Music executive Ángel Del Villar is asking a judge to let him stay out of prison while he appeals his felony convictions for doing business with a concert promoter linked to Mexican drug cartels.

With a four-year prison sentence set to start on Dec. 1, attorneys for Del Villar argue that his appeal could very well overturn his March convictions – and that he should remain a free man until a higher court rules on his case.

“Del Villar has demonstrated since this case began that he is not a flight risk,” his lawyers wrote in a Wednesday court filing. “He poses no danger to the community. And he intends to present substantial questions on appeal that, if resolved in his favor, are likely to result in reversal or a new trial on all counts.”

Del Villar, who built his Del Records into a top record label for regional Mexican music, was convicted in March of violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act by repeatedly arranging concerts with Jesus Pérez Alvear, a Guadalajara-based promoter with cartel ties. In August, he was sentenced to 48 months in prison on those convictions.

In addition to seeking to halt the imposition of that sentence, Wednesday’s filing serves as a preview of how Del Villar’s attorneys plan to mount his appeal of the underlying convictions.

They say they have a particularly strong argument on how the judge instructed jurors that they could convict Del Villar by finding that he willfully blinded himself to Pérez’s shady connections. They say prosecutors couldn’t prove he took concrete actions to avoid such knowledge, but that the judge gave the jurors that option anyway.

“The government pointed to no evidence — and the record contains none —  from which a jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Del Villar took ‘deliberate actions’ or made ‘active efforts,’ his lawyers wrote, later adding that the judge’s instruction “went to the heart and most hotly contested aspect of the case.”

If that argument is successful, Del Villar’s lawyers say, it will “produce a new trial on all counts of conviction,” since each count required proof of such knowledge.

Del Records, founded by Del Villar in 2008, was home to música mexicana supergroup Eslabon Armado, whose global hit, “Ella Baila Sola” with Peso Pluma, became one of the biggest songs of 2023, as well as Lenin Ramirez and other chart-topping artists.

But in June 2022, federal prosecutors unveiled charges against Del Villar, 41, CFO Luca Scalisi, 56, and Del Records itself under the Kingpin Act. The 1999 statute allows the U.S. to impose targeted sanctions on foreign individuals involved in the illegal drug trade, and then to ban U.S. residents from doing business with them.

Pérez was added to the sanctions list in 2018 after the feds said he had helped cartels “exploit the Mexican music industry to launder drug proceeds and glorify their criminal activities.” Del Villar and Scalisi nonetheless allegedly used Pérez to arrange four Mexican concerts for an undisclosed Del Records artist and accepted nearly $200,000 from him, all while aware that he had been sanctioned.

At a March trial, superstar Gerardo Ortiz took the stand to testify against Del Villar, saying he had seen Pérez Alvear at the Del Records offices and had himself performed at one of the promoter’s concerts. Del Villar’s defense attorneys argued back that he had been “manipulated” into working with Pérez Alvear by a “trusted” former employee. But the jury didn’t buy it, finding him guilty on 10 counts of violating the Kingpin law, as well as one conspiracy charge.

Charlie Puth has a lot of “Changes” on the horizon.

On Thursday (Oct. 16), the pop singer/songwriter announced his fourth studio album, Whatever’s Clever!, due March 6 via Atlantic Records, alongside a music video for lead single “Changes” — and he lets fans in on some big personal news in the ’80s-inspired visual. Around the 2:30 mark in the Charlotte Rutherford-directed clip, Puth’s wife, Brooke Sansone, makes a cameo and they both place their hands on her belly to signal that they’re about to become a family of three. As a press release about the video says, “Charlie reflects on ‘Changes’ both personal and professional with a sweet cameo from his real-life wife Brooke Sansone.”

Puth started dating his longtime family friend Sansone in 2022 and they were married in September 2024. This will be the first child for both.

Whatever’s Clever! will be Puth’s fourth album and a follow-up to 2022’s Charlie, which spun off the Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles “Light Switch” and “Left and Right” (with BTS’ Jung Kook).

After playing a series of sold-out shows at New York’s Blue Note jazz club last month, Puth is set to kick off eight concerts at Blue Note Los Angeles on Thursday night. For fans who can’t be in the intimate room, they can livestream his first performance at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT (RSVP here). For the NYC gigs, he welcomed Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Anthony Ramos as special guests.

Watch the “Changes” music video below, and find his and Brooke’s family announcement around the 2:35 mark.

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If HUNTR/X and the Saja Boys have gone triple Platinum in your child’s bedroom, it’s likely they’re going to go crazy over this new Yoto offering.

The parent-owned and operated children’s audio tech company just dropped a KPop Demon Hunters official soundtrack card, giving your kids the freedom to listen to top tracks such as “How It’s Done,” “Golden,” “Soda Pop” and “Your Idol” without a screen. The product is available to shop now on Yoto’s website. All you need is the newly launched soundtrack card, retailing for $14.99, and one of Yoto’s audio players to tune into the hit film’s full soundtrack.

The soundtrack card is 37 minutes long, spanning the Netflix original’s full soundtrack from start to finish. Kids can dance or sing along with the power to press play all on their own, no ads or screentime included, fixing their full focus on the music.

The Yoto Player is sort of like a boombox, made for tiny hands and ears ages 3 to 12+. It comes in two sizes, Yoto Player (3rd Generation) for $109.99, and the more compact Yoto Mini for $79.99. While there are some differences in the sizes, the biggest thing to note is that the 3rd Generation produces acoustically engineered stereo sound, while the mini produces mono sound, meaning a single-channel audio format. Stereo uses two channels to create a room-filling kind of sound, giving your audio a more dynamic feel. If you or your child are a stickler for good audio, go for the 3rd Gen Yoto Player.

In general, both are perfect for listening to music, audiobooks and so much more. The 3rd Gen is best for listening around the home, while the mini is best for listening on the go. The 3rd Gen is equipped with more features than its tiny companion, including a nightlight, clock and a room thermistor. The battery life on the bigger Yoto is also larger, lasting up to 24 hours on a single charge, while the mini will last up to 14 hours. Both products can be hooked up to wired headphones. You can also choose the color of your Yoto device on the website.

The beauty of this product is giving your children independence to press play all on their own, while limiting the amount of screen time they consume in a day. It keeps your child occupied with an interactive physical card element that can also be a sort of collection if you gather enough.

VIBE is joining forces with Rolling Stone, Billboard can exclusively announce on Thursday (Oct. 16).

VIBE will bolster Rolling Stone‘s hip-hop coverage and allow the brand to go deeper in the genre. VIBE will also print special collector’s editions of the magazine and launch a new interview series that spotlights in-depth conversations with the most important figures, ranging from musicians to superstar athletes and fashion icons.

“We are thrilled to announce that VIBE is joining forces with Rolling Stone,” said Julian Holguin, CEO of Rolling Stone. “This historic team-up will enable Rolling Stone to level up the publication’s hip-hop and R&B coverage, allowing RS to dive deeper into the culture. As part of this move, Rolling Stone will invest in VIBE across video, podcasts, long-form journalism, social media and experiential opportunities – all areas where Rolling Stone is a market leader. VIBE will continue to power cultural conversations and reestablish itself as a driving force for commentary and reporting. Our goal is to continue the mission VIBE was founded on while leveraging Rolling Stone to amplify its presence across all platforms.”

Datwon Thomas, VIBE’s longtime editor-in-chief, is being brought in as Strategic Advisor to help with the transition. “Coming back to VIBE in this role is deeply meaningful to me and I am proud to remain connected to such an iconic brand that has been such a big part of my life,” he says. “The opportunity to help guide VIBE into the next phase of its growth and continued legacy is an honor.”

VIBE and Rolling Stone are actively looking to fill positions, including a new head of the VIBE brand, a video/podcast host and an events producer.

Both Rolling Stone and VIBE are part of Penske Media Corporation, which is also Billboard‘s parent company.

With just a few weeks left on what Garbage say is their final headlining North American tour, singer Shirley Manson is saying the loud part even louder. During a show in Denver on Sunday (Oct. 12), the outspoken vocalist explained to the crowd why the long-running group does not plan to mount such a tour again, telling fans at the Mission Ballroom, “It has become entirely unsustainable for a band like us to come and tour anywhere except the coasts.”

Manson then laid out why the group feel that way in a broadside against what she described as the wild inequality in streaming payments to non-superstar working musicians, at a time when she said some pop stars are making “billions and billions and billions of dollars,” while the majority are just getting by.

“Most of the music industry is not made of these big pop stars. They’re made of working musicians,” Manson said. “And this is not a pity party for us. This is an alarm call for all the young generations of musicians who are in our wake and we feel duty bound to speak up for because there’s nobody speaking up for them,” she added to loud applause from the audience.

“The average musician makes $12 a month on Spotify,” she said, noting she has brought the matter up “every night” on the tour as a way to point out that there is no governmental body or union for musicians fighting to help young acts get paid.

“They’re sleeping in their vans. They’re holding down numerous jobs. And they’re playing their guts out every night,” Manson said of road dog touring acts. “The fact that they are not even able to sell a record and it’s taken from them by rich motherf–ers on streaming platforms who get paid royally by record labels, who get paid royally by Ticketmaster, who get paid royally by merch companies, who get paid royally — the list goes on and on and on. There’s accountants, there’s lawyers, they’re all f–king getting paid, except for the musician.”

At press time a spokesperson for Spotify had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment. In 2024, Billboard reported that Spotify paid out nearly $4.5 billion to independent rights holders in 2023, making up almost half of the more than $9 billion the streaming service paid to all labels and publishers that year.

After 30 years of road work, Garbage — which released its eighth studio album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light in May on BMG — are in the midst of their Happy Endings Tour, which will play the Knitting Factory in Boise, Idaho on Friday (Oct. 17) and wind down its North American run on Nov. 14 at the Corona Capital festival in Mexico City.

Manson said she brings up the inequity every night, because “you are the ones who will lose out on a generation of esoteric, risk-taking, creative, adventurous weirdos, rebels, agitators, provocateurs. You’re gonna get f–king white bread.”

Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here.