Chris Brown’s albums bring about many feelings. Excitement from his diehard fanbase. Hate from the people who understandably cannot forgive and forget his past transgressions. Exhaustion from the music fans who prefer shorter tracklists and runtimes. Most of all, the reminder that he is a machine.
To debut in the mid-2000s, be white-hot, almost get cancelled, and still be a top name in R&B well into the 2020s is mind-boggling. He has circumvented multiple controversies that would have killed the career of a singer who didn’t inspire such devotion from their fans (or, frankly, have the same undeniable talent).
There is no question that he loves music and performing, which will be on full display for his forthcoming co-headlining tour with Usher, who is surprisingly not on the album. Nonetheless, it only made sense to put out a new LP before they hit the road for The R&B Tour: Raymond & Brown this June. CB’s 12th studio album, BROWN, is a 27-track buffet offering up his entire skillset, including some records strong enough to become part of his canon over time.
Because that is the real conversation about Breezy these days. He sneaks in a high-charting record here and there, but he is firmly a legacy act. First-week sales and release-day streams aren’t, nor shouldn’t be, a significant part of the discourse around him. The question is, can he dig deep and make songs that boost his already impressive catalog?
It is safe to say that, for those willing and patient enough to go on the 27-song marathon, they will find tracks that could answer “yes” to that inquiry. Take a deep breath, stretch, hydrate and go on this journey with Billboard as we see where these records measure up to one another. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll find a few that could break through his high ceiling and potentially be discussed among his all-time hits.
In times of upheaval, there is always opportunity — a condition that aptly describes the past year in the indie sector of the music business. Across the industry, there has been change: in leadership, in ownership, in distribution, in what it means to be independent and in creative control.
And at the same time, the indie world is thriving. Some of the biggest artists in the world — like this issue’s cover subject, RAYE — are independent; the industry’s biggest deals are being made by independent companies, like France’s Believe, preparing for its much-vaunted entry into the United States; and by label ownership, independents made up 44.15% of the U.S. recorded-music industry in the first quarter of 2026, a figure nearly twice as high as any major company.
As the tectonic plates of the business continue to shift, one thing is clear: It’s good to be indie.
Related
How Partisan Records’ Tim Putnam and Zena White Built the Indie Powerhouse Home to Geese, Cigarettes After Sex and More
‘Terrified,’ ‘Grateful,’ ‘Happy’: How RAYE Went Indie & Exploded
Backline Launches Mental Health Toolkit for Dance Music Community: ‘Seeking Help Is Not Something to Be Ashamed Of’
Associations
Ian Harrison CEO, American Association of Independent Music Lisa Hresko COO, American Association of Independent Music; president, Foundation for Independent Music
Gee Davy CEO, Association of Independent Music
Helen Smith Executive chair, IMPALA
Charlie Lexton CEO, Merlin
Lexton
Kate Shortt
Since taking over as Merlin’s CEO in January — succeeding the organization’s previous leader, Jeremy Sirota, now at Suno — Lexton has a simple overriding mission: using the “collective value” of the indie digital rights agency’s members to “enable and support their independence.”
Shortly after Lexton assumed leadership of the organization he’s been with since its 2007 founding, Merlin announced it had struck a licensing deal with generative AI startup Udio, enabling Merlin’s stable of indie labels, distributors and artists to be compensated for allowing their recordings to be used in AI training. This followed a previous opt-in licensing deal Merlin struck with ElevenLabs for its music model Eleven Music, which marked “the first at-scale deal between a global rights holder and a significant AI company,” Lexton says.
These deals proved that “AI companies can reach commercial agreements with music rights holders,” Lexton says. “We are here to do business and deals are achievable.”
However, he qualifies, “We will only do business with partners who respect copyright. That ultimately means partners who agree to terms that respect the investment, by artists and entrepreneurs, that it takes to make great music. Those terms are not solely about payments, they’re also about the inclusion of guardrails that protect the integrity of existing catalogs and the ability of artists and labels to control the use of their intellectual property.
“The deals we have struck fulfill those criteria,” he continues, “and not only have we found great partners, we have demonstrated it’s possible for AI companies to build music products without looking for exceptions to existing legal frameworks.”
Also under Lexton’s leadership, Merlin recently announced it had signed a deal with Pipeline, which will offer advances — through more than $200 million in capital — to member companies against digital royalties generated by Merlin, effectively opening up another funding stream for the indie labels it represents.
Noemí Planas CEO, WIN
Labels & Distributors
Alejandro Duque President, ADA Kyle Aycock CFO, ADA Adriana Sein Global head of artist and market development, ADA MaryLynne Drexler Global head of content acquisition and business and legal affairs, ADA Bryan Roberts Vp/head of A&R and label acquisition, ADA
Chris Swanson Co-founder, All Flowers Group Sam Valenti IV Co-founder, All Flowers Group; founder, Ghostly International Caleb Braaten Founder, Sacred Bones Records Nigil Mack Founder, drink sum wtr
Dean Tabaac Head, AMPED Pip Smith Vp of sales/GM, AMPED Jocelynn Pryor Vp of marketing, AMPED
Eli Piccarreta Senior vp of A&R, Artist Partner Group Alec Henderson Vp of marketing, Artist Partner Group
Iain Catling CEO, AudioSalad
Lonny Olinick CEO, AWAL Bianca Bhagat GM, AWAL Pete Giberga President of North America, AWAL
Humberto Novoa CEO, Azteca Records Sergio Pérez Vp, Azteca Records
Emmanuel de Buretel Founder/CEO, Because Group
Nabil Ayers President, Beggars Group Claire Taylor U.S. GM, Beggars Group Andy Larsen Head of sales, Beggars Group Pam Garavano-Coolbaugh Head of U.S. product management, Beggars Group
Romain Vivien Global head of music/president, Europe & USA, Believe Elsa Bahamonde Bourgain President, artist services and label and artist solutions, Believe Brian Miller Chief business officer, TuneCore Nicki Shamel Head of TuneCore, U.S. & Canada, TuneCore
Dan Waite CEO, Better Noise Music
Seth England Partner/CEO, Big Loud Records Jordan Pettit Stacy Blythe Co-presidents, Big Loud Records Paul Logan Senior vp of sync, Big Loud Records Joey Moi Partner/producer, Big Loud; president, Big Loud Rock
Seon Jeong Shin President, BIGHIT MUSIC
Scott Borchetta Founder/chairman, Big Machine Records, Nashville Harbor R.E., Borchetta Entertainment Group
Gordon Kerr President/CEO, Black River Entertainment Rick Froio Executive vp, Black River Entertainment
Dan Gill Executive vp of recorded music, West Coast, BMG JoJamie Hahr Executive vp of recorded music, Nashville, BMG Sean Heydorn Senior vp, Rise Records
Andre Benz Co-founder/CEO, broke records Brandon De Oliveira Co-founder/COO, broke records
Yo Gotti Founder/CEO, CMG
Tom Becci CEO, Concord Label Group Fred Gillham COO, Concord Label Group Hazel Malit CFO, Concord Label Group Andy Serrao Chief creative officer, Concord Label Group
Jonathan Strauss Co-founder/CEO, Create Music Group Alexandre Williams Co-founder/COO, Create Music Group Wayne Hampton Co-founder/chief business development officer, Create Music Group
Mike Curb Chairman, Curb Records
Justin Lubliner Founder/CEO, Darkroom Records Layne Cooperstein GM, The Darkroom Oliver Jordan Head of global strategy, Darkroom Records
Jamie Oborne Founder/owner, Dirty Hit
Ken Bunt President, Disney Music Group David Abdo GM, Disney Music Group Chip McLean Senior vp/head of business affairs and development; GM, Disney Concerts Worldwide
Phil Bauer President, DistroKid
Peter Berard U.S. label manager, Domino Recording Company Pushkar Ojha Director of operations, Domino Recording Company
Berard
Erin Thompson
Ojha
Caitlin Pasko
Domino’s biggest success story over the last year was the launch of Isle of Wight-bred rock band Wet Leg’s second album, moisturizer, which dropped last July. The set’s fourth single, “mangetout” — propelled in part by a key synch in an episode of the smash TV series Heated Rivalry — subsequently scored a No. 2 placement on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart.
“We have seen them go from performing at small clubs like the Echo to selling out amphitheaters such as the Greek and even playing the main stage of this year’s Coachella, all within the span of five years,” says Berard of the group. Wet Leg also scored a pair of Grammy nominations at this year’s ceremony — for best alternative music album and best alternative music performance — after taking home three trophies in prior years.
Elsewhere, Domino recently launched the electronic and dance music imprint Smugglers Way, whose roster includes Alan Braxe, DJ Falcon and Phoenix, along with collaborative works from Domino artists like Panda Bear, members of Hot Chip and Ela Minus. The lattermost also received a Latin Grammy nomination last year — “a first and rewarding honor for Domino in our continued effort to highlight exceptional artists from around the world,” Berard says. “It was very satisfying for our staff who have worked closely with Ela since early in her career to witness her profile build to this level of recognition.”
Looking ahead, Domino wants to continue “to look for ways to highlight our music in unique avenues,” Berard says, whether through synchs — also including Hot Chip’s live performance in the second season of Netflix’s Beef — or collaborations. A few notable examples on the latter front include KT from Upchuck joining Hayley Williams onstage at an Atlanta concert; Sasami teaming up with Clairo on a single from the former’s last album, Blood on the Silver Screen; and Daniel Avery’s collaborations with Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, The Kills’ Alison Mosshart and others on his 2025 album, Tremor.
Peso Pluma Co-founder/CEO, Double P Records George Prajin Co-founder/president, Double P Records
Molly Neuman President, CD Baby Ben Patterson President, Downtown Artist & Label Services Christiaan Kröner President, FUGA
Michael Gallegus Executive vp of business and legal affairs, EMPIRE Ted May Senior vp of international marketing, EMPIRE Jentry Salvatore Vp of A&R and creative development, EMPIRE Samyah Ahmed Chief of staff, EMPIRE
Brett Gurewitz Founder/CEO, Epitaph/ANTI- Records Sue Lucarelli President, Epitaph Records
Glen Barros Managing partner, Exceleration Music John Burk Charles Caldas Amy Dietz Dave Hansen Partners, Exceleration Music
Shawn Barron Ty Dolla $ign Co-founders/co-CEOs, EZMNY Records
Ty Dolla $ign (left) and Barron
Anika Jess
When Leon Thomas first previewed his second album, MUTT, for Ty Dolla $ign, he didn’t just press play — he made a presentation. Plugging his laptop into a TV, Thomas walked through a PowerPoint outlining the album’s color palette, visual world and even the stylists he envisioned would bring it to life.
Three years later, that meticulous vision paid off: MUTT earned Thomas — signed to Ty and Shawn Barron’s EZMNY Records — two Grammy Awards, a best new artist Grammy nomination, a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and an opening slot for Bruno Mars’ The Romantic tour.
“Watching Leon win two Grammys, top radio charts across three formats with ‘MUTT’ and ‘Watching Us’ — his collab with Wale — sell out both his North American and European tours, then go right into the Bruno Mars stadium tour has been incredible,” Barron says.
Founded by Barron and Ty Dolla $ign, EZMNY Records has served as the launchpad for Thomas’ evolution. From a burgeoning songwriter who co-penned SZA’s Grammy-winning, Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Snooze” to one of R&B’s most electric new voices, Thomas has become the blueprint for EZMNY’s brick-by-brick mentality.
“It’s a true testament to the power of artist development, good music and staying the course,” says Barron, whose growing roster features rjtheweirdo, Bizzy Crook, Keith Turner and Saige Michael.
Last year, MUTT proved to be a slow-burning breakthrough. After missing the Billboard 200 upon its 2024 release, the project began to steadily gain traction, earning gold certification — with the title track eventually climbing to No. 6 on the Hot 100 last November.
“We’re just getting started,” Ty Dolla $ign says.
Chris Atlas President, FatBeats Kevin Engler GM, FatBeats
Zack Bia Founder/CEO, Field Trip
Derek Davies Dave Wallace Co-founders/co-CEOs, Futures Music Group Sarah Kesselman GM/chief marketing officer, Futures Music Group
Dana Biondi Partner/artist manager, G59 Records
Larry Jackson Co-founder/CEO, gamma. Ike Youssef Co-founder/president, gamma.
Shawn Holiday Co-founder, Giant Music Nate Albert President, Giant Music Matt Lamotte Managing director/executive vp of marketing, Giant Music
Daniel Glass Founder/president, Glassnote Music
Logan Mulvey CEO, GoDigital Music Lauren Demarte COO, GoDigital Music
Tip “T.I.” Harris CEO, Grand Hustle Music Thuy-An Julien Chief business officer, Grand Hustle Music
Neil Jacobson Founder/CEO, Hallwood Media Danny Jacobson Head of A&R, Hallwood Media Niki Zahedi Senior vp of A&R/management, Hallwood Media
From left: Neil Jacobson, Zahedi and Danny Jacobson.
Jennifer Miller
In September, Hallwood raised eyebrows by signing the first known record deals for what it calls “AI music designers,” trying to turn what many in the traditional music industry considered a novelty or nuisance into a real business. “I never sign AI,” Neil Jacobson says. “I sign the real people behind them.” That includes the human backers of AI projects Xania Monet, who reached No. 3 on the Hot Gospel Songs chart, and The Soulful Gentleman, who reached the Viral 50 Spotify charts in 17 different countries.
Jacobson and Hallwood’s year, however, has gone beyond AI-related projects. The company’s human stars had strong growth years as well, including management client 2hollis, whose 2025 album, star, became one of the most acclaimed projects of the year; Remy Bond, who just toured Europe; and Sturdyyoungin, who hit No. 17 on the Rhythmic Airplay chart in March.
Jacobson says he’s also proud of Hallwood’s venture capital side, which invested in AI music company Suno’s $250 million Series C round through Hallwood Ventures. He calls Suno, which has been sued by multiple music companies for training on musical copyrights without a license, “a transformative company and the most exciting investment in music this year.”
When surveying the past 12 months, Jacobson says he’s most proud of his “really well-balanced approach” to Hallwood, which does everything from merchandise to management, label and publishing services. “Everything is growing. It feels really strong and solid — and frankly none of it has happened with a Billboard No. 1 hit,” he says. “To have all of these wins to point to before we’ve had that undeniable No. 1 hit has been really awesome to see.”
Jae Yoon Choi Founder/CEO, hello82
Louis Posen Founder/president, Hopeless Records Erin Choi GM, Hopeless Records Eric Tobin Executive vp of A&R and business development, Hopeless Records
Julius “J” Erving Founder/CEO, Human Re Sources; executive vp, The Orchard; executive vp of creative development, Sony Music Entertainment
Pascal Bittard Founder/president, IDOL
Brent Faiyaz Founder/CEO, ISO Supremacy Ashani Allick Head of A&R and marketing, ISO Supremacy
Alison Ball CEO, JBR Creative Group Eric Benét President, JBR Creative Group
Ball
Harp Digital Media
Benét
Helen Perez/Harp Digital Media
Established in 2023 by veteran A&R executive Ball and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Benét, JBR Creative Group notched several successes in the past year. Its scorecard includes an Adult R&B Airplay No. 1 with the Benét and Chanté Moore pairing on “So Distracted,” plus two top 10 showings on that chart: Joe Leone’s “Over Under” with Ne-Yo and Benét and India.Arie’s “Must Be Love.”
Both Benét tracks appear on his 2025 album, The Co-Star. Leone also co-wrote another song that landed at No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay, J. Brown’s “True Love.” Rounding out JBR’s roster is singer-songwriter Autumn Paige, who released her debut EP, Down the Rabbit Hole, last year.
In positioning JBR as an independent force in R&B, Ball says the company is taking a “disciplined, strategic approach focused on building real infrastructure, developing artists like Leone and Paige, expanding our catalog and strengthening our partnerships across distribution, marketing and synch. It’s about creating a sustainable ecosystem where artists can grow.”
With a string of hits including “Spend My Life With You” featuring Tamia, “Georgy Porgy” featuring Faith Evans and “Sometimes I Cry,” Benét is a four-time Grammy nominee. He kicked off his solo career in 1994 when he signed with Warner Music. Before partnering with Benét, Ball built her career in the A&R arena. Prior to serving as vp of A&R at Warner Bros. Records, she held posts as senior director of A&R at RCA Records and director of A&R at EMI. Along the way, she has worked with Prince, Chaka Khan and Curtis Mayfield, among others.
“Moving forward, we’re building on JBR’s momentum by continuing to scale our catalog, leaning into direct-to-fan engagement and executing more intentionally across every release,” Ball says. “The goal is long-term value — growing a company and a roster that can compete globally while staying authentically independent.”
Pepe Aguilar CEO, Machin Records/Equinoccio Records
Patrick Amory Co-owner/president, Matador Records Gerard Cosloy Chris Lombardi Co-owners, Matador Records
Sean Stevenson President/CEO, MNRK Music Group
Michael Goldstone Founder/co-owner/co-president, Mom+Pop Music Thaddeus Rudd Co-owner/co-president, Mom+Pop Music
Terry McBride Co-founder/co-CEO, Nettwerk Music Group Simon Mortimer-Lamb Co-CEO, Nettwerk Music Group
Ricky Reed Founder/CEO, Nice Life Recording Company Nicole Enos Senior vp of operations and business affairs, Nice Life Recording Company
Reed
Chantel Anderson
Enos
Shlomit Levy Bard
Last year, Nice Life Recording Company celebrated The Marías snagging a best new artist Grammy nomination, and the group’s lead vocalist, María Zardoya, launched her first solo project, Not for Radio, joining the Coachella lineup as a surprise act ahead of releasing her three-track EP Bloom. Coming up this year, Tinashe will follow her 2025 summer hit with Disco Lines, “No Broke Boys,” with a new body of work, and Lizzo will release her next album.
Reed says he’s “tripling down on the care-forward, music-first, DIY ethos that we’ve become known for.” As distribution companies and other indies get bought up by the majors and venture capital, he’s determined to keep the artist central to all of Nice Life’s releases.
“As an artist-owned company, we know what it means to ‘want it’ and are drawn to true musical originals and outsiders that take that approach,” Reed says. “The name Nice Life itself is an ode to my late manager who was an outsider as well. When he would see someone who didn’t have to fight to get to where they are, with a smirk he’d say, ‘Nice life, bro.’ ”
While majors are setting their sights on the indie market, both Reed and Enos say they’re seeing just as much opportunity for themselves as major labels.
“The old ideas of what was achievable by independent labels versus majors has disappeared,” Reed says. “Success comes from the quality of the art and passionate, hard work. Whoever wants it more wins.”
Enos adds, “Artists don’t have to choose between scale and care anymore. Indies are competing for and winning the same artists as majors, not by outspending them but by moving fast and showing up with a truly white-glove, boutique approach.”
Marie Clausen Managing director for North America, Ninja Tune
Emmanuel Zunz Founder/CEO, ONErpm
Brad Navin CEO, The Orchard Colleen Theis President/COO, The Orchard Richard Gottehrer Co-founder/chief creative officer, The Orchard Mary Ashley Johnson Executive vp of commerce, The Orchard Alan Becker Senior vp of artist and label partnerships, The Orchard
Gottehrer
Meredith Nadeau
Richard Gottehrer is rock’n’roll history. The industry icon, 86, wrote his first song on piano, “I’m on Fire,” in the 1950s after hearing Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire” — and Lewis later released it as a single in 1964. Gottehrer was there in the early days of the girl-group sound, co-writing The Angels’ “My Boyfriend’s Back” in 1963. He was there at the start of the British Invasion, as a member of The Strangeloves, and co-founded Sire Records in 1966 with Seymour Stein. He was there at the advent of punk and at CBGB in 1976, producing the first two Blondie albums, and helped take new wave to the top of the charts, producing the first Go-Go’s album. In the ’80s and ’90s, he produced for as many as 40 artists.
But beyond Gottehrer’s creative endeavors, he’s also an indie music industry champion. From the early 1960s through 2010, all of his creative work and entrepreneurial business enterprises happened in the independent sector. Even now, 14 years after Sony acquired a majority stake in the company he co-founded with Scott Cohen in 1997, The Orchard, he has remained indie: The Orchard is the largest distributor of independent music in the world.
Of all of his accomplishments during his 65-plus years in the music industry, Gottehrer counts co-founding The Orchard as his proudest.
Read the full story on The Orchard’s Richard Gottehrer here.
Tim Putnam Co-founder/president, Partisan Records Zena White COO, Partisan Records Jeff Bell Label manager, Partisan Records
Putnam
Jasmine Archie
White
Jasmine Archie
The night that Zena White moved from the United Kingdom to America, she dropped her bags at her new Manhattan apartment and walked a few blocks to the Lower East Side’s Bowery Ballroom. It was October 2017, and White, who had relocated for a new job at Brooklyn-based Partisan Records, was checking out Cigarettes After Sex, the dream-pop band that had recently released its debut on the indie label.
The band’s career — and White’s, too — would soon change dramatically. Less than a decade after playing small clubs like the 575-capacity Bowery, the Texas act is headlining arenas, with its debut album certified platinum and over 3.2 million equivalent album units moved across its three studio sets, according to Luminate. And White is now Partisan’s COO, helping to oversee its eminent indie roster.
“The era that I have been at Partisan is really neatly bookended by Cigarettes After Sex,” White, 40, tells Billboard from Los Angeles, the night before Coachella launches with Partisan signees Geese, Blondshell and Interpol on the bill. “We were really focused on setting up a global footprint for them and then using that global footprint to advance our capabilities as a company and as a team.”
Co-founded in 2007 by Tim Putnam and Ian Wheeler, Partisan featured in its early years a modest roster led by indie-rock bands, most notably Deer Tick, and the catalog of the late Afrobeat great Fela Kuti. But in the last decade, under the guidance of Putnam, now its president, and White, its small-but-mighty roster has become one of the most lauded in indie music. Partisan is responsible for launching next-gen rock heavyweights Fontaines D.C. and IDLES, home to critical darlings including Blondshell and Laura Marling, steward of catalogs for the legends Cymande and DJ Rashad — and behind the biggest indie-rock breakout in recent memory, Geese.
Read the full story on Executives of the Year Tim Putnam and Zena White here.
Sung Soo Han Master professional, PLEDIS Entertainment
Jimmy Humilde Co-founder/CEO, Rancho Humilde Miguel “Mickey” Sanchez President, Rancho Humilde
Humilde
Courtesy of Rancho Humilde
Sanchez
Courtesy of Rancho Humilde
“Rancho Humilde has already done what most labels are still chasing: building a global movement,” Humilde and Sanchez said in a joint statement. Over the last year, the Mexican music label has reaffirmed its status as one of the most influential forces driving Latin music’s global growth. Founded in Los Angeles, the trendsetting imprint’s powerhouse roster includes Natanael Cano, Junior H and Legado 7.
Beyond music, Rancho Humilde has extended its reach into film. “We signed a multimillion-dollar film deal with Columbia Pictures, which marked Rancho Humilde’s first long-form feature, CLIKA, which hit the top 10 on Netflix,” Humilde and Sanchez added. The movie — starring Jay Dee, frontman of Rancho Humilde act Herencia de Patrones — encapsulates the rise of corridos tumbados and the cultural movement the label sparked: “We’re moving from soundtracks to screens, and it’s only the beginning.”
Their achievements are backed up by data, including 80 billion global streams across platforms, according to the executives. Junior H sold out 27 dates on his $ad Boyz Live and Broken Tour, including two nights at the Hollywood Bowl. His first album in more than years, Depr<3$$ed MFKZ, a collaboration with Gael Valenzuela, debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on Top Latin Albums. Meanwhile, Herencia de Grandes hit No. 1 on Hot Regional Mexican Songs with their track “Ya Borracho.”
Looking forward, the Rancho Humilde team is focused on “more global touring, more chart-topping releases and continued artist expansion.” With upcoming music from Cano, Oscar Maydon and rising star Lencho, who has nearly 10 million monthly Spotify listeners, Rancho Humilde remains a rising force in the industry.
Ben Washer CEO, Reach Records Lecrae Moore President, Reach Records
Javier “Jay” Sang Founder/CEO, Rebel Music/Open Shift Distribution
Michael Petkov Head of international, Redeye Worldwide
Noah Assad CEO, Rimas
Lynn Oliver-Cline Founder/CEO, River House Artists Zebb Luster Executive vp/artist manager, River House Artists
Darius Van Arman Co-founder/CEO, Secretly Distribution Chris Welz COO, Secretly Distribution
Jon Coombs Vp of A&R, Secretly Group Ben Swanson Co-founder/COO, Secretly Group Phil Waldorf Co-founder/chief marketing officer, Secretly Group Robby Morris Vp of creative marketing, Secretly Group Emily Puterbaugh Vp of streaming, Secretly Group Kraegan Graves Vp of operations, Secretly Group
Servando Cano CEO, SERCA Music
Daniel Jang Dmitry YJ Tak Co-CEOs, SM Entertainment
Jorge Juarez Founder/president, Socios Music
Sung Jin So Master professional, Source Music
Seth Faber GM, Stem Bobby Davin Senior vp of A&R and label partnerships, Stem
Jesús Ortiz Paz CEO, Street Mob Records
JOP
Street Mob Records
Founded by Fuerza Regida frontman Jesús “JOP” Ortiz Paz, the Southern California-based indie label has become a force in regional Mexican music, building a roster of over 25 artists and songwriters, including Chino Pacas, Calle 24 and Clave Especial.
“We’re making history right now,” JOP says. “[Fuerza Regida] went from arenas to a full stadium tour,” which will kick off June 18 at San Diego’s Petco Park.
The San Bernardino, Calif., group also delivered one of the biggest moments in Latin music history with the release of its ninth studio album, 111XPANTIA, in May 2025. The set — jointly released by Rancho Humilde and Street Mob Records and distributed by Sony Music U.S. Latin — debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, making it the highest-charting regional Mexican music album ever; with Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS holding the top spot, the chart placements also marked the first time that Spanish-language albums occupied Nos. 1 and 2 on the chart. The set also featured “Marlboro Rojo,” a smash hit written by standout Street Mob songwriter Miguel Armenta that reached No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay and spent 21 weeks on the Hot 100.
“It’s not just Fuerza. Street Mob [artists] took over, too,” JOP adds. The label’s younger acts are quickly shaping the future of música mexicana: Chino Pacas entered the top 10 of the Top Regional Mexican Albums chart in August with his second full-length, Cristian, while Clave Especial reached No. 83 on the Hot 100 with “Ferrari,” released in April. “Our artists and writers are leveling up,” JOP says. “Chuyin is hitting major festivals without even dropping a project yet. That’s when you know it’s real.”
The label’s approach is as bold as its roster. “This year we are really focusing on writing camps to keep elevating the sound,” he says. “We’re leveraging a 360 approach to the marketing, touring, merch and experiences that bridge sports, entertainment, fashion and beyond.” For Street Mob, the goal is clear: “To keep pushing this worldwide.”
Megan Jasper CEO, Sub Pop Jonathan Poneman Co-founder/co-president, Sub Pop Tony Kiewel Co-president, Sub Pop
Gregory Hirschhorn Co-founder/CEO, Too Lost Alex Silverstein Co-founder/COO, Too Lost
Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith Founder/CEO, Top Dawg Entertainment
Annie Ortmeier Co-president, Triple Tigers Records Kevin Herring Co-president, Triple Tigers Records; co-president, Akando Music
Steve Stoute CEO, UnitedMasters Jesse Morav Vp of A&R, UnitedMasters Sasha Safavi Vp of legal/head of music licensing, UnitedMasters
Troy Carter Co-founder/CEO, Venice Music Suzy Ryoo Co-founder/president, Venice Music
J.T. Myers Nat Pastor Co-CEOs, Virgin Music Group Pieter van Rijn COO, Virgin Music Group Jaqueline Saturn President of North America/executive vp of global artist relations, Virgin Music Group
Asmarina Zerabruk Global head of projects, Young Recordings
Contributors: Trevor Anderson, Ed Christman, Chris Eggertsen, Eric Frankenberg, Ariel King, Carl Lamarre, Gail Mitchell, Isabela Raygoza, Kristin Robinson, Dan Rys
Methodology: Record companies are defined as independent by their ownership through entities other than the three major music groups. Distributors, regardless of their corporate ownership, qualify as independent through the repertoire they market. Companies self-certify they meet these criteria in submitting nominations. Nominations for all of Billboard’s industry-sourced executive lists open no less than 150 days in advance of publication, and a submission link is sent by request before the nomination period. (Email thom.duffy@billboard.com for inclusion on the email list for nomination links and for how to obtain an editorial calendar.) Billboard’s 2026 Indie Power Players were nominated by their companies and chosen by editors based on factors including market share as measured by the Billboard charts, using data available as of April 16. Career trajectory and momentum were also considered. Where required, U.S. record-label market share was consulted using Luminate’s current market share for albums, plus track-equivalent and streaming-equivalent album consumption.
This story appears in the May 9, 2026, issue of Billboard.
Ariana Grande is planting the seeds for her Petal era to begin. The pop superstar announced on Friday (May 8) that her upcoming eighth studio album’s lead single is titled “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” and it’s set to blossom in just a few weeks.
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Sharing the track’s black-and-white artwork — a closeup photo of Grande’s face with her hair falling over her eyes, similar to the Petal cover art — the singer wrote on Instagram, “hate that i made you love me … my first single off of petal.”
Calling it “one of my favorite songs i’ll ever write,” Grande revealed that she co-produced “Hate That I Made You Love Me” with Max Martin and ILYA, whom she called “my favorite collaborators and dearest human beings in the world.”
“i simply cannot wait for it to be yours,” the Grammy winner added.
The new song will drop on May 29, about two months before Petal arrives at the end of July. The project will follow up 2024’s Eternal Sunshine, which topped the Billboard 200 and spawned two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).”
The day prior to announcing “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” Grande gave fans more details about the new album by sharing a video of herself discussing its themes with her team. “It’s a little feral,” she said in the clip. “It’s definitely from a place I’ve been maybe too shy or polite to tap into before. This kind of just feels like, ‘F–k it.’”
See Grande’s announcement for “Hate That I Made You Love Me” below.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-05-08 15:35:582026-05-08 15:35:58Ariana Grande Announces ‘Petal’ Lead Single & Release Date: ‘One of My Favorite Songs I’ll Ever Write’
Billie Eilish said what she said. After facing backlash for stating that people cannot both eat meat and claim to love animals, the pop star shared a series of disturbing footage showcasing the mistreatment of livestock in the food industry and wrote a blunt message doubling down on her position.
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Interspersed between clips of animals such as pigs and cows suffering in overcrowded enclosures and facing violence from their handlers, Eilish began by writing, “stay f–king mad at ME … i really don’t give a goddamn f–k.”
“go watch a documentary or two and some footage of what is done to the animals u claim to love and what it does to the planet u pretend to love as well,” she continued. “if that footage was hard for u to watch i encourage u to pls take a look at urself.”
The Grammy winner went on to say that she’s “so tired” of it being controversial to have “empathy for living beings,” adding, “pls continue to live in a constant state of cognitive dissonance and denial and try to convince urself that ur not living a lie.”
Eilish’s posts come shortly after she was asked in a video interview with Elle, “What’s one hill you’d die on?”
“Y’all not gonna like me for this one,” she responded at the time. “Eating meat is inherently wrong. Two things cannot coincide: ‘I love animals … and I eat meat.’ You can’t do both. You can eat meat, go for it. You can love animals. But you can’t do both.”
The comment sparked a flurry of discourse online about the verity of her stance, but clearly, Eilish isn’t budging. The hitmaker has long been an advocate for veganism, animal rights and environmentalism. She is active in mom Maggie Baird’s organization Support + Feed, which is dedicated to fighting climate change and food insecurity by increasing access to plant-based food.
The two-time Oscar winner has also prioritized cruelty-free manufacturing processes when it comes to her fashion partnerships with brands such as Nike and Gucci. “The one that was seen by the most people was getting Oscar de la Renta to stop using fur when they made me a dress for the Met [Gala],” Eilsh told Billboardin 2024.
“That was really important to me … I’ve tried to be a big advocate of no animal products in clothing, and it’s hard,” she continued at the time. “People really like classic things. I get it, I’m one of them. But what’s more important: things being original or our kids being able to live on the planet and them having kids?”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-05-08 15:25:582026-05-08 15:25:58Billie Eilish Doubles Down on ‘Eating Meat Is Inherently Wrong’ Stance by Sharing Footage of Animals Suffering
Think Mad Max: Fury Road, but make it K-pop. In the upcoming video for their single “BOOMPALA,” from their sophomore full-length album, PUREFLOW pt. 1 (May 22), girl group LE SSERAFIM slip into futuristic outfits and have a wild party with a group of back-up dancers that include a duck, aliens, a horned devil and some other out-there companions.
The South Korean quintet shared some behind-the-scenes snaps from the shoot with Billboard , in which members SAKURA, KIM CHAEWON, HUH YUNJIN, KAZUHA AND HONG EUNCHA slip into some witchy outfits in front of a giant bank of speakers and bliss out on a giant truck outfitted with a series of horns and speakers that brings to mind a more musical version of the flame-throwing, guitar-slinging Coma-Doof Warrior from the 2015 Mad Max sequel.
To launch their new era the group dropped the first single, the high-energy dance track “Celebration,” last month and on Thursday (May 7) their label, HYBE, gave a sneak peek at “BOOMPALA” in a short YouTube video. It opens with KIM AND HUH sitting at a dinner table with HUH lamenting thoughts that are “tangled up in a knot” and that her mind won’t stop racing. Contemplating the issues, KIM suggest, “just stop,” as HUH puts a finger to her lips in thought, revealing a scaly, reptilian hand with razor-sharp nails.
They agree that fans will like the new song, which makes way for the group dance to the bouncy track with the instantly catchy refrain, “Boompala, boompala, boompala, yeah/ You can’t hold on to the clouds in the air.”
PUREFLOW is the follow-up to the group’s 2023 debut studio album, UNFORGIVEN, and their first release since the 2025 single “SPAGHETTI” featuring BTS’ j-hope.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-05-08 15:25:582026-05-08 15:25:58Go Behind The Scenes on LE SSERAFIM ‘BOOMPALA’ Video Shoot
This has been a huge week for Caissie Levy. The musical theater veteran was nominated for her first Tony Award on Tuesday (May 5), earning a nod for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical for her work in the Broadway revival of Ragtime.
“To be nominated for the first time means so much to me,” Levy told New York Theatre Guide after the news broke. “I’m truly overwhelmed and can’t stop smiling. And now, I’m going to drop my kids off at school! Balance.”
With Mother’s Day coming up on Sunday (May 10), it’s a fitting week for her Tony nom, given that she plays the role of Mother in the celebrated production. Ragtime isn’t Levy’s first matriarchal turn, either – she played Diana Goodman, a mother with bipolar disorder, in the West End premiere of Next to Normal (and was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2024 for it) and previously played mothers in Caroline, Or Change and Sarah Silverman’s The Bedwetter.
The Ontario-born actress is a mother in real life, too: Levy has two children, a 10-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, with David Reiser. To celebrate mothers on- and offstage, Levy shared a Mother’s Day playlist with Billboard of 10 of her favorite mother-related songs. Naturally, Broadway is represented (via a classic from Into the Woods), but the playlist encompasses many musical styles and eras, from Joni Mitchell to Ms. Lauryn Hill to Foy Vance.
Check out Caissie Levy’s Mother’s Day playlist below, as well as her personal thoughts and recollections about each song and why it hits close to home for her.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-05-08 15:20:592026-05-08 15:20:59Tony Nominee Caissie Levy Shares the Ultimate Mom Playlist for Mother’s Day
After months away from the spotlight, Rels B presented love love FLAKK on Thursday (May 7) at Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, just hours before the project officially hit streaming platforms at midnight ET. Released under Dale Play Records, the new album navigates between afrobeats, R&B, bossa nova and urban pop.
In front of approximately 11,000 people, according to figures provided by the label, the Spanish rapper turned the Plaza Mayor into a massive listening party. Performing from a large stage set up in the middle of the square and surrounded by a transparent structure, he played all 11 songs from the project while hundreds more fans watched from balconies or even perched on lampposts. “In these times when everything is so instant, having your attention is a privilege,” Rels B said as he took the stage.
Much of love love FLAKK was born during the six months the artist spent in El Retiro, a mountainous area on the outskirts of Medellín, Colombia, where he set up a small studio alongside his closest collaborators. “We set everything up there, with a fireplace and lots of coffee,” Rels B recalls about the house where the project began to take shape, in an interview with Billboard Español.
Rels B presents his new album, ‘love love FLAKK’ at the Plaza Mayor, on May 7 2026 in Madrid, Spain.
Alejandro Bethencourt
From that space, he started to reconnect with a different approach to creating music. “I started to enjoy a more natural way of life, connecting with the simple things, stepping away from the city and all the noise,” he continues. “I started calling my friends to come over there instead of me going to them, and we made music.”
The experience also served as a personal and artistic reconciliation. “I had grown a bit resentful of my project and my way of making music,” Rels B admits. “So the mountains were like a reminder: ‘No, you have to be proud of what we’ve done.’ love love FLAKK is like a hug to myself, to my music and to everything we’ve created.”
He adds, “We’ve created an incredible album — for me, it’s the No. 1 album of my life. We’ve also healed a lot of things and learned so much. We owe Colombia a big hug.”
Over the songwriting process, love love FLAKK found its core in “Aprendí a Decir No” (which means “I Learned to Say No”), a track Rels B identifies as the conceptual heart of the album. “I came from not knowing how to say no,” he explains. “I started to understand that there are people in life you have to say no to. That’s when I wrote that song, and I thought, ‘This could be the album’s central message.’”
The sound also reflects that journey, with “Pañuelito de Seda” providing one of the album’s most unexpected moments. Built around a soft, atmospheric bossa nova, the song showcases a musical exploration that the artist says he wants to continue pursuing. “I’ve been a huge fan of bossa nova for years,” he says about the Brazilian genre. “I have a lot of respect for it because it’s such professional and delicate music, but I feel like I studied it enough to dare try it myself.”
The album also features a collaboration with Kali Uchis titled “El Cielo.” “I’ve been a fan of Kali Uchis for a long time,” Rels B says. “The first message I ever sent her was literally, ‘I’m a fan of yours. I hope we can make music together someday.’ She still has that DM.”
The collab came together naturally during the album’s recording sessions. “One day, we came up with a song, and I thought, ‘She’s going to like this,’” he says. “We sent it to her, and she responded super excited. She jumped on the track and absolutely killed it.”
On July 4, Rels B will take the stage at Madrid’s Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium for the final show of his A New Star World Tour, where several songs from love love FLAKK will make their live debut. “It’s going to be a one-of-a-kind concert,” the artist teases. “We’ve got so many musicians, two different bands and more than 40 songs. I’m going to give it my all and close this chapter on a high note.”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-05-08 15:15:592026-05-08 15:15:59From a Small Medellín Studio to Madrid’s Plaza Mayor: Rels B Presents ‘Love Love Flakk’ — ‘It’s Like a Hug to Myself’
Robert De Niro and famed film producer Jane Rosenthal are seated in his spacious Tribeca office in Manhattan, surrounded by posters from projects they’ve worked on together over the last four decades, including A Bronx Tale and The Good Shepherd. The two-time Academy Award winner also has framed photos with family and friends on display (in some of them, he’s even smiling).
His office is about a mile from where David Bowie, a then-recent transplant to the city, played a surprise concert to help ring in the inaugural Tribeca Festival in May 2002. Conceived in part by co-founders De Niro and Rosenthal as a way of rejuvenating the economically and emotionally shaken lower Manhattan area after 9/11, Tribeca Festival has become an integral part of the neighborhood’s fabric, not to mention a significant part of the global film festival calendar.
The 25th Tribeca Festival will take place June 3-14, opening with a Questlove-directed Earth, Wind & Fire documentary and followed by a performance with The Roots. Ahead of the fest, De Niro and Rosenthal discuss Tribeca’s musical triumphs, close calls and the artists on this year’s lineup.
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For that first Tribeca Festival that Bowie helped kick off, why was it important to have a concert?
Jane Rosenthal: It was just about bringing people downtown, giving our neighbors new memories. You looked out the window and [ground zero] was still smoking. We still had to deal a lot with counterterrorism and police. A lot of logistics. People were lining up to come: Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Sheryl Crow, Wyclef Jean. Lou Reed was upset that we didn’t ask him.
Wow. Did he call you to complain?
Rosenthal: No, but he was friends with one of my friends, and he came to the festival. He was like, “Why didn’t you ask me to play?”
Robert De Niro: You always leave somebody out. (Shrugs.)
After a screening of his Cameron Crowe-directed documentary The Union, Elton John played the opening night of the 2011 Tribeca Festival, right next to where the Twin Towers used to stand. What are your memories of that?
Rosenthal: It was our 10th anniversary. Elton agreed to do a free concert for the 9/11 community: firefighters, police. We agreed to screen the film outside and two things went wrong that year. One, I seem to have announced to the press that we were doing a concert at Battery Park and didn’t tell Battery Park about it. We solved that. The other problem was that it started to rain the day of the concert. Elton had this Russian piano tuner. I get this call: “The piano tuner says the humidity isn’t right and we have to move this indoors.” I’m like, “We can’t move this indoors.” I come running down and start talking to this piano tuner. Finally, I say to him, “Are you hungry? Have you ever been to Nobu?” I don’t know what I ordered but I was just feeding this guy and suddenly it was OK to play outside.
In 2021, you had Paul McCartney in conversation with Conan O’Brien. Did either of you know Paul before the festival?
De Niro: Yeah, I know him.
Do you ever use your history with people to ask about participating?
De Niro: Sometimes. But sometimes I don’t want to be in the position to ask somebody because they might feel obligated and they can’t, so I’d rather Jane or somebody else ask so they don’t have that pressure. But other times I have.
One off-topic question: Ariana Grande is starring in Focker-In-Law. How did she fit into the Focker clan?
De Niro: She sings my character a lot of songs. (Laughs.) No, she was great. Everybody was very happy she was going to do it.
In 2022, Taylor Swift screened her short film for “All Too Well,” performed and took questions at Tribeca. Was that a logistical challenge?
Rosenthal: She lives in the neighborhood so that was easy. 2017 was [a challenge]. We opened with a Clive Davis film at Radio City [Music Hall] and had Aretha [Franklin], which was one of her last performances. It was just like all the stories about Aretha and her fur coat and her bag. We literally had to pay her in cash. We have pictures of her at the afterparty with her little scarf on, her fur coat and bag.
How much cash could she fit in a little handbag?
Rosenthal: It wasn’t so little.
Bruce Springsteen is receiving the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award this year. Is that influenced by his outspokenness over the Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge in Minneapolis?
Rosenthal: It felt obvious with everything that’s going on in this country that Bruce has been speaking out about, even before Minneapolis. Speaking out right now comes with consequences. It’s brave for people to speak out, but we have to. Bob has been an outspoken critic.
De Niro: How can you not be? If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. I hate to be that black and white about it, but everybody has to do something now. This is not what I want to be doing at my age and my stage in life, but you have to oppose this insanity.
What else are you excited about this year, musically?
Rosenthal: The Noga doc [about Noga Erez and Ori Rousso] is really good, and she’s going to perform afterward. With everything going on, Israel-Palestine, to see the story through a performer’s eyes, and somebody who is so talented and what she went through, it’s just a good way of looking at politics but through the eyes of the artist.
A version of this story appears in the May 9, 2026, issue of Billboard.
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-05-08 15:11:002026-05-08 15:11:00Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal On Tribeca Festival Turning 25 & Honoring Bruce Springsteen: ‘You Have To Oppose This Insanity’
In 2022, Ashley McBryde had built a career many would envy. She’d earned awards acknowledgement from both the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music; had two albums reach the top 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart; and had breakthrough songs such as “Girl Goin’ Nowhere” and “One Night Standards.”
But she had also spent years battling an alcohol dependency, both on and offstage. A pivotal intervention from some of McBryde’s friends and team members led the Grammy winner to check in to a treatment center that year to seek help.
“I had been trying [to stop drinking] for a couple of years on and off, and I think if the intervention hadn’t happened, I would’ve had a harder time making it stick,” McBryde says today. “I had a performance and I hadn’t drank in about a month. A friend wound up convincing me that it would be okay [to have a drink]. I woke up in not my pajamas, not my bed, not my house. I thought I had it licked, like ‘I don’t have to work a program. I don’t have to go to meetings. I can do this, I’m strong enough by myself’ — and that’s when I found out I was not strong enough by myself.
“I got up to get a drink of water and there was my team in [this person’s] living room,” McBryde continues. “I couldn’t find my boots. My glam team, my wardrobe team, went and bought clothes that I would have to wear during treatment. They were like, ‘No, f–k it. You don’t get to go home. Hand me your phone, you’re turning it in, and go.’ And then for somebody like Dayna [Slaughenhoupt, McBryde’s hair and makeup stylist], who’s been with me for eight years, to look at me and say, ‘You’re just so sad and I’m tired of watching you hurt…’ my response was ‘yes,’ because I’d proven for the one millionth time that I couldn’t do it by myself. That made it easier when I got to treatment, to go, ‘I’m going to dive in headfirst.’”
Like many artists, McBryde was scared that getting sober would negatively impact her creative abilities.
“That’s the thing that keeps a lot of us out of therapy, [fearing] if I change this, there is no product,” McBryde says. “I was literally called ‘The Whiskey Drinking Badass’ when my first record came out and I felt like it was a compliment back then. So, you immediately go, ‘Is my music going to suck? Can I perform as dynamically as I did before?’ I thought it was going to take the rug out from under my feet creatively. What it did was just take the blindfold off.”
Four years later, not only has McBryde overcome those creative fears, but the Grammy winner is drawing on those experiences to create one of her most deeply introspective and personal albums yet with Wild, out Friday (May 8) on Warner Records Nashville.
Songs including “Behind Bars” and the brutally honest “Bottle Tells Me So” capture a myriad of previous attempts at sobriety, from switching alcohol brands to tracking each drink.
She recorded Wild with her road band Deadhorse and reunited with writer-producer and Brothers Osborne member John Osborne, whom she previously worked with on her 2022 collaborative project Lindeville. “What I took from Lindeville was wanting to work with John and be creative with him for hours, and having a group of songs I knew he would know what to do with. He absolutely nailed it,” McBryde says.
McBryde, who had been in the middle of an opening slot on Dierks Bentley’s Beers on Me Tour when she sought treatment in 2022, says many in Nashville’s music community, including Bentley and songwriter Travis Meadows, have been among her strongest supporters.
“The first person who made me feel like I wasn’t a complete weirdo was Dierks, because we were on his tour. He would check on me, and if we were in a social situation on the tour, he’d walk by and hand me a Starburst or a Jolly Rancher and just be like, ‘Hey, are you doing okay?’ and he’d say, ‘Don’t feel like you have to stay.’ Even at awards shows, I’d see him and he’d ask if I was okay. What great big brother behavior for him to exhibit. No one in his band or crew ever made me feel weird. They started stocking NA [non-alcoholic] beers all over the place. When I got back [from treatment], Dierks offered me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and asked if I wanted to sit and talk.”
Meadows also became a key part of her support system. “When I would try and go a stint of not drinking and would ultimately fail, I would tell Travis, and he would just go, ‘I love you.’ He would not judge, he wasn’t like, ‘Oh, god, chick, it was only 16 days.’ He was like, ‘We’ll try again today, huh?’ I think the toughest part of deciding that I had to be sober is getting used to losing friends, because you lose most of them, but you do get to trade those for people that are very supportive.”
Sonically, the four songs that open Wild, including “Rattlesnake Preacher,” “Arkansas Mud,” “Creosote” and “Water in the River,” lean more heavily into her rock sensibilities, mirroring her high-octane live shows. “Rattlesnake Preacher” has been a fan-favorite in her concerts for years, but McBryde hadn’t found a suitable album home for it — until now.
“I was like, ‘That’s where we’ll start and everything else will show itself,’” McBryde says.
The themes in those songs set the stage early for the vulnerability that marks the album. “Rattlesnake Preacher,” “Arkansas Mud” and “Water in the River” touch on the emotional conflicts that arise from a childhood marked by a rigid and complex religious upbringing in rural Arkansas, and learning to find courage to forge one’s own path.
“That message was ground into me over and over, until you go, ‘Well, there’s nothing I can do to be good enough, smart enough, fast enough to ever change my station in this belief system.’ But to deliver it with some irreverence, I felt like it was necessary. The important thing is letting it be seen, so that other people can see it in themselves and be like, ‘Oh, you too, huh?’ It was daunting, but also really healing to be able to do it. It felt like I was doing the right thing to cover those themes in a way that would invite someone to feel a little less alone.”
“Hand Me Downs” looks at not only physical items often handed down in families, but inherited emotional qualities, both beneficial and detrimental. “Lines in the Carpet,” a takedown of soul-crushing marital disconnect and domesticity, is both a warning shot and a song McBryde deeply connected with.
“There are going to be men that hate that song, and good, because that’s who I’m singing to,” she says. “The line about ‘She’s just like ceramic about to break,’ when I heard that line, I was like, ‘This song is mine.’ I saw my mother’s face when I heard it, such a loyal woman who didn’t have the support that she needed at home, raising six kids. And the line, ‘When you’re born that pretty, you’ll get to be Miss Mississippi and nothing else,’ I thank the writers of this song [Lori McKenna, Lauren Hungate and Caroline Watkins] for writing it. It’ll expose some people that do feel that way, but it doesn’t condemn them to only feeling that way.”
Last August, McBryde opened Redemption Bar on the fifth floor at Eric Church’s Chief’s venue in downtown Nashville. The NA-forward Redemption Bar offers non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, in a relaxed environment that focuses on songwriters and live music.
“I always figured I’d have a coffee shop or a tattoo shop,” McBryde said, noting her manager, Q Prime’s John Peets, brought up the idea of a unique kind of bar. “We didn’t have a spot on Broadway where we can escape the chaos, that’s still fun. But let’s say you and the girls are going downtown and they want to do all the things and you want to listen to music and have a cocktail, you can do that. Or if you’re meeting a friend who’s still an avid drinker, that’s okay, too. Nobody’s going to give you sh-t about it either way.”
Her new music and the new space are testaments to her newfound outlook. “I would say something like, ‘I’m unrecognizable,’ but that’s not true. I think a good way to describe it would be a little clearer, because sh-t still makes me mad, but it makes me mad articulately. Things still make me anxious, but I can see them clearly. I may have chosen to live a sober life earlier if I had known what access I would have to joy. I had joy then, but the kind of access I have to joy now is just miles above that.”
https://i0.wp.com/neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/station.nez_png.png?fit=943%2C511&ssl=1511943Yvetohttps://neztelinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/nez_png.pngYveto2026-05-08 14:55:582026-05-08 14:55:58Ashley McBryde on Her New Album ‘Wild,’ Embracing Sobriety & Inviting Listeners ‘To Feel a Little Less Alone’
On the Billboard Hot 100 dated April 11, a handful of rock acts launched their debut entries on the chart. Israeli trio Temper City entered at No. 91 with “Self Aware,” a bluesy alt-rock lament going viral for its evocation of 2010s rock hit-makers like The Neighbourhood and Cage the Elephant. Dormant U.K. alt-rockers The Long Faces came in at No. 74 with the pop hooks and blistering six-strings of “Jane!,” a 2018 single revived through memes surrounding the anime series Jujutsu Kaisen. And most improbably, Scottish progressive pop-rock singer-songwriter Chris Rainbow — who died in 2015 — posthumously joined them at No. 94 with 1979’s “Be Like a Woman,” a long-growing trend-soundtracker on TikTok.
All three acts came from different eras, with different sounds and different paths to virality. They only had two things in common: They were all rock songs, and they were now all hits in 2026.
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They weren’t the only three acts in the genre on that week’s Hot 100, either. Also hitting new peaks were U.K. rock poet Sam Fender (“Rein Me In” with Olivia Dean, No. 64), singer-songwriter Julia Wolf (“In My Room,” No. 57), self-described “y’allternative” group Dexter and The Moonrocks (“Freakin’ Out,” No. 51), alt-leaning Malcolm Todd (“Earrings,” No. 42) and even veteran indie rock outfit Tame Impala (“Dracula” with Jennie, No. 17). Meanwhile, genre-blending but rock-based artists like Dominic Fike (“Babydoll,” No. 16; “White Keys,” No. 34) and sombr (“Homewrecker,” No. 22) also staked out real estate in the top 40. And this week, Noah Kahan lands his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with folk-rock album The Great Divide, which also places all 21 of its songs on the Hot 100.
All in all, the wave of rock and rock-adjacent hits represents the healthiest time for the genre outside its core fans in at least a decade. By the turn of the 2020s, rock had essentially become a fringe genre in the mainstream, with only the very biggest rock artists making a chart impact and the guitar practically an endangered species on top 40 radio and in other pop spaces. But now, rock acts are becoming some of the most exciting and quickest-rising artists in music, and shifting the center of pop in the process.
At this year’s Coachella, not only did acts like sombr and Turnstile draw huge crowds at outdoor stages, but legacy acts like The Strokes and Jack White also delivered some of the buzziest sets of the weekend, as did indie standouts like Ethel Cain and Geese (whose frontman, Cameron Winter, was spotted with megastar Olivia Rodrigo between weekends). Even festival headliners Justin Bieber and Karol G made room in their sets for guest appearances by indie-approved guitarists — Mk.Gee and Greg Gonzalez (of Cigarettes After Sex), respectively.
And speaking of Rodrigo: Though the runaway success of official debut single “drivers license” minted her as one of the decade’s biggest breakout artists, she’s since revealed herself as an alt-rocker in pop star’s clothing through later chart-toppers like the Paramore-indebted “good 4 u” and The Cure-referencing “drop dead.” In the early 2020s, she’d been one of the pop-world artists to signal that things were once again safe for rock at top 40 radio — along with an alt-folk-pivoting Taylor Swift and a temporarily thrashier Billie Eilish. Now, Rodrigo serves as one of its greatest mainstream spokespeople and legacy-bearers, bringing out David Byrne at her concerts and raving about seeing Nine Inch Nails live.
Rodrigo with The Cure’s Robert Smith onstage in 2025.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
So why hasn’t this recent surge come without the usual deluge of “Rock Is BACK!” fan excitement, media reports and industry overreaction? This revival is harder to spot because it’s coming from all over the place. In previous decades, rock’s most recognizable moments of mainstream takeover traditionally came from a number of concurrent breakthrough acts unified by a particular sound and scene: Think the swarm of Los Angeles hair metal bands in the ’80s, or the Seattle grunge explosion in the ’90s, or the subtler New York indie rock infiltration of the 2000s.
This time, however, there’s no such easily identified core to rock’s takeover. With the primary arena for pop music shifting from local radio to shared social media spaces that conventional tastemakers no longer control, music from any era is suddenly fair game to become the week’s biggest hit. Today, it’s just as common to see a new Hot 100 entry pop up from ’90s greats like Weezer, Radiohead or Jeff Buckley — each of whom reached the chart in the past year with decade(s)-old songs that were never even officially released as singles back in their day — as it is from Sleep Token or Twenty One Pilots.
And while the chasm between pop and rock is smaller than it has been in ages, the distance between rock and hip-hop (which one is Fike?), rock and R&B (which one is Malcolm Todd?), rock and country (which one is Zach Bryan?) and rock and Americana (which one is Kahan?) are all also shrinking. Rock’s current breakthrough isn’t exciting just because it brings a previously vital genre back to the popular music mix, but because it does so without feeling like it’s really taking away from the landscape’s other core genres — just working as an essential ingredient alongside them.
Maybe that’s why this time it also feels less like a temporary fad and more like an overall recalibration of top 40 radio. The exact formula might shift in one direction or another, but — for the first time in a long time — is seeming less likely to disappear again anytime soon.
This story appears in the May 9, 2026, issue of Billboard.
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