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Executive Turntable: Warner Music APAC Taps New President, Plus Duolingo ‘Acquires’ Team for Music Course

Lo Ting-Fai (known as “Lofai”) was named president of Warner Music APAC, effective Aug. 11. All of the company’s recorded music territory heads will report to the Hong Kong-based executive, while Lofai will report to Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl. Lofai joins Warner from telecoms company PCCW, where he was most recently CEO of its subsidiary, MaKerVille — centered around content creation, artist management and live events — and COO of its regional OTT streaming platform Viu. He is also a songwriter who pens music under the pseudonym “Yu Ri.” – Chris Eggertsen

Learning platform Duolingo “acquired” the team behind London-based music gaming startup NextBeat in an effort to ramp up the Duolingo app’s music course. The deal brings to the company 23 of NextBeat’s experts in areas including game design, music licensing and user retention and monetization. “Their expertise will power the next chapter of Duolingo’s gamified learning experiences, with a focus on building upon Duolingo’s Music course,” the company said a press release. NextBeat is known best for the hit mobile rhythm games Beatstar and Country Star. – Chris Eggertsen

Range Music Publishing promoted Sam Drake to senior vp of A&R. According to a press release, Drake has helped lead the division in charting seven songs in multiple genres and formats, including country, pop, rhythmic and dance radio, by Range clients including Sean Cook (Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”), Geoff Warburton (Tyler Hubbard’s “Back Then Right Now”), Tyler Dopps (Loud Luxury’s “Young & Foolish” feat. charlieonnafriday) and James Maddocks (Morgan Wallen’s “Cowgirls”). – Chris Eggertsen

MCA added two to its digital marketing team. Sarah D’Hilly has joined as senior vp of digital marketing and strategy, while Brad Krause has been named senior director of digital strategy. D’Hilly previously worked at Apple Music, Monument Records and Borman Entertainment. D’Hilly is a 2025 Billboard Country Power Players honoree and a 2026 Leadership Music class member. Krause previously worked at Warner Records, Interscope and The Trenches. – Jessica Nicholson

Big Machine Label Group (BMLG) promoted Nicole Flammia to senior vp of creative photo-video production. In the new role, Flammia will continue leading the label’s creative process for visual assets for more than 35 artists across BMLG imprints. Flammia has spent over a decade at BMLG, and has played a key role in videos including Thomas Rhett’s “Remember You Young,” Midland and Jon Pardi’s “Longneck Way to Go” and Riley Green’s “Worst Way.” – Jessica Nicholson

Symphonic Distribution hired Ed Poston as head of A&R. Based in New York, Poston has more than 15 years of A&R experience in the U.S., U.K. and Europe. He’ll report to chief creative officer Randall Foster, with whom he’ll work, alongside senior vp of sales operations Tim Bruno, to expand Symphonic’s artist relationships and propel the firm’s global growth. Poston has held leadership roles at Concord Music Publishing, Glassnote Records, BMI and, most recently, Creative Titans, where he served as head of A&R. At BMI, he worked with songwriter Caroline Ailin, who has written for Dua Lipa, Selena Gomez and Katy Perry; and at Glassnote, he led A&R for Aurora’s breakthrough album All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend. – Chris Eggertsen

Music industry veterans Jeremy Gifford and Hannah Gifford have launched Open Hand Management, with a roster that includes Dwan Hill, Franni Cash, Hopeful., Relient K and The Choir Room. Jeremy Gifford previously worked with artists including The Head and the Heart and Black Pumas, and toured/performed with We The Kingdom, before taking on a full-time management role. Hannah Gifford first worked in touring with artists including Kacey Musgraves, Tenth Avenue North and Plumb, before serving in roles at Street Talk Media and Round Table Management. – Jessica Nicholson

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has revealed a round of promotions and hirings. Marie Bradshaw has been promoted to director of institutional giving, while Crystal Mann has been promoted to associate director of revenue marketing. Bradshaw joined the museum in 2021 and most recently served as senior manager of corporate partnerships. Mann joined the museum in 2024 as marketing manager. Among the hires were Erin Osmon as a writer-editor in the museum services department and Heather Reed as director of facilities. Osmon has authored books on John Prine and Jason Molina, while her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, No Depression, Rolling Stone and Spin, among other publications. She was previously faculty at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism. Reed most recently served as director of manufacturing at Aero Build and spent two decades in Chicago at McMaster-Carr. – Jessica Nicholson

The Neal Agency promoted Kelly Littlefield to president of operations for TNA and Sticks Management. Littlefield has been with TNA since 2022 and previously served in roles at WME and ONErpm. Three additional staffers were promoted, with Clark Wilson rising from agent assistant to agent, fairs & festivals; Simone Chretien rising from booking coordinator to agent, Southeast territory; and Juliette Edwards rising from booking coordinator to agent, West Coast territory. – Jessica Nicholson

Entertainment merchandising company Futureshirts promoted Matt Pih to partner/president. Pih joined Futureshirts in 2019 and previously served in roles at Live Nation Entertainment, Bravado International Group, Manhead and more. The Nashville-based Futureshirts offers a wide range of services, including product development, touring, on-site support, ecommerce and fulfillment, brand licensing, and retail strategy. The company recently teamed with entertainers including country singer Cody Johnson, comedian Nikki Glaser and singer Josh Groban; it has also worked with Riley Green, Carly Pearce, TobyMac, Laufey and more. – Jessica Nicholson

Full-service entertainment agency Dynamic Talent International appointed Eileen Mercolino as senior vp of brand partnerships. In the role, Meroloino will lead brand strategy and partnership development across the Dynamic roster, focusing on collaborations that align artists with brands. She has held senior leadership roles at Danny Wimmer Presents, Gibson Brands, SPIN, Disney, Good Things Agency, Live Nation, 20th Century Fox Films and the Vans Warped Tour. – Chris Eggertsen

New Music USA, a national nonprofit “dedicated to advancing new music in all its forms,” appointed Vanessa Rose as president/CEO. Rose, who starts in the role on Oct. 15, succeeds Vanessa Reed, who was president/CEO from 2019 to 2025. She joins New Music USA from the American Composers Forum, which she led since 2019. She has also held leadership roles at the International Contemporary Ensemble, The Knights orchestral collective, the Lark Play Development Center and American Composers Orchestra; she additionally served as board chair of the Performing Arts Alliance. New Music USA provides more than $1 million in annual grant funding and partners with community-based organizations across the U.S. – Chris Eggertsen

August 8, 2025/by Yveto

News

Shane Profitt Puts a Fresh Coat Of Paint on Familiar Clichés in ‘Long Live Country’

When songwriters pen songs about country music or the lifestyle associated with it, there’s no need to reinvent the tractor wheel. Small towns, honky tonks, trucks, blue jeans and back roads are all standard items to wedge into a song, and help capture the topic. But the story has been told so many times that the real challenge is to explore those stock pieces of country culture with words and phrases that sound just a little bit new.

“It’s kind of overwhelming,” says Shane Profitt. “There’s so many songs like that. But at the same time, okay, we have some really big shoes to fill, so [you have to] really sit down and try to nail it down.”

Profitt’s first charted song, “How It Oughta Be” (No. 16, Country Airplay), was fueled by a number of those items – cold beer, Mama’s chicken, backyards and the kitchen table – and it was riding in the top 20 when Profitt went to the home of Australian-born writer Lindsay Rimes (“World On Fire,” “Heaven”) to write with Rimes and Matt Rogers (“’Til You Can’t,” “Freedom Was A Highway”) in March 2023.

Profitt thought it was a joke when Rimes greeted him with a standard Aussie hello – “G’day, mate” – before he recognized that it was authentic. “I just didn’t know,” Profitt admits. “I think it’s cool as s—.”

Profitt did know that it was the third anniversary of Joe Diffie’s COVID-related death – “He’s definitely on my Mount Rushmore,” Profitt says – and he was in a mood to write an anthemic country song. The night prior, Rogers had been working on his taxes, and at his CPA had him pursuing a legal maneuver that was unfamiliar, thus uncomfortable.

“I was dissolving an LLC, and I just couldn’t get LLC out of my head,” he remembers. “When we talked about it in the write that day, I was like, ‘There has to be something here, because you see LLC on everything.’ It’s everywhere you go, because anything that has a copyright or whatever has an LLC with it.”

They explored acronyms and eventually landed on “Long Live Country,” a phrase that seemed well-suited for an anthem. Rimes started building a track with a strong rock backbeat, and they developed a chorus that – starting with the phrase “Here’s to the blue-collar minimum wagers” – was one big toast to small-town America. The ideas were familiar, but the actual verbiage – “Baptist back-row amazing gracers,” “September Saturday SECers” – was unique enough to make a few clichés feel new.

“You’re telling the people almost what they’ve heard before,” Rimes concedes, “but as long as the lyric is colorful enough, and you have an artist like Shane who lives it, you can pull it off.”

At the end of the chorus, the toast naturally came to its peak moment. “Long live country,” the singer proclaims, though it fell in a way that left space for one more line. That presented a genuine challenge.

“The hardest part of the song was figuring out how we were going to end the chorus, because it felt – for lack of a better word – limp just saying, ‘Long live country,’” Rogers notes. “I was just gonna repeat it twice, and I couldn’t tell you who said ‘And country in country songs.’ That feels more complete.”

That phrase celebrated putting both more country lyrics and more country sounds into country music, and they inserted plenty of both into the verses. The text included 40-hour work weeks, helping strangers and dropping quarters into a “juke,” a word Profitt concocted while thinking about a woman who threw a fit when Shooters – a bar in his hometown, Columbia, Tenn. – replaced its coin-driven jukebox with TouchTunes. “She would play Charley Pride all the time,” he recalls.

Given the Diffie anniversary, Profitt slipped a “John Deere Green” water-tower reference into verse two, and they put another unique spin on the small-town checklist by mentioning Rust-Oleum. “It’s just a strange brand of paint, but it fits so well in the line,” Rogers says. “Those, to me, are the little nuggets. [If] you say, ‘Oh, this song is stock,’ I’d be like, ‘Okay, when the hell’s the last time you heard a song with Rust-Oleum?’”

Rimes produced a big-sounding demo that captured the energy Profitt had envisioned, though the master version would reflect the title a little more strongly. “Mine’s probably more like a ‘70s rock thing,” Rimes says. “And theirs is more like a country thing.”

Profitt was signed, at the time, to Harpeth 20/BMLG, but when that deal ended, he brought “Long Live Country” – along with plenty of other material – to his next contract with Triple Tigers. He tapped Trent Willmon (Cody Johnson, Ian Munsick) to produce three songs on a trial basis Feb. 3 at the Curb 43 studio on Music Row. Profitt was enamored with Rimes’ demo, but wanted more country flavor, putting Willmon on a creative tightrope.

“You don’t want to reinvent it,” Willmon says. “If they really love the demo, you kind of got to stick to it.”

Drummer Evan Hutchings drove the rock-tinged power in the track, while guitarist Justin Ostrander modified the original instrumental signature lick, adding a few more notes to the end to make it more seamless. Acoustic guitarist Tim Galloway overdubbed a banjo part, hidden deep in the background, and steel guitarist Scotty Sanders took over on the back half of a solo section that started on electric guitar.

Profitt visited Willmon’s home at a later date to do the final vocals in an 1820 log cabin that Willmon had transported to his property from its original location in West Virginia. Instead of recording in the cabin’s vocal booth, Willmon put Profitt in the center of the big room and covered some baffles with ultra-country material to control the sound.

“We set up these little panels, and I covered them up with these old quilts,” Willmon says. “We’ll set the mic up in the living room of this cabin. And we purposefully didn’t add the second floor on half of the cabin, so there’s a loft in one side, but it’s a two-story cabin, and it’s 25 feet from the floor of this cabin to the to the top, and so you get this incredible, warm, natural reverb.”

Triple Tigers released “Long Live Country” to country radio via PlayMPE on June 30, and it’s gotten off to a good start at numerous stations, including WTQR Winston-Salem, N.C.; KHEY El Paso, Texas; and KBAY San Jose. The song conveys its familiar country properties with its own unique language.

“I always try to be different,” Profitt says, “but not too terribly different. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

August 8, 2025/by Yveto

News

HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk Pledges to Return to South Korea to Face Fraud Investigation, ‘Resolve the Allegations’

HYBE founder and chairman Bang Si-hyuk has pledged to return to Korea promptly and cooperate fully and transparently with an ongoing fraud investigation by authorities in the country, he wrote in an internal email sent to employees on Aug. 6. In the email, his first statement since the recent controversies, Bang wrote, “I cannot allow my personal issues to continue burdening the company and the industry,” adding that he intends to “resolve the allegations at hand.”

HYBE has faced constant scrutiny from both domestic and international media amid a string of unfavorable developments in recent weeks.

On July 22, the Seoul Southern District Court convicted three former employees of HYBE Labels on charges of insider trading. A week later, on July 29, the Seoul Regional Tax Office’s 4th Bureau of Investigation launched a large-scale tax investigation, conducting a search and seizure at HYBE’s headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

And HYBE Chairman Bang has been caught up in the scrutiny, with a probe centered on stock purchases and investor communications ahead of the company’s IPO in 2020.

“Due to various circumstances since last year and recent personal matters, both the company and my name have been repeatedly mentioned in unfavorable news,” Bang wrote in his email. “Above all, I sincerely apologize to our members who may have felt discomfort because of this.”

Reflecting on HYBE’s origins, he added, “HYBE was the starting point of my journey to realize the ideals and dreams I have held as a creator. With a grand vision and a sense of duty to modernize the music industry, I have always strived to remain true to myself throughout the process.”

Bang admitted he has been questioning whether there were things he overlooked during the company’s growth. “The period in which I was unable to respond swiftly to the suspicions and controversies was also a painful time for me,” he said, expressing concern that his personal matters could indirectly harm artists and staff who should be focused on their creative and business work. He closed his email by thanking employees for their dedication amid the turmoil. “I will do my utmost to explain and resolve this situation so that my personal issues do not become an obstacle to your talents, capabilities and spirit of challenge,” he wrote. “Like all members of HYBE, I will continue to reflect deeply and remain committed to the development of music and the industry.”

Despite the ongoing internal and external turmoil, the company’s artists continue to achieve remarkable success both domestically and abroad. BTS has placed a total of 16 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, with eight of them reaching the top 10 — a first and a record for any Korean artist. TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s fourth full-length album, The Star Chapter: TOGETHER, topped the Top Album Sales, Top Current Album Sales and World Albums charts, and also debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

August 8, 2025/by Yveto

News

Could ‘Beyoncé Bowl’ Top ‘SNL50’ at 2025 Emmys? Well, It’s Hard to Compete With a Nice, Round Number

Beyoncé would probably really like to win her first Primetime Emmy this year, to go along with her record 35 Grammy Awards, but it won’t be easy. Her Beyoncé Bowl (which streamed on Netflix) is nominated for outstanding variety special (live), but most pundits expect the award to go to SNL50: The Anniversary Special (NBC).

There are several reasons for that. SNL is obviously a TV institution. It went on the air more than five years before Beyoncé was even born. Two earlier SNL anniversary specials – Saturday Night Live: The 25th Anniversary Special and The Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special – won program awards in predecessor categories.

Another sign: SNL50: The Anniversary Special received 12 Primetime Emmy nods this year, compared to just four for Beyoncé Bowl.

And there’s another factor at play here: Voters find it hard to resist a nice, round number. We’ve rounded up 11 music or variety shows with such numbers in their titles that won Primetime Emmys in key program categories.

To be sure, shows with nice, round numbers in their titles don’t always win. Just last year, Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden lost outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) to Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic, a fairly random number. But voters wanted to give Van Dyke his flowers while they could. In 2018, The Carol Burnett Show: 50th Anniversary Special lost in that same category to Dave Chappelle: Equanimity, a title with no numbers at all. But in general, it’s a plus.

This year’s other nominees for outstanding variety special (live) are The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar (Fox), The Oscars (ABC) and SNL50: The Homecoming Concert (Peacock).

The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent won in this category three years ago, the first time a halftime show had ever won a top program award.

The Oscars won in this category last year and won three previous times (in 1979, 1988 and 1991) in predecessor categories.

There’s a slight chance that the two SNL salutes could split that show’s support, allowing another program to win, but most voters know that SNL50: The Anniversary Special is the flagship effort. Lorne Michaels executive produced both specials, working in tandem with Mark Ronson on the concert special.

Beyoncé has a second chance to win a Primetime Emmy this year. She could win for outstanding directing for a variety special. (She directed Beyoncé Bowl alongside Alex Rudzinski, who won in this category nine years ago for co-directing Grease Live!) If Bey wins here, it would mark the second time a director won in this category for directing a show in which he or she was the star. Bo Burnham won in this category four years ago for Bo Burnham: Inside.

Here are the 11 music or variety shows with nice, round numbers in their titles that won Primetime Emmys in key program categories.

August 8, 2025/by Yveto

News

Jonas Brothers Bro Down With Jimmy Fallon Over Being Unabashed Girl Dads: ‘I’m Just Buying So Many Clothes’

The Jonas Brothers are pop stars, movie and TV veterans and generational heartthrobs. But, first and foremost, they are girl dads. Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas dropped by The Tonight Show on Thursday night (Aug. 7) to talk about their upcoming 20th anniversary tour and new album, Greetings From Your Hometown. But their first order of business was geeking out with host Jimmy Fallon about the wonders of having daughters.

“I’m just buying so many clothes,” said Nick, father of three-and-a-half-year-old Malti Marie Chopra Jonas when Fallon asked if the siblings find themselves doing anything they never thought they would for the love of their daughters. “It’s ridiculous… I order them, and then I forget that I ordered them and the packages arrive at the house and I’m like, ‘Who ordered all these clothes for the baby!?,’” Nick joked.

Kevin admitted that his two daughters with wife Danielle are firmly in their “Labubu phase,” with one of the girls dead-set on finding the rarest versions of the viral plushie that has sent parents on crazed journeys to secure the adorably ugly dolls for their kids. His other daughter, luckily, is merely obsessed with Stitch from Disney’s Lilo & Stitch.

Meanwhile Joe — who has the birth dates of his two daughters with ex-wife Sophie Turner prominently tattooed on his upper chest — calmly revealed that he now knows “every single princess and unicorn.”

The trio also talked about pulling together the set list for their upcoming 20th anniversary tour, with Nick admitting that “it’s basically impossible to summarize a 20-year journey with music” in just two-and-a-half hours. With so many songs they want to spotlight, as well as some they can’t play live, Nick said the show they’ve come up with “really represents the journey we’ve been on” and the songs that are relevant to them.

The JoBros also gamely suited up for a “Hot Wizard Hotline” bit with Fallon, in which they tapped into the romantasy trend via their throwback VHS-era erotic chat line commercial starring Joe as Gavaniel the Lewd, Nick as Grimblegoth the Naughty and Kevin as Gwyngelvin the Firm. In addition to raising a glass of champagne to toast their new album and tour, the brothers celebrated with one of their favorite backstage tour rider must-haves: ants on a log with almond butter (no raisins for Kevin, though).

The Jonas20: Greetings From Your Hometown tour kicks off on Sunday (Aug. 10) in the siblings’ home state of New Jersey at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford with guests the All-American Rejects and Marshmello.

Watch the Jonas Brothers on The Tonight Show below.

August 8, 2025/by Yveto

News

Carnie Wilson Pays Tribute to Dad Brian Wilson Following Family Funeral: ‘God Knows What We’d Be Without Him’

Two months after his passing at age 82, Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson was laid to rest in a family ceremony earlier this week. The musical savant’s eldest child, singer Carnie Wilson, paid loving tribute to her dad in a lengthy Instagram post on Thursday (Aug. 7), in which she expressed both her feelings of unending grief and peaceful solace about the loss of her guiding light.

“Today we laid my Daddy to rest. It was incredibly difficult to see that happen, but at the same time it gave more closure and more of a feeling of restful peace,” Carnie wrote. “The last eight weeks have been extremely challenging and like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I love and miss him so much and I wish he could come back. There’s so many signs that he gives me every day and I know that he’s around …he can hear me and he can see me. He makes that apparent. I’m so grateful for this.”

Wilson’s death was announced by his family on June 11, with TMZ reporting that the musician’s immediate cause of death was respiratory arrest, with sepsis and cystitis listed as contributing causes.

Carnie continued, “Today we had a couple of monarch butterflies that just would not leave the site. It was comforting and beautiful. I’m trying to deal with my emotions -they’re so up and down. I know that he would want everybody to feel happy and not sad. He didn’t like it when I cried.”

The singer who performed in the 1990s pop trio Wilson Phillips with her sister Wendy Wilson and Chynna Phillips — daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas — added that she talked to her old friend Gunnar Nelson — son of Ricky Nelson — about how their parent’s music will live on well beyond their time on Earth.

“He reminded me that the world will have his music to sing to and remember him every single solitary day until we are all gone,” Carnie wrote. “This is a really special and a real heavy duty thought. It’s much bigger than I can wrap my head around. For this I am grateful for though because I know it’s the truth. So I just wanna say thank you… thank you Daddy for your beautiful contribution to so much happiness and real raw emotions that you have brought to people. Thank you to all the beautiful loving and supportive fans out there for honoring him. We share this together. God knows what we’d be without him.”

Check out Carnie Wilson’s tribute below.

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A post shared by Carnie Wilson (@carnie68)

August 8, 2025/by Yveto

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60th Anniversary of Beatles Show at Shea Stadium to Be Celebrated by New York Mets

The New York Mets will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Beatles‘ landmark performance at Shea Stadium on Beatles Night at Citi Field on Aug. 15. During the game against the Seattle Mariners, the team will honor the 1965 performance, which at the time was the first rock show at a major U.S. stadium, according to the Associated Press.

The old Shea Stadium — which opened a year before in 1964 — was home to the Mets and the New York Jets before being torn down in 2009 to make way for Citi Field. The landmark show by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr was chronicled in the 50-minute documentary The Beatles at Shea Stadium.

Next week’s celebration will kick off with a performance by 1964 The Tribute band in front of the Shea Bridge at 6:15 p.m. ET, with the first 15,000 fans entering Citi Field getting an exclusive mini Shea Stadium replica. In addition, there will be a fireworks display cued to the Beatles’ music after the game and the first pitch will be thrown out by members of the gameday staff who worked the Aug. 15, 1965 concert.

According to Setlist.fm, the Beatles’ 12-song Shea Stadium set for 55,000 screaming fans opened with “Twist and Shout” and included performances of “She’s a Woman,” “I Feel Fine,” “Dizzy, Miss Lizzy,” “Ticket to Ride,” “Everybody’s Tryin’ to Be My Baby,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Baby’s in Black,” “Act Naturally,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Help!” and “I’m Down.”

See a promo for the anniversary celebration below.

The Beatles Night – Friday, Aug. 15

Celebrate the 60th anniversary of their iconic show at Shea Stadium with a pregame concert by 1964 The Tribute, a special post-game fireworks show, and much more!

🎟️👉 https://t.co/OZgPSx7ObZ pic.twitter.com/bMVwtVBTnX

— New York Mets (@Mets) August 7, 2025

August 8, 2025/by Yveto

News

Damon Albarn, PinkPantheress & More Join Brian Eno’s Together for Palestine Benefit Concert

Damon Albarn, PinkPantheress and Jamie xx are among the names confirmed to appear at British musician and composer Brian Eno’s Together for Palestine gig.

Taking place at London’s OVO Arena Wembley on Sept. 17, the event will raise funds for the Choose Love charity, with all proceeds going to support Palestinian-led organizations providing humanitarian relief. Tickets are available now via My Ticket.

Other acts confirmed to perform at the show include Bastille, Cat Burns, Greentea Peng, Hot Chip, James Blake, King Krule, Mabel, Obongjayar, Paloma Faith, Rachel Chinouriri and Sampha alongside Palestinian artists such as Adnan Joubran, Faraj Suleiman and Nai Barghouti, with more performers to be announced in the coming weeks. PinkPantheress, Rina Sawayama and Riz Ahmed are also slated to contribute with an appearance. More names are set to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Eno will serve as executive producer for the evening along with production managers Khaled Ziada, Khalid Abdalla and Tracey Seaward. “In the face of the horrors of Gaza, silence becomes complicity. Artists have always helped societies to point out injustice and imagine better futures,” he said in a statement. “That’s why this concert matters. It’s time for us to come together – not just to raise our voices, but to reaffirm our shared humanity.”

Ziada added, “In a world where governments and mainstream media have fallen silent in the face of genocide, this gathering becomes a chorus of resistance – where artists and communities come together to grieve, to rage and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian people, and with all those who suffer injustice.”

Upon announcing the event July 31, Eno posted a lengthy statement to Instagram that discussed his intentions behind launching Together for Palestine.

“What we are witnessing in Gaza isn’t a mystery, and neither is it a blur of competing narratives making it ‘hard to understand’,” it read in part. “When dozens of non-partisan organisations like Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders describe it as genocide, the moral line is clear. We can’t remain silent. Which is why I’m helping to organise Together for Palestine – a night of music, reflection and hope at Wembley Arena.”

He added: “My sincere belief is that this evening can become a moment of courage where artists come together to speak the truth in their hearts – which is what we trust artists to do. Whether on stage or by video from around the world, this is a chance for us to stand together and say: this can’t continue.”

The war was sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, during which more than 1,200 Israeli civilians were killed by Hamas fighters, who also took more than 250 hostages. Since then, Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported that more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed. In late July, the World Health Organization reported that malnutrition rates among civilians and children have reached alarming levels.

Eno formed part of a group of musicians in July who announced the formation of a syndicate for artists speaking out about Israel’s military assault on Gaza, who they say have been subjected to “aggressive, vexatious campaigns” by pro-Israel advocates. Other names involved include Fontaines D.C., Kneecap and Massive Attack.

Posting on Instagram, the artists said their aim was to protect other artists, particularly those at early stages of their careers, from being “threatened into silence or career cancellation” by organizations such as U.K. Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).

August 8, 2025/by Yveto

News

Hilltop Hoods Set New Benchmark With Seventh ARIA No. 1 Album

Australian hip-hop veterans Hilltop Hoods land their seventh No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart as Fall From the Light debuts atop the list. The set marks the Adelaide trio’s ninth studio album, first in six years, and their sixth consecutive debut at No. 1.

With this latest feat, Hilltop Hoods extend their record for the most No. 1 albums by any Australian group. The winners of 10 ARIA Awards previously reached the summit with The Hard Road (2006), State of the Art (2009), Drinking From the Sun (2012), Walking Under Stars (2014), Drinking From the Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung (2016) and The Great Expanse (2019).

ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said: “From suburban Adelaide to local and international success, Hilltop Hoods are an inspiration and a testament to the power and passion of Australian music. Seven No. 1 albums is a truly incredible achievement and something we should all be very proud of. A massive congratulations to Suffa, Pressure and DJ Debris from everyone at ARIA.

“Hilltop Hoods and the other Aussies who have topped the ARIA albums chart so far in 2025 – Ball Park Music, Bliss n Eno, Jimmy Barnes and Calum Hood – are fantastic examples of the creativity, diversity and success of the local music industry.”

The top five on this week’s ARIA Albums Chart is rounded out by the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack (No. 2), Reneé Rapp’s Bite Me (No. 3), Alex Warren’s You’ll Be Alright, Kid (No. 4) and Ed Sheeran’s +=÷x (Tour Collection) (No. 5).

Three more Australian acts debut in the top 40 this week. Perth singer-songwriter Darcie Haven starts at No. 11 with her second EP Angel of the Apocalypse, ahead of a national headline tour. The Vanns arrive at No. 27 with their third album All That’s In My Head, and veteran rocker Swanee — older brother of Jimmy Barnes — bows at No. 37 with Believe.

Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, “Golden” from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack spends a second week at No. 1. Tracks from the album dominate half of the top 10, including “Your Idol” (No. 5), “Soda Pop” (No. 6), “How It’s Done” (No. 8) and “What It Sounds Like” (No. 10).

Chappell Roan claims the week’s highest debut with “The Subway” at No. 4, scoring her fifth top 20 single in Australia. Elsewhere, New York rapper Sombr jumps from No. 59 to No. 23 with “12 To 12,” his third top 30 hit of the year following “Undressed” (No. 2 in May) and “Back To Friends” (No. 3 in May).

August 8, 2025/by Yveto

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Blusher Cover Kesha’s ‘Your Love Is My Drug’ for First ‘Like A Version’

Australian pop trio Blusher have put their own shimmering twist on Kesha’s “Your Love Is My Drug” for their debut appearance on triple j’s long-running Like A Version covers segment.

The Melbourne-based group, consisting of Miranda Ward, Jade Ingvarson-Favretto and Lauren Coutts, first bonded over a shared love of Kesha before forming Blusher in 2021, making the choice of cover a personal one.

“There’s something about the shameless love of pop music that Kesha has really just always been an advocate for,” Ingvarson-Favretto said during the broadcast. “It’s kind of our guiding light.”

For the performance, the trio reimagined the 2010 Animal hit with layered harmonies, live drums and choreographed moves, replacing the original’s sharp electro-pop edges with their trademark dreamy, glitter-laced production. Coutts took on Kesha’s rap bridge, keeping one of the song’s most recognisable moments intact, while the group leaned into their own aesthetic with wired headphones and bold red-and-black styling.

The cover arrived the same day Blusher released Racer, their second EP. Alongside the Kesha rendition, they performed their own track “Last Man Standing” live in the triple j studios.

“Your Love Is My Drug” originally peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2010, becoming Kesha’s third top 10 hit that year.

Meanwhile, Kesha’s latest studio album . (Period) made its mark on Billboard’s charts last month, debuting at No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Vinyl Albums and Top Dance Albums (chart dated July 19). It marks her first independently released album after a career with Kemosabe/RCA Records. The set was issued through the singer’s own Kesha Records label and distributed by Warner Music Group’s indie distribution arm Alternative Distribution Alliance.

In support of the new album, the singer recently announced she is set to return to Australia for a run of headline dates. Part of her wider T–ts Out Tour, the four-date trek of the country will see Kesha performing headline dates in the Australian capital cities of Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth in late February, 2026.

Notably, the announced run does not include a stop in Sydney, though her visit to Australia coincides with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. No announcement as to Kesha’s potential involvement in the festivities has been released, however.

Watch Blusher’s cover of “Your Love Is My Drug” below.

August 8, 2025/by Yveto

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