was to sell it out, she tells Fallon. Mission accomplished, immediately. Another six have been added for next June, which are billed as “final” dates of the residency.

No Doubt burst out of the Anaheim, CA ska and punk scene in 1986, eventually becoming one of the defining pop-rock bands of the 1990s. Their breakthrough album, Tragic Kingdom, topped the Billboard 200 for nine consecutive weeks, and is one of five top 10s on the all-genres albums tally. Over time, No Doubt earned two Grammy Awards and nine nominations, and landed eight hits on the Billboard Hot 100. After nearly three decades together, the band went on hiatus in the mid-2010s as Stefani pursued a successful solo career.

Stefani is hoping those Sphere shows will be like stepping into a time machine. “I want people to come and make it feel, like, really nostalgic. Like they’re back in time. Like, ‘remember this? Remember this, guys?’” Like, this is what we did together.” They bandmates are already mapping out the show, the setlist, she insists. “It’s gonna be so awesome.”

No Doubt has only performed twice since breaking up in 2015, most recently at the 2025 FireAid benefit concert in January.

But first, Christmas. It’s a time of year that Stefani loves to shine. You Make It Feel Like Christmas has been reissued as an Amazon-exclusive deluxe edition with two new songs, including “Shake the Snow Globe,” an addition to the holiday film Oh. What. Fun.

Has Stefani hung out with the film’s stars, Michelle Pfeiffer and Denis Leary? Well, of course. “I was like, ‘am I in high school right now?” she recounts. “Like it’s so weird. I’m standing in a room with these guys. And they’re really just icons.”  

Stefani sprinkled the Christmas spirit with a performance of the song for Fallon’s studio audience. Watch below.

Amyl and The Sniffers’ irrepressible charge has caught the attention of many folks in high places, some unexpected. Count Justice among them.

The French electronic act is currently in Australia, for a long-overdue tour in support of 2024’s Hyperdrama, the duo’s first album since 2016’s Woman.

Opening for Gaspard Augé and Xavier De Rosnay on this east coast swing is none other than Kevin Parker, the mastermind behind Tame Impala. On this trek, Parker, the Western Australian production whizz, is playing to full houses from behind the wheels of steel — as DJ Tame Impala.

When Justice gets down to work with Parker, musical magic happens. Golden gramophones, too.

One of their two collaborative efforts, Hyperdrama track “Neverender” collected best dance/electronic recording at 2025 Grammy Awards, for Parker’s first win and Justice’s fifth.

How Parker has only one Grammy to his name, “it’s a big mystery,” Augé remarks.

The Parisian pair was introduced to the sonic beauty of Tame Impala in the late 2000s, and figured there was something in the Aussie water.

“We often think about why does Australia produce some of the best music consistently for the past 60 years. Our theory is that actually being isolated in the physical world might be a big part of that,” Augé says over a Zoom. “There are so many great (Australian) bands throughout the decades and still today. We think that being far away from the world noise plays an important part in that.”

Australia is having a hot rush in electronic dance music right now, led by the likes of Dom Dolla, Ninajirachi, Luude, and FISHER.

“To be honest,” says De Rosnay, “we’re more into Amyl and The Sniffers than the electronic music.”

Justice can’t be faulted for clamoring onto the Amyl bandwagon. The punk-rock outfit has pretty-much owned 2025, a stretch during which they played Glastonbury Festival, earned a BRIT Award nomination, cleaned up at the ARIA Awards with four wins, and scored a first-ever nomination for next year’s Grammy Awards. Amyl’s fiery frontwoman Amy Taylor took her own leap into electronic music this year with “you’re a star,” a collab with Fred Again.

Conversation turns to music, and what’s next for Justice. Should fans expect to wait another eight years for the followup to Hyperdrama, which last year crashed the Billboard 200, at No. 96? “Purely on the statistics,” quips Augé, “I would say a safe prediction for the next album is around 2048.”

Produced by TEG, Justice’s Australia swing got underway Wednesday, Dec. 3 at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena. Next up, Melbourne’s John Cain Arena on Friday, Dec. 5 and Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday, Dec. 7, the final date of a 21-month international jaunt.

It’s a show “that’s about execution,” says De Rosnay. For those in the room, “hopefully you’ll experience something fun, frantic, exhilarating and new, or something we hope that you haven’t heard and haven’t seen before.”

Taylor Swift is still the showgirl Australians can’t get enough of.

The U.S. pop superstar comes out on top of Spotify’s Wrapped results for Australia, doing so for a third consecutive year. Swift leads a top 5 that’s dominated by artists from North America, ahead of Drake, Morgan Wallen, The Weeknd, and Billie Eilish, respectively.

TayTay’s popularity in Australia is unsurpassed. Her most recent album, The Life of a Showgirl blasted to No. 1 on the national ARIA Chart, extending her record for the most leaders by a female artist (14). The collection is recognized as the most-streamed week one album in ARIA history and notched the biggest vinyl sales debut, while “The Fate of Ophelia” became her 13th No. 1 single.

When Showgirl dropped, Swift swept the entire top 12 on the ARIA Singles Chart, a feat never before achieved.

Meanwhile, the most streamed song on Australian Spotify accounts this year was Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” ahead of Gracie Abram’s “That’s So True.” Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feature” completes the podium.

After dominating the Netflix rankings in the second half of 2025, the companion recording, KPop Demon Hunters, was Australia’s top album for the past year.

For the year, the most popular homegrown artist on Spotify’s platform down under was The Wiggles, ahead of The Kid Laroi, whose album The First Time was the most-streamed homegrown LP. AC/DC, whose POWER UP tour is currently rocking stadiums around the country, comes in at No. 3 among most-streamed Australian acts, and the rock legends sweep the top 3 of Top Throwback Songs (pre-2000) with “Thunderstruck,” “Highway to Hell” and “Back in Black,” respectively.

Australia has a population of about 25 million, half of them are said to be on Spotify every month.

As previously reportedBad Bunny dominates Spotify’s year-end Wrapped, the streaming giant’s listening summary, for which he comes in at No. 1 on the Global Top Artist tally for 2025 with more than 19.8 billion streams worldwide.

It’s the fourth time Bunny has held Spotify’s global streaming title, after ruling in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Check out the Spotify Wrapped Australia results below.

Australia Top Artists:

Australia Top Local Artists:

  1. The Wiggles
  2. The Kid LAROI
  3. AC/DC
  4. Hilltop Hoods
  5. Tame Impala (Top Local Artist List debut)
  6. RÜFÜS DU SOL
  7. Royel Otis (Top Local Artist List debut)
  8. Sia (Top Local Artist List debut)
  9. Dom Dolla (Top Local Artist List debut)
  10. Spacey Jane (Top Local Artist List debut)

Australia Top Songs:

Australia Top Local Songs:

Australia Top Albums:

Australia Top Local Albums: 

Australia Top Podcasts:

Australia Top Local Podcasts:

Australia Top Audiobooks in Premium:

  1. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
  2. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
  3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
  4. Lights Out: An Into Darkness Novel by Navessa Allen
  5. Quicksilver: The Fae & Alchemy Series, Book 1 by Callie Hart

Australia Top Throwback Songs (pre-2000):

Australia Most Discovered Artists (i.e. users streaming an artist for the first time):

On the eve of Australia’s 2025 Good Things Festival, All-American Rejects and Knocked Loose have pulled out due to respective “family emergencies.”

Sydney rock act Stand Atlantic and Melbourne-based metalcore act Alpha Wolf will step up to fill the void in the line-up.

All-American Rejects will miss the three-show festival tour and headline shows around it, following an unexpected tragedy. “We’re heartbroken to share that due to a sudden family loss, we won’t be able to make it to Australia as planned,” reads a statement from the band, shared by the producers of Good Things.

“This has been an incredibly difficult moment for us, and as much as it devastates us to miss such a great opportunity to reconnect with our Australian fans, family has to come first. We are already planning our return and cannot wait to be back as soon as possible.”

A separate message from Knocked Loose reads: “Anyone family with the band knows we do not take cancelling shows lightly; but family will always come first. We are already planning our return and cannot wait to be back as soon as possible. Love you all.”

Further details have not been disclosed.

Debuting in 2018, Good Things has emerged as Australia’s favorite heavier-edged touring fest. 

This year’s lineup features Tool, Weezer, Garbage and more, and kicks off Friday, Dec. 5 at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse, continues Saturday at Sydney Showground, and wraps up Sunday at Brisbane Showgrounds. 

“Life can be unpredictable, and moments like these remind us just how important it is to come together, support one another, and cherish the experiences that connect us,” reads a message from Good Things Festival. The event, the post continues, “isn’t just about music. It’s about community. Over the years, you’ve become like family to us.”

The message adds, “We rally together in the highs and stand together through the challenges, and this moment is no different.”

All-American Rejects recently dropped “Eggshell Tap-Dancer,” the third single off their upcoming album, expected in February 2026. The indie rockers are set to launch SXSW 2026 at the Music Festival Opening Party hosted at Stubb’s Amphitheater on March 12 in Austin, Texas.

Their career blasted off in the 2000s, reaching No. 25 on the Billboard 200 with 2003’s self-titled debut album and No. 6 with 2005’s Move Along, which sent the pop-punk singalong “Dirty Little Secret” to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100

Meanwhile, Knocked Loose last year landed a first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart, with You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To. On the all-format Billboard 200, it started at No. 23, Knocked Loose’s best, eclipsing the No. 26 peak of A Different Shade of Blue.

The fifth annual ASCAP Foundation Holiday Auction kicked off Wednesday (Dec. 3). Running through Dec. 17, the online auction features more than 50 exclusive items and experiences donated by ASCAP members and friends.

Donors range from pop hitmakers (Chappell Roan, Rosé, Cardi B, Alex Warren, EJAE) to singer-songwriters (Noah Kahan, Laufey, Brandy Clark). Country stars (Kacey Musgraves, Old Dominion, Jordan Davis), music icons (Lionel Richie, Alicia Keys, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Coldplay) and rising artists (Lola Young, Jessie Murph) also donated items. Additional donors include film and TV composers Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) and John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon), plus author James McBride (The Color of Water).

Among the items and experiences up for bidding are an autographed KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, a Tate McRae emblazoned T-shirt and meet-and-greet tickets to watch R&B star Ne-Yo perform in Hell’s Kitchen. Additional items include VIP tickets to concerts and sporting events, autographed guitars and personalized videos. To view the entire list of auction items and learn more details, visit the ASCAP Foundation website.

Auction proceeds support the ASCAP Foundation’s goal to foster the next generation of songwriters and composers. Over the last year, the foundation’s music education and talent development programs have assisted more than 300,000 people, including 70,000 K-12 students from 1500 schools across the U.S.

In announcing the holiday auction, ASCAP Foundation executive director Nicole George-Middleton said, “We are always inspired by, and deeply grateful for, the extraordinary generosity of the ASCAP members and friends of the ASCAP Foundation whose incredible contributions help us raise the critical funds needed to support the next generation of music creators. It’s been a true joy to partner with the ASCAP creative community to curate more than 50 special experiences and one-of-a-kind gifts to bring music fans a little extra holiday magic this season.”