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Hayley Williams to Contribute to Netflix Film

Hayley Williams
Jason Tate

Hayley Williams will contribute original music to the upcoming Netflix movie The Twits.

Williams added: “Being a part of this movie is like one pinch-me moment after another. My favorite Roald Dahl book growing up was The Twits. I’m drawn to learning about twisted characters like Mr. and Mrs. Twit and The Wormwoods from Matilda. The way Phil and Daisy adapted the original story was really exciting to me, as was the animation style. It feels like a cautionary tale — and also a really lovely depiction of chosen family and community, which is one of my favorite topics. I owe David Byrne for pulling me into the music for this. It was so fun and so surreal starting a song from scratch with him.”

Matt Healy Warns of Threat to Small Gig Venues

Jason Tate

BBC:

More than 1,000 pubs, bars and restaurants across the UK will host music events as part of a new nationwide festival backed by The 1975’s Matty Healy, who has warned about the talent pipeline drying up.

”Local venues aren’t just where bands cut their teeth, they’re the foundation of any real culture,” the frontman said in a statement.

”Without them, you don’t get The Smiths, Amy Winehouse, or The 1975. You get silence.”

Spotify Stock Falls on Earnings Report

Jason Tate

Digital Music News:

After posting solid MAUs growth – along with a net loss – for Q2 2025, Spotify has seen its stock price plummet by about 12% on the day.

In the appropriate earnings report, Spotify disclosed an average of 696 million MAUs, including 276 million paid subscribers. Both figures represent double-digit YoY improvements and exceeded guidance. […]

“However,” CEO Daniel Ek elaborated during the earnings call, “as I look at our progress, the one area that hasn’t yet met our expectations is our ads business. We’ve simply been moving too slowly, and it’s taking longer than expected to see the improvements we initiated to take hold. It’s really an execution challenge, not a problem with the strategy.”

Former Anti-Flag Vocalist Ordered to Pay Accuser $1.9 Million

Anti-Flag
Jason Tate

Digital Music News:

Now, Geever has been ordered to pay Sarhadi $1.9 million, having been found liable by default for failing to respond to the allegations or appear in court. The verdict was handed down last Tuesday. Judge Brenda K. Sannes granted Sarhadi $1,170,800 in damages, with a further $750,000 awarded for punitive damages. However, Judge Sannes denied Sarhadi’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

AI Generated Songs Appearing on Dead Artists’ Spotify Pages

Jason Tate

404 Media (paywalled) is reporting on how Spotify is allowing AI-Generated songs on various dead artists’ pages:

According to his official Spotify page, Blaze Foley, a country music singer-songwriter who was murdered in 1989, released a new song called “Together” last week. The song, which features a male country singer, piano, and an electric guitar, vaguely sounds like a new, slow country song. The Spotify page for the song also features an image of an AI-generated image of a man who looks nothing like Foley singing into a microphone.  

Craig McDonald, the owner of Lost Art Records, the label that distributes all of Foley’s music and manages his Spotify page, told me that any Foley fan would instantly realize “Together” is not one of his songs. 

Consequence has more:

Update: In a statement a spokesperson for Spotify said, “The content in question violates Spotify’s deceptive content policies, which prohibit impersonation intended to mislead, such as replicating another creator’s name, image, or description, or posing as a person, brand, or organization in a deceptive manner. This is not allowed. We take action against licensors and distributors who fail to police for this kind of fraud and those who commit repeated or egregious violations can and have been permanently removed from Spotify.”

New Interview With Matt Thiessen

Relient K
Jason Tate

Matt Thiessen mentions that he’s been writing but there’s no current plan for Relient K to enter the studio in a new interview:

”I’ve been musing over what the set is going to look like for us,” Thiessen said of the songs they’ll play. “I know we’ll definitely play songs from (the album) ‘Mmhmm.’ I think I want to keep the show as casual and fun as possible.”

From there, the future of the band seems to be pretty loose and open.

”I’d love to record some new music and keep playing shows,” Thiessen said.

”I’ve been working on lots of new songs, but as of now, we don’t have any plans to get into the studio.”

All Time Low Interview With Rolling Stone

All Time Low
Jason Tate

All Time Low talked with Rolling Stone:

That question also came as the band was embroiled in a major legal drama, which involved a defamation suit All Time Low filed in response to serious accusations of sexual abuse by fans online against founding guitarist Jack Barakat. A storm of controversy ensued as the All Time Low fanbase split into two camps: supporters and detractors of the band, both unequivocal in their stances. It all made the band’s next move particularly important.

Spotify Could Help Songwriters

Jason Tate

Jeff Rabhan, writing for The Hollywood Reporter:

With a market cap now topping $145 billion, Spotify is worth more than most of the companies it licenses music from. Universal is valued at $56B. Warner? Just over $15.5 billion. And Ek? He’s sold more than $800 million in stock since 2023 alone — more than many of the songwriters on the platform have made combined. That’s not just a bad look. It’s a stat you can’t explain away.

Yes, he earned it. He helped assemble the biggest music library on earth. But when the guy holding the keys to the industry cashes out like a Silicon Valley titan while songwriters are still being paid like baristas, something’s broken. Ek’s net worth is closing in on $10 billion according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. He can afford to lead — and it won’t cost him much to do it.

‘Scrubs’ Gets Series Order at ABC

Scrubs
Jason Tate

Scrubs is officially returning.

A long-discussed revival of the 2000s comedy series has landed a series order from ABC, where it’s been in development since December 2024 — though series creator Bill Lawrence and members of the cast have talked about reuniting for years before that. Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke, who starred in the original version of the show, have signed on to join series lead Zach Braff in the revival. All three will also be executive producers on the show, which is set to premiere in the 2025-26 season.

Tom DeLonge Demoing Blink-182 Songs

Box Car Racer
Jason Tate

Tom DeLonge talked with Kerrang:

“Film stuff takes a long time, you know,” he says. “I work on these things for years. I’m juggling a lot of projects – some are at casting, some are writing outlines, some are in script, some are in production.” Between them all, there’s the small matter blink-182’s year-closing Missionary Impossible tour, culminating at Las Vegas’s When We Were Young festival. “I’ll probably start doing some demos for blink here shortly as well,” he excitingly adds. “I’ve got to start working on recording stuff now, because I’ll be gone for a bit of time when I would normally start next year…

Good Charlotte Talk With Rolling Stone

Good Charlotte
Jason Tate

Good Charlotte talked with Rolling Stone:

We all feel that way sometimes. It’s OK to feel that way. When I say, “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t born at all,” I don’t mean it where I want to be gone. I am not suicidal and, thank God, I’m not depressed. But I’ve had times in my life where I was, and I had to figure that out, and it was a lot of work to figure out my own mental health and self-esteem. I’m still working on all of it all of the time. We’re all a work in progress.

Sometimes you have moments in life where it’s really fucking hard. It has nothing to do with your family or your success or your failure or whatever. But it’s a moment of aloneness, and you question stuff, and even have to give yourself the room to feel OK with those moments. That line, that just came out of me. I feel like everyone can relate to it, no matter who they are. They have those moments where they have to take a knee or let out a deep sigh or whatever, and then just keep getting on with it. 

Good Charlotte Talk with Kerrang

Good Charlotte
Jason Tate

Good Charlotte talked with Kerrang:

“Watching my little sister, this woman who I’ve known since she was seven and has loved Good Charlotte, and I love her husband – it was such a beautiful moment for our family,” he smiles. “And to be a part of it with Good Charlotte was not something I expected. Of course we would do anything for them, and so we went and played – and the band showed up. I fucking love these guys. They dropped everything, came, put effort into it, and we had this amazing time, which makes me love those guys. And we would all do that for each other. We were just laughing and hanging around and we were like, ‘We should make another record.’

Warner Music Group Announces Mass Layoffs

Warner Music
Jason Tate

Digital Music News:

Warner Music Group (WMG) has announced a significant new round of layoffs as part of a sweeping restructuring and cost-savings initiative. The news comes from a staff memo from CEO Robert Kyncl that went out to staff today, July 1.

This move marks yet another major workforce reduction at the company, which has undergone several rounds of layoffs and reorganization since Kyncl assumed his leadership role in 2023.

While the exact number of employees affected in this latest round has not been disclosed, a Securities & Exchange Commission memo details that WMG aims to achieve approximately $170 million in savings through workforce reductions. This is part of a broader plan to cut annual costs by $300 million, with the remaining $130 million coming from reductions in administrative and real estate expenses.

Warner Music and Bain Capital Announce Joint Venture

Warner Music
Jason Tate

Variety:

Warner Music Group and Bain Capital are launching a joint venture to allow for the purchase of up to $1.2 billion in music catalogs across both recorded music and music publishing. The partnership was formed through equal equity commitments from WMG and Bain Capital.

WMG and Bain will together source and acquire the catalogs, while WMG will manage all aspects of marketing, distribution, and administration. The deal combines WMG’s infrastructure and relationships with Bain Capital’s global resources and financial capabilities.