Music Industry News and Innuendo Store: https://xitter.cf/t.co/7RI1JkIs3p | IG: hitsdd
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CHART FINAL: Four months after its release, Olivia Rodrigo’s you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (Interscope) is back in the #1 spot, no doubt levitated by O-Rod’s fun-and-games duet with Chappell Roan on the recently released “expectations (remix).” Something tells us this project may have legs.
The week’s biggest debut by a country mile, Zach Bryan’s Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs (Warner), notches a tidy 63k thanks to killer streams on multiple tracks, most notably “Lies,” Zach’s smoky, sad duet with Lana Del Rey.
Probably because her new single, “Housewife,” is now the biggest dang song in the world, RCA’s Tate McRae sees a 35% jump for her last album, So Close to What, which vaults #36-19.
The week’s other significant debuts include Dopamine Chamber by XL’s rock favorites Fontaines D.C. (nearly 23k, good for #18); Hyperdrive, by K-poppers PLAVE (VLAST), and Ashe’s The Girl of Your Dreams (Atlantic), which land at #27 and #28 with about 20k apiece; and Lucki’s Last Laugh [archive tape] (EMPIRE), alighting at #36 with 17k.
Start your sobbing: John Mayer is getting into the label business, launching Sob Rock Records through a partnership with Mercury Records—and teeing up his first solo single in five years in the process.
Friday will see the arrival of “Tom and Jerry,” Mayer’s first new song since 2021’s gold-certified Sob Rock.
“The path from creative vision to execution has never been easier or more rewarding,” said Mayer. “I feel very inspired, and I’m excited for what’s to come.”
Mercury Chairman and CEO Tyler Arnold welcomed the seven-time Grammy winner to the label, calling Mayer “one of the greatest artists of all time.”
For its part, HITS sobs a little every day.
Spotify keeps finding new ears—and more ways to monetize them. The streaming giant added 6m premium subscribers in Q3, bringing its paying customer base to 306m.
Monthly active users climbed to 788 million, up 11% year over year.
Revenue for the quarter reached €5b, up 16% year over year in reported terms; operating income rose to €672m, up from €582 million the previous year.
Subscriber gains in every region, with key performance indicators meeting or exceeding guidance.
Looking ahead, the Swedes forecast Q4 operating income of €820m and revenue of €5.2b and change, with premium subs expected to reach 316m.
Kacey Musgraves is taking Middle of Nowhere even farther south of the border: Middle of Nowhere Vol. 2: Tex Mex Tapes, a 16-track collection arriving Jan. 15 on Lost Highway.
Four tracks are sung entirely in Spanish, including a newly recorded version of Middle of Nowhere’s “Uncertain, TX” featuring Mexican Norteño group Intocable.
Two tracks, “Weekend in Texas” and Musgraves’ rendition of Norteño classic “Mi Tesoro,” arrive Thursday at midnight ET.
It expands on its predecessor’s eclectic exploration of solitude and contentment through the musical and cultural connections between Texas and Mexico.
Leading, Big 3 nominees ROSALÍA, Jorge Drexler, Mon Laferte and Silvana Estrada are confirmed to take the stage at the Latin Grammys on Nov. 12.
It's the first group of performers for the ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Also booked: Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year Daddy Yankee, Carín León, Juanes, Rawayana, Anitta, Kany García, Elena Rose, Xavi, Vivir Quintana and Banda Los Recoditos.
SoundCloud and Moises partner on AI integration: musicians can bring SoundCloud tracks into Moises to "practice, produce, collaborate and reimagine" before publishing finished music back to SoundCloud.
The goal is to enhance—not replace—human creativity.
Pro capabilities: stem separation, chord and lyric detection, AI-assisted mixing and mastering and real-time collaboration.
SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton: AI in music "should be artist-first and human-first."
Sam Fender is thinking very big for 2027: the Proper Massive stadium tour, including his biggest headline shows to date — two nights at London's Wembley Stadium on June 18 and 20.
A 10-date summer run across the U.K., Ireland and Belgium, it also has him headlining Belgium's Rock Werchter festival on July 3.
Fender is also rumored to be in the mix as a potential Glastonbury headliner, but the lineup has yet to be officially confirmed.
The artist’s stadium-sized ambitions are backed by substantial box office receipts. Fender’s three shows at Newcastle’s St. James’ Park in June 2025 moved more than 150k tickets and grossed $14.64m, according to Pollstar. His June 2025 London Stadium concert sold nearly 79k tickets and grossed nearly $8m.
AI can imitate a superstar's face or voice. But getting permission is another story.
Music-biz attorney Don Passman explains why major artists aren't rushing to license their likenesses—and why the economics don't add up.
“We’re still in such early stages of this tech cycle, which is the same one that every new technology goes through.” In the beginning, “there’s no established marketplace, there are no set rules, and nobody particularly wants to be the guinea pig.”
Read our conversation: hitsdd.co/an9xh6
Capitol's SIENNA SPIRO has extended her My House tour with 22 North American dates, beginning Aug. 3 in Dallas, in venues more than double the size.
She's playing the 3,500-capacity Hammerstein Ballroom tonight but will settle into the 6,000-seat Radio City Music Hall on Aug. 17.
Reports that The Rockettes have begun to choreograph a "Die on This Hill" number could not be confirmed at press time.
If you're last-minute shopping for a dark-horse Best New Artist candidate this Grammy season, look no further than Island's Remi Wolf.
Her defiantly vulnerable album, Mud, was released past the eligibility deadline, yet she has been put forth for BNA—a timeline that worked like a charm for fellow Island-er Olivia Dean last year.
The third LP has been garnering rapturous reviews, and first-week sales were double that of 2024's Big Ideas.
“We’re homieing down so hard.”
CHART PREVIEW: Olivia Rodrigo appears poised to slide back to #1 with you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (Geffen/Interscope), projected at 78k in activity this week. The set is undoubtedly being propelled by a new remix of the track “expectations” featuring Chappell Roan, which has streamed like gangbusters.
Belting Bronco/Warner’s Zach Bryan will bow at #2 with Young Manhood and Other Donatable Organs; its projected 62k in activity is attributable to the fact that all eight of its songs appear on the Spotify U.S. chart, led by his Lana Del Rey team-up, “Lies,” at #5.
Elsewhere, virtual K-Pop group PLAVE will open in the Top 15 with HYPERDRIVE (VLAST), and Fontaines D.C. aim for a Top 20 debut with Dopamine Chamber (XL), the Dublin five-piece’s fifth album.
