SYDNEY, Australia — Rising Australian alt-pop artist Alexandria is the latest addition to the Warner Music roster, Billboard can exclusively reveal.

Alexandria signs a recording deal with Warner Music Australia and Warner Records, an alliance that expands on her unlikely leap from teaching math to high school students in Perth, Western Australia, to unleashing her dark-toned fantasy pop on the world.

To celebrate her major label partnership, Alexandria drops the new track “Justice,” a cinematic pop story told with strings and snares. The single is representative of her work to date, immersive pieces influenced by literature, anime, and her other passions.

Those releases include 2025 debut “Always An Angel;” her featured contribution on Marino’s “Lust;” and most recently, “The Fool.” She joins the Warner Music fold with more than 1.74 million followers on Spotify, and 213,000-plus followers on TikTok.

“Signing with Warner Music feels like the beginning of an exciting new chapter,” she says in a statement to Billboard. “I’ve spent years writing songs and building this project piece by piece, and it means so much to have a team that believes in the vision as deeply as I do. I’m incredibly grateful for the support so far, and I can’t wait to share what’s coming next.”

Alexandria paints worlds with lyrics and sonics. “I’ve always been drawn to the fictional world and stories,” she explains. “My music allows me to bring those stories to life. Writing ‘The Fool’ and ‘Justice’ felt like writing two mini novels, with each song having its own world and story surrounding it. I cannot wait for everyone to hear the stories that are yet to come.”

With the new arrangement, Alexandria has a global team behind her and a steady stream of new music is in the pipeline for 2026, reps say.

“I am thrilled to welcome Alexandria to the Warner Music family,” comments Dan Rosen, president of Warner Music Australasia and Southeast Asia. “Partnering with Warner Records on Alexandria reflects our ongoing commitment to make our local artists global, with global teams to provide the powerhouse backing to build successful international careers. Alexandria has a truly unique creative vision, and we are super excited to support her in the next stage of her career.”

Aaron Bay-Schuck, co-chairman & CEO, Warner Records Group and Tom Corson, co-chairman & COO, Warner Records Group add: “Alexandria doesn’t just make music — she builds worlds. Her singular creative vision and undeniable global appeal made this partnership between Warner Records and Warner Music Australia an easy call. We are thrilled to welcome her and cannot wait for the world to hear what’s coming.”

At WMA, Alexandria joins a domestic stable of artists that includes Boy Soda, Blusher, Budjerah, Brad Cox, Carla Wehbe, and others.

Vince Staples has cleared the air over the album cover of his latest set, Cry Baby, which features a drawing of a blonde-haired white baby crying while wearing an American flag diaper.

The Long Beach rapper and actor recently told Apple Music the meaning behind the cover and stressed that the baby depicted isn’t meant to represent President Donald Trump. “I see a lot of conversation about the cover,” he said during his Radio Takeover. “That is not a baby version of Donald Trump. That is you, the listener, that is you as a baby. That is all of us.”

Staples added, “That’s the socio-political systems in which we adopt and complain about at the same time. And as we complain and as we operate within these things without wanting to break apart from them, you are feeding the baby, the beast, so to say. And this album is about the different ways in which you can do that.”

Released on June 5, Cry Baby has sparked a lot of conversation around not only the artwork but the politically charged subject matter, with fans split on the album’s genre-bending sound.

Staples spoke on the album’s alternative leanings and his frustrations with the country and the music industry in general during a performance at the El Rey Theatre in L.A. “We didn’t do much press and stuff like that,” he told the crowd. “We just wanted to come and play the music ’cause I’m sick of f—kin’ talkin’. You do the press run, you tell jokes and s—t but like, ain’t nothin’ f—king funny. You know? Not to me at least, maybe to you.”

The rapper continued by revealing that he’s been frustrated with the music industry since he flirted with different genres on his Hell Can Wait EP and his sophomore album Big Fish Theory, telling the crowd, “You know, they told me, ‘You can’t make this, you gotta do straight hip-hop, it’s gonna translate better with your audience.’ Whatever the f—k that means.”

SYDNEY, Australia — BMG has acquired the publishing catalog of Chris Cheney, frontman, songwriter and guitarist of The Living End, in a deal announced just days after the Australian rock trio was inducted into the 2026 ARIA Hall of Fame.

The acquisition expands on a relationship that has seen BMG serve as Cheney’s global publisher since 2016 and the group’s global label since 2018. Financial terms of the new deal weren’t disclosed.

“One of the great joys of being a musician is songwriting,” Cheney comments in a statement, issued Wednesday, June 17. “The magical feeling you get from the process of creating something from nothing! Songs can take weeks to write, or they can appear in minutes seemingly out of nowhere, they are the most wonderful, mysterious, powerful things!”

The Living End, he continues, “have always had an incredibly strong connection with our audience around the world through our catalog of songs. I’m thankful and very honored to have done this deal with BMG who I know share the same passion and enthusiasm for music and for this catalog.”

Formed in Melbourne in the 1990s, the trio, with dashes of rockabilly, pop-punk, and indie grit, earned a reputation as a must-see live act, a label that sticks to this day. The rockers’ ARIA Chart-topping self-titled 1998 debut remains one of Australia’s best-selling rock albums, and housed one of the era’s all-time anthems, “Second Solution / Prisoner of Society”.

Over time, the band, comprised of Cheney, Scott Owen and Andy Strachan, have snagged two No. 1 albums, six ARIA Awards, APRA’s song of the year, and a swag of top 10s, including last year’s album release I Only Trust Rock ’N’ Roll, which peaked at No. 5 on the all-genres ARIA Chart.

The Living End was inducted June 11 into the ARIA’s Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Sydney, part of a class that included the late Gurrumul, Jenny Morris, Kate Ceberano, Spiderbait, and Vika & Linda. 

“The Living End has been the soundtrack to countless Australian stories and memories while the band has simultaneously achieved cult status internationally as one of the best live rock bands of all time,” comments Heath Johns, president, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, BMG.

“As The Living End enter the ARIA Hall of Fame, we are incredibly honored that Chris has chosen BMG as his forever home for these iconic publishing rights, and we look forward to finding new opportunities for them at home and abroad.”

A judge says Eminem’s publisher can move forward with a $109 million lawsuit over allegedly unlicensed songs in the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp music libraries.

A Tuesday (June 16) order, first obtained and reported by Billboard, denies Meta’s motion to dismiss the direct copyright infringement claim brought by music rightsholder Eight Mile Style. That means the social media giant will be subjected to the lengthy (and often expensive) evidence discovery process.

Eight Mile owns 243 compositions, including Eminem hits like “Lose Yourself.” The publisher sued Meta last year, alleging that its subsidiaries Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp all featured its catalog in the apps’ music libraries without a valid license. Eight Mile sought the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per case of infringement, which, multiplied by 243 songs and three platforms, would add up to a whopping $109.4 million.

Meta’s lawyers called the lawsuit “fanciful” and the damages request “eye-popping.” The company argued that the allegations were far too general to survive past an initial motion to dismiss — but Judge Brandy R. McMillion disagreed, writing in Tuesday’s decision that the complaint “states enough to plausibly claim infringing acts by Meta.”

“Plaintiff alleges that Meta placed all 243 of the aforementioned works in the respective music libraries of all three of its platforms. Accepted as true, this fact can plausibly be construed as constituting reproduction of the copyrighted work,” wrote the judge. “Because the Copyright Act gives owners the exclusive right to reproduce their work, storage of the Eight Mile compositions, without permission, would create an unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material.”

The judge did, however, side with Meta to rule that Eight Mile’s secondary infringement claims should be dismissed. In this part of the lawsuit, Eight Mile sought additional damages based on the theory that Meta not only hosted unlicensed music but also induced billions of individual social media users to add illegal tracks to their posts.

Judge McMillion said these claims fail because Eight Mile did not provide any examples of supposedly infringing posts. She also cited the Supreme Court’s recent decision in the major record labels’ piracy battle with Cox Communications, which raised the standards for such secondary infringement claims.

“Even construing these facts in Eight Mile’s favor, the court finds them insufficient to plausibly support an inference that defendant actively encouraged or otherwise (affirmatively) induced user copyright infringement,” wrote the judge. “While Meta may encourage its users to use the platforms’ tools, the court is unwilling to equate an encouragement to use the tools with an encouragement to infringe, especially when the tools can be used in a non-infringing way.”

The order does not specify whether these secondary claims are dismissed with or without prejudice, meaning the door might be open for Eight Mile to rewrite them in an amended lawsuit.

A lawyer for Eight Mile declined to comment on the ruling on Tuesday, and reps for Meta did not immediately return a request for comment. Eminem himself is not involved in the case.

This is not Eight Mile’s first time going to court over digital licenses; the publisher previously sued Spotify in 2019 for allegedly making its music available for streaming without authorization. That case made it to discovery, too, but it was ultimately thrown out in 2024 after a judge criticized Eight Mile for intentionally delaying the licensing process in order to maximize legal damages.

Mikal Bridges of the New York Knicks was still celebrating the team’s historic run to an NBA title on Monday and gave fans an IG Live to remember.

During one clip that was spliced out by Internet sleuths, Bridges got serious for a moment as he poured a shot of tequila when Kendrick Lamar‘s song “Count Me Out” popped up on his playlist and told fans why he loved the song and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers so much. “Let me let you know, let me be honest about this song, about this album, if y’all can hear me right now over this music,” he said before revealing that he was really down after his Suns lost to the Dallas Mavericks in seven games during the second round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs. “I was really depressed, bro. We lost to Dallas, I was in Phoenix, I was f—in’ depressed, bro. This album came out. I was just liftin’ bi’s and tri’s, chest, and that sh– got me through it. I love this f—in’ album, for real. I will never forget this album. Ever.”

He then continued to vibe and rap along to the chorus as Lamar rapped, “I love when you count me out.”

The combo shooting guard/small forward can relate to that very phrase, especially during this past season. The Knicks famously staked their future on Mikal when they traded six first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets in 2024 and signed him to an extension in 2026. However, fans have given him a nickname after the organization won their first championship in 53 years and he now goes by Mikal “F— Them Picks” Bridges.