Slush Management, the boutique artist-management firm behind Porter Robinson, Jai Wolf and EDEN has entered a strategic partnership with companyX, the New York- and London-based brand-partnerships and strategy agency founded by Mara Frankel in collaboration with ATC Group and ROAM.

“Slush Management is focused on world-building around each of our artists, and that requires a deep understanding of how to connect with like-minded brands to scale each artist’s vision,” Aaron Greene, co-founder of Slush Management, tells Billboard. “We’ve always taken that approach while partnering with some of the biggest brands in the world, and our partnership with companyX is the next step in expanding that capability.”

Founded in 2022, companyX grew out of Frankel’s 12-year tenure leading brand partnerships at Atlantic Records. Her new venture was designed to bridge the gap between brands seeking authentic voices and artists ready to build meaningful campaigns beyond one-off sponsorships.

“I’d spent years watching the same ten to 15 major artists land the big brand deals,” Frankel tells Billboard. “We wanted to create an agency that opened those opportunities to a wider group — artists who have the right fan base and interest but not necessarily the infrastructure. companyX became a sort of people’s brand-partnerships agency—an external team that can plug into a management company and help build out opportunities that feel strategic and meaningful.”

Her past successes include campaigns such as Mt. Joy’s brand deal with Coors Light, resulting in a multi-year partnership spanning tour sponsorships and content, and Kimbra’s work with Candy Crush Saga, which produced a bespoke song and video later integrated into the artist’s album rollout.

Greene says Slush’s roster has long attracted interest from forward-thinking brands in gaming, tech and fashion. But until now, Slush managed those relationships internally.

“We’ve done everything from world-building experiences with Crunchyroll to digital collaborations with Magic: The Gathering,” Greene explains. “But we’re managers, not specialists. Having someone like Mara — who lives and breathes brand strategy — allows us to scale those opportunities and find new ones we wouldn’t have the bandwidth to pursue.”

For Neal O’Connor, Slush’s other co-founder, the partnership is about deepening the artist-fan connection.

“These partnerships aren’t just transactions — they’re opportunities to meet fans in other parts of their lives,” he says. “By partnering with companyX, we’re doubling down on that approach and expanding what’s possible for our roster.”

Under the deal, companyX’s services become available to all Slush clients, with Frankel and her team embedded into the management operation while maintaining their own external client base. “I’ll be working across the roster,” Frankel notes, “reaching out to my network for new opportunities and also building on relationships the artists already have. It’s about creating a more comprehensive, sustained presence in the brand space.”

Frankel describes the modern brand-partnership landscape as “an odd matrix” where managers, agents, labels, even relatives may all chase deals. What matters, she says, is proximity to the artist’s story.

“The power of management is that you can call a brand and say, Porter Robinson wants to work with you,” she explains. “That’s a totally different conversation than a cold agency pitch. It’s rooted in the artist’s real passions.”

Greene agrees, emphasizing that many Slush clients turn down lucrative but mismatched offers. “A lot of our artists have a very specific vision. Sometimes that frustrates traditional agencies,” he says. “But authenticity is non-negotiable for us. With Mara, there’s an understanding that not every artist wants a paycheck—they want partnerships that align with their universe.”

As Slush and companyX formalize their collaboration, both sides see it as a model for how boutique management firms can evolve without losing their creative core.

“Not a lot of independent management companies offer this kind of service,” O’Connor says. “We’re excited to give our artists—and future clients—access to more opportunities while keeping the focus on artistry and authenticity.”

Greene hints that this is only the beginning: “We have a lot in the pipeline. This is the first of many partnerships we’ll be announcing soon.”

Dolly Parton‘s sister, Freida, has issued an apology for alarming fans of the country icon earlier this week when she asked for prayers for her sibling as she dealt with some health issues.

In a statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday (Oct. 7), Freida wrote, “I want to clear something up. I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly,” she said. “She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister. Thank you all for lifting her up. Your love truly makes a difference.”

The update came after Freida sparked serious concern earlier in the day on Tuesday when she told her followers she had been “up all night praying for my sister, Dolly.” She added, “Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been [led] to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me. She’s strong, she’s loved, and with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine.”

The post came a week after Parton postponed her planned six-show December Las Vegas residency, citing “health challenges,” writing in a statement at the time that her doctors told her she has to have “a few procedures,” promising she will be back on stage soon. “As I joked with them, it must be time for my 100,000-mile check-up, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon!,” Parton, 79, joked.

Parton’s rep, Olly Rowland, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Tuesday that Dolly is fine, explaining that, “It’s just the kidney stones, and the procedure she needs to resolve those. It looks like her sister posted, and it got quite a bit blown out of proportion, weirdly.” The paper said that Parton is well enough that she plans to record a video on Wednesday for an undisclosed project from her home in Nashville.

Yungblud has responded to critics of his Ozzy Osbourne tribute at the MTV VMAs calling them “bitter and jealous.”

The Doncaster-born musician performed at the MTV VMAs last month (Sept. 7) alongside members of Aerosmith, giving an impassioned rendition of Black Sabbath song “Changes.” Yungblud – real name Dominic Harrison – also sang the 1972 hit at Ozzy’s final show at Villa Park, Birmingham on July 5 at the all-star Back to the Beginning tribute show; Osbourne died of a heart attack a fortnight later (July 22), aged 76.

Speaking on a podcast with Ozzy’s son Jack, the pair discussed criticism of his performance from fellow musicians. Dan Hawkins, guitarist for British rock band The Darkness, wrote on his Instagram that Yungblud’s performance with Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry was “cynical, nauseating and, more importantly, s–t.”

Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins added that Yungblud was the “latest in a long line of – I’m sorry to say it – poseurs” and that he “comes off like a TV personality doing rock.”

Speaking on the Trying Not To Die podcast, Yungblud and Jack Osbourne responded to the criticism. “You will never see someone that’s bigger or more emotionally evolved than you talk s–t on you,” said Yungblud in the episode. “You ain’t ever going to see f–king [Metallica singer] James Hetfield slag off a young rock star, because he’s James f–king Hetfield. They don’t need to insert themselves into a conversation. Because they’re emotionally evolved and they know what it takes to get somewhere.”

Jack Osbourne added his thoughts on the flap. “After the VMAs there were some rock stars slagging you off and being like ‘oh, he’s just clout chasing and jumping on the bandwagon of Ozzy passing,’” said Jack. “I want to use this opportunity to talk about that.”

“You were so much more involved,” he continued of Yungblud’s involvement in Ozzy’s life. In 2022, Ozzy appeared in the music video to Yungblud’s “The Funeral” and became a mentor to the singer in his final years. Osbourne continued, “These people didn’t f–king know, they don’t know the f–king story of it, the things we know, and I was kind of like, ‘F–k you, dude’. Dom meant something to my dad, my dad meant something to Dom.” 

Yungblud added, “I think the strangest thing about that was all I was trying to do was my best for your old man, because he gave me such a gift. When people try and intellectualize a sense of spirit and six musicians on a stage going ‘f–king love you man’, it’s just bitter and jealous.

“They are doing the things they say we are doing. They’re trying to insert themselves into a conversation to obtain some kind of relevancy, on the back of us honouring one of the greatest rock stars that ever lived. And then they talk about authenticity and stuff like that. I just loved your dad.”

See the full conversation below.

Yungblud released his fourth studio album, Idols, in June, which topped the U.K. Albums Chart and peaked at No. 15 on the Top Rock & Alternative Albums chart. A collaborative EP with Aerosmith, One More Time, will be released on Nov. 21.

Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl has now earned 3.5 million equivalent album units in the United States, according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate, since the album’s release on Oct. 3. Of that sum, traditional album sales (physical and digital purchases) equal 3.2 million copies, with the remaining 300,000 powered by streaming activity of the songs on the album.

Luminate’s current tracking week began on Friday, Oct. 3, and ends on Thursday, Oct. 9.

With 3.2 million copies sold, The Life of a Showgirl continues to near the record for the largest sales week for an album in the modern era (since 1991, when Luminate began electronically tracking music purchases). The modern-era single-week sales record is held by the opening week of Adele’s 25, when it debuted with 3.378 million copies sold in 2015.

However, as The Life of a Showgirl has earned 3.5 million equivalent album units, the album has now secured a new record for the largest week, by equivalent album units, for an album, since the Billboard 200 chart began ranking the week’s most popular albums by equivalent album units in Dec. 2014. The previous record was held by the debut week of Adele’s 25, which bowed with 3.482 million units on the Dec. 12, 2015 chart (mostly powered by the 3.378 million individual purchases of the album, with the remaining sum driven by track purchases and streaming).

Equivalent Album Units Explained: Each equivalent album unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. (None of the tracks from The Life of a Showgirl are available to purchase individually, so the album does not have any track sales contributing to its total thus far.)

The Billboard 200 transitioned from a pure album sales-based ranking to a multi-metric, units-based ranking, with the Dec. 13, 2014-dated chart. From that point forward, albums were ranked on the Billboard 200 by equivalent album units earned — meaning that in addition to album purchases counting towards an album’s chart placement, streams of songs from an album, as well as track purchases, would also contribute towards an album’s position on the weekly chart.

While the Billboard 200 has incorporated streams and track purchases since Dec. 2014, Billboard continues to publish weekly album sales-only charts, including the overall Top Album Sales chart (which ranks both current and older/catalog titles), and Top Current Album Sales.

Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data powers Billboard’s charts. All numbers cited in this story are for the U.S. only.

Life of a Showgirl’s first-week numbers (equivalent album units, total traditional album sales and streaming figures) are expected to be announced by Billboard on Sunday, Oct. 12, along with its assumed large debut on the multi-metric Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Oct. 18).

For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. 

PREVIOUSLY (OCT. 7): Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl has reached 3 million in traditional album sales (physical and digital purchases), across all versions of the album, according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate. On the album’s first day of release (Oct. 3), it cleared 2.7 million sold. After Showgirl’s first day, it captured the second-largest sales week for an album in the modern era — since Luminate began electronically tracking data in 1991. The only larger sales week in that span of time was registered by the opening frame of Adele’s 25, which sold 3.378 million copies in its first week in 2015.

Showgirl has earned over 3.2 million equivalent album units in the U.S. With 3.2 million equivalent album units earned, Showgirl already has the second-largest week, by equivalent album units, for any album since the Billboard 200 began ranking the week’s most popular albums by equivalent album units with the Dec. 13, 2014-dated chart. The largest week, by equivalent album units, for any album, in that span of time, was registered by the debut week of Adele’s 25, which launched with 3.482 million units on the Dec. 12, 2015 chart.

Showgirl got a mid-week boost with the release of four new CD variants of the album, exclusively sold through Swift’s official webstore. Available for a limited time, each CD had alternate cover art, the album’s 12 songs, plus two unique bonus tracks for each CD (alternate versions of songs from the album). These four CDs join 23 previously available physical versions of the album (across vinyl, CD and cassette) and two digital download editions (a standard wide version, and iTunes-exclusive version with a bonus video). Also helping Showgirl was a restock of a previously available deluxe CD boxed set, sold through Swift’s store, containing a branded cardigan sweater and a copy of the CD.

Swift herself has been on the promotional trail, chatting up the album on radio programs and sitting down for an interview on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Oct. 6). Her film Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl barnstormed movie theaters over the Oct. 3-5 weekend, coming in atop the box office at U.S. and Canada movie theaters.

As for Showgirl’s streaming start – its 12 songs generated over 300 million on-demand official streams in its first two days in the U.S. (Oct. 3-4). Swift holds the record for the largest streaming week for an album, when The Tortured Poets Department debuted with 891.37 million on-demand official streams for the 31 songs on its deluxe edition in 2024.

The most-streamed song on Showgirl in its first two days is “The Fate of Ophelia,” with more than 48 million official on-demand steams. That number could grow significantly following the song’s official music video premiere on YouTube on Sunday, Oct. 5.

If The Life of a Showgirl debuts atop the Billboard 200, it will mark Swift’s 15th No. 1 album, lifting her past Drake and JAY-Z for the most No. 1 albums among soloists, and becoming the sole act with the second-most No. 1s. She is currently tied with Drake and JAY-Z with 14 No. 1s each, and only The Beatles, with 19 No. 1s, have more, dating to when the chart began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in 1956.

All 14 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and re-recorded projects from 2008’s Fearless (her second album) through 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department have debuted at No. 1.

PREVIOUSLY (OCT. 4): Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl album is off to a sparkling start in the United States. On its first day of release, Oct. 3, the set sold 2.7 million copies in traditional album sales (physical and digital purchases) across all versions of the album, according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate. That marks Swift’s biggest week ever, and the second-largest sales week for any album in the modern era — since Luminate began electronically tracking data in 1991. The only larger sales week in that span of time was registered by the opening frame of Adele’s 25, which sold 3.378 million copies in its first week in 2015.

Showgirl also stuns with a new modern-era record (1991-present) for the most copies of a vinyl album sold in a single week, having already sold 1.2 million copies on wax. That breaks the single-week record, set by Swift in 2024, when her last album, The Tortured Poets Department, sold 859,000 copies on vinyl in its first week.

Further news of first-week building sales and streaming activity for the album, as provided by Luminate, will be reported in the coming days.

The Life of a Showgirl was announced on Aug. 12, and Swift’s official webstore began taking preorders for the album soon after. The set was issued as a widely available streaming edition and in three widely available versions to purchase across all participating retailers (a standard CD, vinyl and digital download album). There is a plethora of further variants of the album to purchase, with more details on the assorted versions later in this story.

Sales Story: The 2.7 million-sales number registered for Showgirl is inclusive of both over-the-counter and download purchases of the album made on Oct. 3, in addition to what is assumed to be a large number of pre-orders of the physical album through Internet retailers (such as Swift’s webstore, Amazon, Target, etc.) shipped to customers for arrival on release day, as well as pre-orders of the digital download album that were redeemed on release day (via the iTunes Store and other similar sellers).

After one day on sale, The Life of a Showgirl is the top-selling album of 2025 in the U.S., surpassing the 520,000 sold of The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow, through the week ending Sept. 25.

The Life of a Showgirl’s sales are bolstered by its availability across 23 different physical configurations: 12 CDs, eight vinyl LPs, two deluxe CD boxed sets containing branded clothing and a CD, and a cassette. Four of the physical editions were exclusively sold by Target stores in the U.S. (three CDs and one vinyl), while two (a standard CD and vinyl) were available to purchase at all participating retailers.

Of the remaining 17 physical iterations, all were exclusively sold via Swift’s webstore, and most were sold for limited windows of time since the preorder launched in August. Her store carried the two deluxe CD boxed sets (one contains a branded cardigan sweater and a CD, the other contains a branded crewneck and a CD); four signed CDs; four deluxe CDs in premium packaging containing a collectible charm and photo cards; six vinyl LPs; and the cassette.

On the digital download side, there is a standard digital download available to purchase through all download sellers, as well as an iTunes Store-exclusive version that comes with a short bonus video. (Of note, none of the tracks from the album are available to purchase individually.)

To compare, Swift’s last studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, had 19 different physical iterations available in its first week (nine CDs, six vinyl LPs and four cassettes) and two digital download versions (the standard 16-song album, and the surprise deluxe 31-song Anthology edition).

Vinyl Victory: Collectively, the eight vinyl LPs for Showgirl combined to sell 1.2 million copies on the album’s first day of release — immediately breaking the modern-era record for the most vinyl copies of an album sold in a single week. Swift herself previously held the record with 859,000 copies of Poets sold in its first week.

Million-Sellers Club: Even though we’re only one day down into the tracking week, The Life of a Showgirl sashays into the single-week million-sellers club. With 2.7 million already sold, Showgirl has the second-largest sales week of the modern era (1991-present). It stands behind only the opening week of Adele’s 25, which bowed with 3.378 million sold in 2015.

Showgirl is the eighth Swift album to have sold at least 1 million copies in a single week, following the debuts of Poets, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Midnights, reputation, the original 1989, Red and Speak Now. She is the only act with eight different albums to each sell at least 1 million copies in a single week in the modern era. In total, there have been 27 instances — by 25 different albums — in which an album sold at least 1 million copies in a week in the modern era. One of those albums, Adele’s 25 sold more than 1 million in three separate weeks.