Kevin Parker is no deadbeat.

Just hours after the Tame Impala mastermind collected his second Grammy Award for best dance / electronic recording, another win as details emerged on Parker’s smashing start in the electronic instruments industry.  

Parker is co-creator of Orchid, the synthesizer designed for musicians and producers to explore new ideas. In year one, the synth generated A$12 million in sales, according to Charl Laubscher, CEO and co-founder of Telepathic Instruments, the Australian startup behind it.

The first batch of 1,000 Orchids (priced at about $549) hit the market in December 2024 and sold out in 3 minutes, reps say. That number lifts to 10,000-plus units shifted across 60 countries in its first full year on sale, with the likes of Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Fred Again, Benny Blanco, Dua Lipa, Don Toliver, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, Crowded House, Childish Gambino and Janelle Monáe getting their hands on its keys.

Designed by Telepathic Instruments co-founder Ignacio Germade, Orchid largely operates as a chord generating system — a cheat code for Parker to bypass his own limitations as a keyboard player. Here’s where the fun starts. The operator can choose a root note from its single-octave keyboard, and utilize its eight “chord-type selecting and chord modifying keys”.

Put simply, hitting the “E” on the keyboard and the “Minor” chord modifying key will provide an E minor chord, with the ability to modify it further. A patent is said to be pending on a key component of its  “chord logic system,” and a major new drop is penciled in for April.

“There have been no paid endorsements, no influencer contracts, and no artist sponsorship deals,” remarks Laubscher, in a statement. “Orchid has spread through the music industry the old fashioned way, passed from artist to artist, studio to studio because it’s a product artists actually love working with.” 

On Sunday, Feb. 1, Parker snagged the golden gramophone for “End of Summer,” the lead track from Tame Impala’s fifth album, Deadbeat. The title peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, just one off the No. 3 peak for his project’s best-charting album, 2020 predecessor The Slow Rush. Deadbeat topped at least six Billboard charts and landed three songs on the Billboard Hot 100.

Tame Impala won a first-ever Grammy Award last year for its work on Justice’s “Neverender,” which also won in the best dance/electronic recording category. This 2026 win, however, is Tame Impala’s first Grammy win as solo act.

Parker won’t give away all his musical secrets. Speaking with Forbes Australia, he remarks: “I don’t like to tell people what music I’ve written on the Orchid, but, you know, if I didn’t use the thing that I’d been longing for so much and put so much time and effort and money into creating, it would have been kind of a failure.” But, he continues, “anyone with a keen ear should be able to hear it.”

Tame Impala, Sia, Amyl and The Sniffers, Ninajirachi, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers and 20 other acts will duke it out for the peer-voted APRA Song of the Year, the top honor at the annual APRA Music Awards.

Announced this week, the top 25 songs in the peer-voted category include a slew of debutant shortlisted artists including Ecca Vandal, Emily Wurramara, Folk Bitch Trio, Liam Bell (Playlunch), and Ocean Alley.  

They join shortlist alumni Angie McMahon, Bernard Fanning, Hiatus Kaiyote, Kasey Chambers, Missy Higgins, Nick Cave, Troye Sivan, Genesis Owusu and others.  Ahead of the big night, the top 25 is whittled down to five nominees, with each of those songs performed — and often reinvented — by another artist.

As previously reported, APRA is this year celebrating its 100^th anniversary. The celebrations will get underway at the APRAs for a ceremony that should be “the biggest yet,” organizers say, and will be presented for the very first time at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Wednesday, April 29.

For its milestone anniversary, the awards has tallied its highest ever number of votes cast by APRA members.

Formed by six music publishers a century ago this month, the Australasian Performing Right Association now represents over 128,000 music creators. The APRA Music Awards is heading into its 44^th edition, and is one of the most beloved events on the Australian industry calendar, celebrating excellence in contemporary music, and those songwriters and publishers who have achieved artistic excellence and outstanding success in their fields. 

For more information, visit apraamcos.com.au/apramusicawards2026 and check out the song of the year shortlist here.

SYDNEY, Australia — Claire Mooney is the new music director at triple j, the first female to land the top job in the Australian broadcaster’s 50-year history.

With her promotion, Mooney becomes one of the most important leaders in the country’s music scene, guiding a youth broadcaster that connects music fans with new music and domestic talent with an impressive strike rate.

She’s just the fourth person to nab the position, following the late Arnold Frolows, Richard Kingsmill and Nick Findlay, who is now triple j’s manager, music programming.

Mooney joined the triple j family in 2017 as the Australian music producer at Unearthed, and has gone on to work across the triple j music team in several capacities, including group music programmer & producer. In 2021, she climbed the ranks as assistant music director, and last year, she moved into the music director position at the affiliated Unearthed service, where she continued “to build upon an iconic legacy of discovering and platforming new local talent,” reads a statement.

“What a privilege it is to step into this new era of triple j as our first female music director,” Mooney comments in a statement. “I feel so honored and excited to continue the legacy that’s been built by my mentors. We are so lucky to have a station like triple j exist in this country: one that authentically celebrates music, art and culture, and reflects and soundtracks the lives of young people around the country.”

She continues, “I’d like to think there is no place more obsessed with Australian music, and I can’t wait to help shape, support and champion the next generation of artists, alongside our passionate, hard-working triple j team and every listener who comes along for the ride.”

Mooney’s appointment follows triple j’s first-ever open job search for the role, and is announced just days after the network’s Hottest 100 countdown, for which more than two million votes were cast.

Six months early, triple j premiered the inaugural Hottest 100 of Australian Songs to celebrate the network’s milestone anniversary. That poll raked in more than 2.655 million votes.

“Claire lives and breathes new music and has an incredible passion for breaking Australian talent, which we saw time and time again in her recent role as music director during her tenure at Unearthed,” comments triple j’s Nick Findlay.

“As triple j’s new music director, Findlay continues, “she will lead the music that soundtracks the lives of young people in Australia well into the future.”

Just keep watching. Tate McRae stars in NBCUniversal’s “Legendary February” campaign, which debuts Tuesday night (Feb. 3) and finds the “Sports Car” singer preparing America for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games and Super Bowl LX.

This weekend is set to be a historic one for NBC. Friday (Feb. 6) marks the Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympics, which will lead into the first competitions of the Olympics on Saturday (Feb. 7) and concludes with the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots facing off in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday (Feb. 8).

McRae treks through the snowy Italian Alps and welcomes viewers while rocking a red ski suit. The Canadian pop star takes directions from a talking owl and sets up the epic events on the way, which kick off with the Opening Ceremony.

She spotlights the U.S. Figure Skating Team and shows love to skier Lindsay Vonn, who expects to be competing this weekend despite suffering a torn ACL just last week. Tate then heads through the revolving door to set the stage for Super Bowl LX on NBC.

NBC is bringing out the pop titans ahead of the Winter Olympics. Dua Lipa appeared in a November campaign bringing the cool to the Winter Games while showing off her bilingual skills and hyping the women of Team USA.

The Opening Ceremony is slated to start on Friday night (Feb. 6) at 6 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock. NBC will also broadcast the NBA All-Star Game for the first time on NBC Sports since 2002 on Feb. 15.

As a fan of the NHL, McRae should be locked into the Olympic ice hockey games, which will feature NHL players for the first time since 2014. The fan interest is through the roof, with Olympic ticket sales approaching $1.2 million and hockey topping the list of attractions, according to NBC.

Xavi and Grupo Frontera combine forces on “No Capea,” as the song climbs from No. 5 to No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart (dated Feb. 7). Their first team-up gives Xavi a third No. 1, while Frontera secures its fifth champ.

“No Capea” makes progress on the overall Latin radio ranking after a 40% gain in audience impressions, to 9.8 million, earned in the United States during the tracking week of Jan. 23-29, according to Luminate.

Before reaching No. 1, “No Capea” spent 10 nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10, bouncing in and out of the region a few times during its 18-week climb to the top. Last November, the track moved 31-7-14 but regained its top 10 position the following week (Nov. 8 chart, No. 9). Beginning with the Dec. 20 chart, after seven straight weeks in the top 10, it moved 8-21-25-23-19, rebounding to No. 8 on the chart dated Jan. 24.

Xavi’s third leader on Latin Airplay follows another No. 1 partnership: “En Privado,” with Manuel Turizo, ruled for one week in June 2025. Frontera, meanwhile, who achieves a fifth chart-topper, last ruled through “Me Jalo,” with Fuerza Regida, in April 2025.

Beyond its Latin Airplay coronation, Grupo Frontera doubles down on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart occupying the top two spots. The group’s “Monterrey” holds strong at No. 1 for a second week despite an 8% dip in audience impressions (to 7.2 million) during the tracking period. Meanwhile, “No Capea,” with Xavi, continues to gain momentum, climbing from No. 4 to No. 2 after a 36% growth in audience, to 6.8 million, across regional Mexican stations in the U.S.

Frontera repeats the feat just two months after capturing the top two rankings on Regional Mexican Airplay. On the Nov. 22, 2025-dated chart, the group grabbed its first week at the summit with “No Capea,” with Xavi, while “Modo Difícil,” with Grupo Firme, moved up 4-2.

Thanks to its radio haul, “No Capea” gets the Greatest Gainer honoring airplay on Hot Latin Songs, awarded weekly to the song with the biggest growth in audience impressions. There, the song climbs from No. 17 to No. 11. (Hot Latin Songs ranks titles blending blend of airplay, streams and sales.)