Since opening its doors six months ago, Blue Note Los Angeles has been living up to the company’s expectations — more quickly than envisioned.

“The speed at which it’s developed into a comfortable home for artists is moving more rapidly than I expected,” says Alex Kurland, director of programming/talent buyer for the L.A. venue as well as Blue Note New York and the company’s festivals division. “That usually takes time to develop and evolve. However, it’s becoming a magnet for artists — not just to perform but to hang out and check out other artists; to also be an inspirational resource. That’s a very natural, organic process that gives birth to ideas, collaborations and special experiences.”

Blue Note LA closed out 2025 with shows featuring Killer Mike, Ben Folds, Charlie Puth, Andra Day and El DeBarge, the latter for a special New Year’s Eve performance. The club has since kicked off 2026 with another diverse lineup of artists ranging from Nick Jonas, Sienna Spiro and Willow to upcoming engagements headlined by Lizzo, Samara Joy, newly minted Grammy winner Durand Bernarr and rising artist JayDon. As an example of ticket prices: for hip-hop trio Digable Planets — appearing in March — the cost for table seating is $77.20 ($65.00 + $12.20 fees); the bar area goes for $54.54 ($45.00 + $9.54 fees). Various shows, like Bernarr’s in April, are already sold out per the club’s website.

Blue Note LA is also part of the hotel and ticket packages being planned for the annual Blue Note Jazz Festival Hollywood Bowl. In addition to the two-day (June 13-14) show starring jazz, R&B and soul artists (lineup to be announced), attendees are being offered the opportunity to book a three-night luxury stay at the iconic Hollywood Roosevelt in a package that also includes additional events at Blue Note LA.

In the following interview, Kurland further outlines how “we hope to work toward Blue Note LA being an epicenter for artistic greatness and high visibility moments in culture.”

What else makes the club such a draw for artists?

Because the room is so intimate, up close and personal, you’re right in the midst of the music as it’s happening. You can really feel it. And as the venue’s artistic ambassador, Robert Glasper brings another vibe. The range of programming is dynamic and consistent, which is extremely important when it comes to developing anything new. So is sustainability with the spontaneous, improvised moments that unfold every single night, seven nights a week.

Moments like Robert Glasper collaborating with Stevie Wonder, Charlie Puth singing duets with Coco Jones; Raphael Saadiq singing his heart out and Thundercat with Questlove laying down grooves. Strong vibes and special moments that are impactful artistically and within culture. There’s so much range, and the influence of jazz pulses through the veins of it all in terms of the music having the freedom and spontaneity. Moments that are reflective of and dealing with improvisation within the intimate space of the jazz club. 

I say moments because typically, in the music business, we think very transactionally in terms of shows. Shows come and go: they’re booked and programmed. They have a start time and an end time. But the intention at Blue Note is to be a sanctuary for artists where the spirit of jazz is very much alive. An artist may not be as familiar with performing in such an intimate space. But this type of presentation really reveals that next level; the vulnerability and choices that an artist makes onstage. It’s a great resource for artists to hone their musicianship and artistry. Because of the intimacy and the truly live element, it’s a very revealing format. There’s no opportunity to hide behind a track. No opportunity to hide behind clipping, editing and repurposing a 30-second clip that may find its way on TikTok.

From Nick Jonas to Lizzo. From Durand Bernarr to the buzzed-about Sienna Spiro. Talk about your booking strategy.

There are so many artists ranging from pop to R&B to jazz and beyond. I don’t even like to use genres to describe some of these artists because it’s all kind of one thing and there’s so much cross pollination. For me, the process is a bit case-by- case. There isn’t really one angle. Some shows are booked far out in advance. Some are booked just weeks out based on availability. It’s important to leave space in the calendar because some of the best magical moments present themselves at the last minute. It’s just about having open ears; having artists, friends and other resources with great taste. It’s very holistic and open-ended.

Sometimes we see artists who are special guests on shows with other artists, and it’s, “Wow, you’re unbelievable; we have to do shows with you.” Like with Death Row artist Jane Handcock. She works with the Anderson.Paak camp and was a special guest with Tank and the Bangas. It’s about being very intentional and strategic around timing and how to bring the most value to the artist. Timing is really important for a lot of these acts coming in who may be treating the Blue Note show as a promotional vehicle. Nick Jonas and Willow were recently presented around an album release. I’ve been very intentional about trying to also expand our booking process by being very inclusive of the labels; even working directly with them in support of marketing and promotional outcomes. Sienna Spiro played here during Grammy Week with an incredible band that we curated for her, and it was a total win-win. That experience was very much led by Interscope.

I’d like to work with all the label systems on a regular basis because, at the end of the day, this is a 200-capacity jazz club. Artists have choices and major artists don’t need to play small rooms. So it has to be in service and support of something that’s special to them and their labels. Something that has a big impact, a big outcome and, ultimately, is enjoyable and reaffirming for them as an artist.

What role do Blue Note’s mini-residencies play in fostering Blue Note vibe?

Multi-night engagements have always been a primary characteristic of Blue Note New York, dating back to when it opened [1981]. During the jazz club period in the ‘50s, Charlie Parker would probably be playing on 52^nd Street for a week, four sets a night. It’s a format that a lot of artists playing the Blue Note now are completely unfamiliar with: performing two shows a night and sometimes over multiple nights. Upcoming, we have Lizzo who will be performing six sets in a row over three nights [Feb. 20, 21 and 22]. I’m excited because that’s a very deep musical experience for an artist. It can also be physically and emotionally challenging. It means different things to different artists, but it’s all part of the growth process. Wyclef Jean recently did four nights in New York and in L.A. And his last set of his last night was unbelievable featuring special moments that were fresh for the audience — and him.

How did your pairing hip-hop artists with live backing bands come about?

It’s just another type of approach to performing live and reimagining the music. In New York, we brought in [jazz keyboardist] Bob James, credited as being one of the most sampled artists. He performed multiple nights with rapper Talib Kweli and his band. We also brought in different MCs who had sampled James and that music was performed live with James actually playing those parts. When performed live like that, you’re listening and finding your space within the spontaneous qualities coming out of the choices an MC is making of what to do and what not to do around the music. It’s just a whole kind of vibe.

What are the additional benefits of the coast-to-coast synergy you’re establishing between the New York and L.A. venues?

Performing at Blue Note LA. and Blue Note New York in close alignment is designed to mirror and complement one another. Examples include Sasha Keable, Tiana Major9, Charlie Puth, Tank and the Bangas and Aloe Blacc. This approach creates a special opportunity for artists to tap into the distinct qualities of L.A. and New York City. The venues share the same intimate jazz club format and physical capacity. Yet the experience also offers artistically inspiring contrasts: the iconic original Blue Note New York jazz club — rooted in the history, character and culture of that city — paired with the modern, elevated, very “L.A.”  Blue Note Los Angeles experience. This coast-to-coast journey allows artists to create meaningful, enriched experiences that reflect the iconic vibes of each city, while maintaining the intimacy and connection that defines Blue Note. For instance, we had The Soul Rebels in New York City and brought in special guests Rakim, Ja Rule and Ghostface Killah to perform with them. In L.A., we had Too $hort join them.

How challenging are the economics of running a live club today vs. five-10 years ago?

Everything is more expensive. Costs are significantly higher. It’s a burden to venues because of the overwhelming expenses. But it’s a real burden to the artist: the cost of travel, hotel accommodations, getting a band together, routing a tour or even a one-off date. It’s all just more challenging. It also requires increasing ticket pricing to be able to cover the increase in expenses and costs. That’s challenging as well for the patrons. We haven’t seen an overwhelming decrease [in sales], but the responsibility on our end is that the shows have to be experiences. For ticket buyers to take money out of their wallets that they work very hard to make — considering the current state of the economy — they have to be investing their money in an experience that they’re going to remember. That’s the goal we’re working toward every single night of the week.

The Kid LAROI announced dates for his 2026 A Perfect World tour on Tuesday morning (Feb. 17), a global outing in support of his third full-length project, Before I Forget, that is slated to kick off on April 27 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The Live Nation-produced tour will hit Atlanta, Tampa, Charlotte, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Brooklyn, Chicago, Cincinnati, Nashville, Houston, Austin, Albuquerque, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City before winding down on June 11 at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas; Tommy Richman will support the North American leg.

From there, it will hit the U.K., Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany and Copenhagen, wrapping up on Nov. 17 at the O2 Arena in Prague.

Citi card members will have access to a pre-sale open now through 10 p.m. local time on Thursday (Feb. 19) here. An artist pre-sale will begin at 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday (Feb. 18), with additional pre-sales slated throughout the week leading up to the general on-sale on Friday (Feb. 20) beginning at 10 a.m. local time; click here for ticketing information.

LAROI, 22, released Before I Forget in early January, with the set debuting at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 album chart, marking the singer’s second top 10 entry on the chart.

Check out the dates for The Kid LAROI’s 2026 A Perfect World tour below:

+ Support by Tommy Richman

The stats are shocking: Deezer claims that 60,000 fully AI generated songs are uploaded to its service daily. Given that most music is distributed at once to all platforms, experts say that Spotify’s daily count — of the more than 100,000 songs estimated to be uploaded daily overall — shouldn’t be too far off. 

The rapid acceleration of AI song uploads might sound like a problem for streaming services, which are facing issues with user experience and search confusion amid the flood of content. But does Spotify, by far the most influential player in the market, view it that way? 

In the company’s latest earnings call last Tuesday (Feb. 10), co-CEO Gustav Söderström said, basically, no. “A growing catalog has always been very good for us,” he said in reference to the rise of original AI-generated songs. “It attracts new users, drives engagement and builds fandoms … while the music may be generated on various AI platforms, the point is that regardless of where the music is made, the cultural moment always happens on Spotify.” 

Some AI songs have already proven to be popular listening options on Spotify, as evidenced by the number of AI songs that have climbed its charts. If Spotify were to limit the growth of its catalog, barring or penalizing certain AI-generated content, it’s likely that Spotify would open itself up to competition from a more lax streaming platform. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that Spotify has yet to make AI-specific regulations on its platform, instead adopting an approach that generally penalizes any case of impersonation, mass uploads and artificial streaming — problems that often are associated with (but not limited to) AI music. 

Today, the public debate over whether AI music belongs on streaming services — and if the AI music companies facilitating the creation of all that music should do more to stop the surge — has hit a fever pitch, dividing stakeholders even within the same sector of the music business. AI music companies, like Udio and Suno, are divided in their take on this situation — as are majors like Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group and listening platforms like Spotify and Bandcamp. 

The debate is also at issue in Universal Music Group’s settlement talks in its lawsuit against Suno. In a recent interview on Billboard’s On the Record podcast, UMG chief digital officer and executive vp, Michael Nash, said that Suno’s disinterest in making its service into a so-called “walled garden,” where no songs can exit their own platform, is a reason why their part of the 2024 $500 million copyright infringement lawsuit is still ongoing. “That’s kind of a hat-hanger in this discussion,” he said.

Udio, which was also sued by the three majors in a near-identical 2024 lawsuit, agreed to a “walled garden” to reach a settlement with UMG — and as soon as it happened, angry Udio users took to Reddit, writing, “This feels like an absolute betrayal,” and, “This is the worst and most disgusting fraud.” (In response to the backlash, Udio opened up downloading for 48 hours to quell the upset customers and remain committed to upholding a “walled garden.”) 

Just days after Nash’s interview aired, Suno’s chief music officer Paul Sinclair took to LinkedIn to write a lengthy post called “Open Studios, Not Walled Gardens,” weighing in with his point of view on the matter, writing, “At the center of today’s debate is control versus empowerment.

“There’s a growing narrative that the safest future for music is one where new creative tools live inside tightly controlled, ‘walled garden’ environments. The idea is that if music can’t leave the platform, can’t be downloaded, edited elsewhere, shared freely, or distributed more broadly, then rights are better protected,” he wrote, adding that he “understand[s] where that instinct comes from,” given his past experience at Warner Music Group and Atlantic Records. 

But Sinclair believes that “if we had tried to lock music into closed systems over the last 25 years, we wouldn’t have streaming as we know it,” arguing that there are a number of exciting new genres and innovations in the music business that lie ahead, “but for that promise to be real, these tools can’t just be toys inside a box.”

Warner Music Group was able to find a way forward with Suno and finalized a deal with the AI music platform back in November that settled their part of the blockbuster lawsuit, created a new licensing regime and, notably, did not force Suno to adopt a “walled garden.” Instead, Suno users now have a limit on downloads and must pay more money to increase that limit. Following Nash and Sinclair’s remarks, WMG CEO Robert Kyncl was asked about the “walled garden” debate during Warner’s last earnings call on Feb. 5. He answered: “I think this issue is getting painted too much in black and white… Black and white is never the answer.”

Bandcamp believes there’s no such thing as an equilibrium — AI songs shouldn’t sit alongside human-made ones. The music platform recently posted an update on Reddit, telling users about a new policy that bans songs that use generative in all or a “substantial part” of their process. When asked for more information on how this system would work, Dan Melnick, general manager for Bandcamp, told Billboard he was not able to provide details “for security purposes” but assured that the systems “are under constant review for efficacy.”

These discussions all assume something big, however — that it is possible to stop users from finding a way to download and distribute AI music, no matter what walls are put up on the AI model or on a listening service. Musician and technologist Holly Herndon noted this in a thread on X, following news of Bandcamp’s new rules, saying that banning AI music is a “tourniquet” and impossible to enforce.

One solution to the inevitable leak of AI music on the internet comes from Nash’s On the Record interview: anti-dilution policies. Nash told Billboard that this policy was devised first to resolve UMG’s three-month standoff with TikTok in 2024. He revealed on the podcast that back in 2024, the real reason why UMG pulled its music from TikTok stemmed from TikTok’s proposal to use “AI content” created by users “to dilute the royalty pool for artists,” as he put it. 

In the resolution of that deal, Nash asserts UMG ended up getting “the best protections that we had been able to obtain to that point,” adding that “they remain some of the best protections that we have in any agreement with the music service, in terms of AI protection and what we call anti-dilution, meaning our royalties won’t be diluted by pure AI content” — something that he also says he’s now successfully added to streaming service agreements since. A representative for WMG tells Billboard they are also working to add these same protections into its licensing deals as well. 

As Kyncl said in WMG’s earnings call “it’s never easy,” to strike this balance between the interests of worried rights holders and tech optimists. “but it’s worth it to do the hard work of finding the equilibrium that creates value — we think we got it right.”

Dee Snider says rumors of his impending death have been exaggerated. The Twisted Sister frontman who a few weeks ago announced that he’d left the veteran metal band due to a “series of health challenges” that scotched their planned run of 50h anniversary shows revealed on this week’s episode of his House of Hair radio show that things are not as grim as they seem.

“I’m not dying! No, not never. I mean, we’re all dying, but not immediately,” said Snider, 70, who told fans on Saturday (Feb. 14) that he’s struggling with arthritis and an unspecified heart issue. “My announcement about canceling the tour for health reasons, problems with my heart, arthritis, things like that… the rumors have run wild that I’m on my death bed, I am not,” added Snider. “I just can’t do those things that I did in my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s. Otherwise I’m alive and well. I’m enjoying life.”

Twisted Sister announced on Feb. 5 that they were forced to call off their entire 50th anniversary tour, which was slated to feature three of its longest-running members, founding guitarist Jay Jay French, longtime guitarist Eddie Ojeda and Snider. The “We’re Not Gonna Take It” band originally split in 1988 and reunited a decade later, touring and recording on and off for the next decade before announcing what they deemed their farewell tour in 2015 following the death of drummer A.J. Pero, followed by 2016’s 40th anniversary tour, Forty and F–k It.

The band announced plans for a 50th anniversary tour in September, dubbed Twisted Forever, Forever Twisted. In February, though, they pulled the plug over Snider’s health issues. “Due to the sudden and unexpected resignation of Twisted Sister’s lead singer Dee Snider brought on by a series of health challenges, the band has been forced to cancel all shows scheduled,” they said at the time. “A lifetime of legendarily aggressive performing has taken its toll on Dee Snider’s body and soul. Adding insult to injury, Dee has recently found out the level of intensity he has dedicated to his life’s work has taken its toll on his heart as well. He can no longer push the boundaries of rock ‘n’ roll fury like he has done for decades.”