Culture

New Music Friday: Ckay, Beyoncé & Whitney Houston — August 7, 2026

Ckay's Banger Boy, Beyoncé and Jay-Z's Morning Dew (Donk) remix, and a Whitney Houston hits collection led a stacked August 7, 2026 release day.

Culture

New Music Friday: Davido, Ariana Grande & Shaboozey — July 31, 2026

Davido marks 15 years in music with ORIADÉ, Ariana Grande returns with petal, and Shaboozey, Jacquees, Arca, Cautious Clay and Isaiah Falls also released albums on July 31, 2026.

Culture

Prince's Purple Rain Musical Sets Broadway Opening for April 12, 2027

Prince's Purple Rain heads to Broadway's Majestic Theatre with previews starting March 12, 2027, following its fall 2025 Minneapolis premiere and a reworked creative team led by director Saheem Ali.

Culture

CVC Capital Partners Agrees to Acquire Majority Stake in DistroKid

CVC Capital Partners has agreed to acquire a majority stake in DistroKid, the music distributor that handles 30-40% of new releases worldwide, with existing investor Insight Partners retaining a minority stake. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2026.

Culture

New Music Friday: Tyla, Rico Nasty & Cypress Hill — July 24, 2026

Tyla rebrands her sound as pop on A*POP, Rico Nasty reunites with Kenny Beats on RX, and Cypress Hill raps a full album in Spanish — six releases worth your time this New Music Friday.

Culture

Travis Scott's Cactus Jack Signs First-Look Deal With Paramount Pictures

Travis Scott's Cactus Jack signed a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures on July 22, giving the studio first refusal on his film, TV, theater, and live-entertainment projects after his narration role in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.

Culture

Primary Wave Closes Kobalt Acquisition to Form a $7 Billion Music Company

Primary Wave completed its acquisition of Kobalt Music on July 7, buying the publisher and its AMRA collection society from Francisco Partners in a reported $1.5 billion deal that creates a combined $7 billion independent-music company.

Culture

Reservoir Media Acquires Nacional Records and Canciones Nacionales Catalogs

Reservoir Media acquired the recorded catalog of Latin independent label Nacional Records and the publishing catalog of Canciones Nacionales for an undisclosed sum, and formed a joint venture with the label to sign and develop new Latin artists and songwriters.

Culture

New Music Friday: Rick Ross, Steve Lacy & Syd — July 17, 2026

Rick Ross returns with Set In Stone, his first album in five years, alongside Steve Lacy's Oh yeah?, Syd's Beard, Larry June's Who Coppin and LADIPOE's REVIVAL. A Friday built on long-delayed returns — and one heavily announced album that never showed up.

Culture

Iron Maiden Members Sell Pophouse 50% of Their Catalog and Likeness Rights

Pophouse Entertainment, the ABBA Voyage firm co-founded by Björn Ulvaeus, bought 50% of Iron Maiden members' stake in their publishing, masters and likeness rights — including Eddie, the mascot who has fronted the band's artwork since 1980.

Culture

JAY-Z Plays Three Yankee Stadium Nights With Beyoncé, Nas, Eminem and Rihanna

JAY-Z headlined three nights at Yankee Stadium July 10-12, 2026, marking Reasonable Doubt's 30th and The Blueprint's 25th, with guests from Beyoncé and Blue Ivy to Nas, Eminem and Rihanna.

Culture

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Receives a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Cleveland hip-hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 8, 2026, honored in the Recording category as Ice-T and Fat Joe paid tribute.