Following a Luke Combs performance of “Back in the Saddle,” host Lainey Wilson properly kicked off the 2025 CMA Awards, with a medley of country favorites originally performed by some of the stars in the Nashville crowd.

After some introductory remarks about how excited she was to be hosting the awards and how the creators of all her go-to playlist jams were in the audience that night, Wilson offered to demonstrate the point herself: “How about I get my buddy Charlie Worsham up here on guitar and we sing ’em for y’all?”

After Worsham dutifully joined her on stage with acoustic in tow, Wilson launched into Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse,” as the camera panned to Stapleton in the seats. That set the tone for an era-spanning medley, with a full band kicking in as Wilson started wandering the aisles at Bridgestone Arena to find the original artists of the songs she was racing through.

Over the course of her medley, Wilson also hit on Brooks & Dunn (“Hillbilly Deluxe”), Ella Langley (“You Look Like You Love Me”), Gretchen Wilson (“Redneck Woman”), Lady A (“Need You Now”), Miranda Lambert (“Gunpowder and Lead”), Shaboozey (“A Bar Song”) and Little Big Town (joining in with her for a full-group performance of “Girl Crush”). Following that, a six-string-strapped Keith Urban took the mic on stage to perform his ’00s classic “Where the Blacktop Ends,” with Wilson eventually accomapnying him on harmonies.

The medley was a charming run through country history, with artists like Lambert, Shaboozey and Langley getting in the fun by dancing and miming to the camera along with Wilson. And the particularly good for Langley, who just minutes later accepted the awards’ single of the year award for the song Wilson serenaded her with.

Spotify has acquired the song sample platform WhoSampled, the companies revealed on Wednesday (Nov. 19).

According to a blog post by Spotify, WhoSampled will power SongDNA, an upcoming feature on the streaming platform that will showcase “connections between songs,” including samples, collaborators and covers. In a LinkedIn post, WhoSampled founder Nadav Poraz said the platform would “continue to operate as a standalone platform and brand” following the acquisition. A blog post by the company added that WhoSampled, which is driven by user contributions, would improve in several ways, noting that its iOS app would now be free to download and that in-app subscriptions would become free for all users; in addition, the site will become ad-free and moderation for submissions will be faster.

News of the purchase was part of a larger announcement in which Spotify revealed it would be expanding its song credits feature to encompass every single contributor to tracks on the platform; song credits previously only included topline performers, songwriters and producers. Spotify notes that the expanded song credits, which come directly from labels and distributors, are available starting now on the Spotify mobile app and will be rolled out to its desktop platform in the coming months.

Also announced by Spotify on Wednesday was “About the song,” another upcoming feature that will take the form of “swipeable cards” featuring factoids about songs. The information, which will be available in the “Now Playing” view, will be “sourced from third parties to highlight interesting details and behind-the-scenes moments,” according to Spotify’s blog post.

Spotify says the SongDNA and About the song features will be introduced via its Spotify for Artists platform early next year — to give creators an opportunity to offer feedback and “redeliver” credits if inaccuracies are found — before rolling out to users.

“Every song is a collaboration, and every contributor should be seen,” said Jacqueline Ankner, head of songwriter & publisher partnerships at Spotify, in a statement. “With expanded Song Credits, SongDNA, and About the song, we’re giving fans a deeper look at the people and creative threads behind the music they love and giving creators the recognition they deserve. It’s another step in Spotify’s work to champion the people, connections, and stories that bring every track to life.”

Artists can review their Spotify song credits here.

50 Cent’s film empire continues to expand. The G-Unit boss is on board as a producer for the upcoming crime drama Moses the Black, which will star rappers Wiz Khalifa and Quavo.

The gangland flick is slated to come to U.S. theaters on Jan. 30, 2026. Omar Epps, Chukwudi Iwuji, Detroit rapper Skilla Baby and former boxing champion Deontay Wilder are also part of the cast, while Quavo and Wiz are set to executive produce and original soundtrack for the movie, according to Deadline.

Set in present-day Chicago, Moses the Black revolves around a Chitown gang leader named Malik and Khalifa’s character, 2wo-3ree, plays an explosive leader of Malik’s crew. The Migos rapper will star in the role of Malik’s enemy in the flick.

“This film is about redemption and real change,” 50 said in a statement. “It’s raw, it’s emotional, and it’s powerful. I can’t wait for audiences to see it.”

50 partnered with Fathom Entertainment, Simeon Faith and the Nick Mirkopoulos Cinematic Fund to bring the film to life.

“Moses the Black is an action-packed drama that was made to be seen on the big screen,” said Fathom Entertainment CEO Ray Nutt. “Fathom Entertainment is thrilled to partner again with Simeon Entertainment and bring this heart-pounding story with a star-studded cast to audiences nationwide.”

Wiz Khalifa played George Clinton in 2023’s Spinning Gold, while Quavo has built up his IMDB page with roles in Praise This, Cash Out, The Waterboyz and High Rollers starring John Travolta.

As for 50 Cent, he’s also keeping busy on the film side, and he’s slated to star in the Street Fighter reboot at Balrog.

Books are perfect for reading or displaying on your coffee table, but on the days you’re commuting or traveling to new destinations, finding space to pack a thick book isn’t always easy. To help you update your holiday reading list with audiobooks, Amazon is giving new Audible members up to three months of Audible Premium Plus for 90% off for Black Friday.

Yes, you read that correctly. You can get three months of the audiobook service for just $0.99 per month — that’s less than $1 per month to access thousands of audiobooks. New users also get a bonus $20 credit for Audible.com. Your membership will auto-renews at $0.99/mo. for 3 months, then $14.95/mo. thereafter.

Not a member? Sign up for a 30-day free trial to take advantage of all that Amazon Prime has to offer, including access to Prime Video, Prime Gaming and Amazon Photos; fast free shipping in less than two days with Prime Delivery; in-store discounts at Whole Foods Market; access to exclusive shopping events — such as Prime Day and Black Friday — and much more. Learn more about Amazon Prime and its benefits here.

The Audible Black Friday promotion is on now and runs through December 1. Sign up for the Audible deal and you’ll receive unlimited access to Amazon’s library of Audible Originals, audiobooks, podcasts, sleep tracks and meditation programs. That also includes thousands of popular titles across genres, such as Amazon bestsellers.

There are two plans to choose from: Audible Plus and Audible Plus Premium. Audible Plus is the entry-level plan that’s regularly $7.95 per month and gives you instant access to Audible Originals, audiobooks and exclusive podcast series. Audible Plus Premium gets you one free title from Audible’s library a month to keep in addition to everything included in the Audible Plus plan.

Once the three months are over, you’ll be charged the normal subscription price of starting at $7.95 per month. In the meantime, you’ll either get three months for free, or three months of access for only $0.99 per month.

This Audible summer promotion is a limited-time offer, so we recommend acting fast to score this new Audible deal. It expires at the end of the day on Thursday, July 31. See full details of the Audible promotion here.

For more product recommendations, check out ShopBillboard‘s roundups of the best country music books, Taylor Swift books and the best music books.