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Charlie Puth Talks with Rolling Stone

Charlie Puth
Jason Tate

Charlie Puth sat down with Rolling Stone for a new interview:

I remember it was my wife Brooke’s birthday. I was on my way to this wonderful restaurant in Sherman Oaks, and these songs will just pop into my head. And I heard this lyric called “I Used to Be Cringe.” And the title itself is cringey. It’s like, “What do you mean?” You can smell the comments, as they say — “Used to be?” I’m like, “That’s an interesting song title. What would that sound like?” And I’m just talking to myself while Brooke’s on her phone. It’s like a 30-minute drive down the hill, and I just start writing this whole song in F major. And it has a very flowy McCartney-esque chord progression. And it’s all just because Taylor had said something about me. It gave me enough excitement to write another song in my head. And now we’re ending the album with that.

Butch Walker Producing New Brian Fallon Album

Jason Tate

Spin Magazine dropped a little tidbit about Butch Walker producing an upcoming solo album from Brian Fallon (and it appears to have been confirmed by Butch).

These days, Walker is producing Billboard-ready records in a barn outside Nashville, touring with Train as the band’s new lead guitarist, and playing occasional reunion gigs with Marvelous 3. His forthcoming productions include new albums from Courtney Love, Nikki Lane, and The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon. 

Greywind Break Down New Album

Greywind
Jason Tate

Greywind did a track-by-track break down of their new album for Rock Sound:

‘Waterfall’ was one of the last songs written for the album and it felt like a crucial puzzle piece clicking into place when it finally came together. It’s beautiful, cinematic, and devastating. It has everything I love about music in it. We’re insanely proud of this song and judging by the reaction to it online, I have a feeling it’s going to be our set closer for a while!

Disneyland Relaunching Star Wars

Star Wars
Jason Tate

Disney is changing up their Star Wars content at Disneyland:

The company is changing the timeline in its Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge world in Disneyland, with plans to bring characters and elements from the original Star Wars trilogy (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi) to the land. 

That will include characters like Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia Organa roaming the land (look for Han near the Millennium Falcon… and the cantina), as well as bringing John Williams’ iconic scores from the film franchise, which will play throughout the land.

Spotify Raising Prices Again

Jason Tate

Spotify is once again raising prices:

Individual Premium plans are now $12.99 per month (up from $11.99), while Duo subscribers will now pay $18.99 per month (up from $16.99). Meanwhile, family plans have increased to $21.99 per month (up from $19.99), and student plans rose by $1 to $6.99 per month.

These pricing changes take immediate effect for new subscribers and will roll out to existing Premium customers in the US, Estonia, and Latvia over the next month.

Vinyl Sales Rise for 19th Consecutive Year

Jason Tate

Variety:

U.S. vinyl sales increased for the 19th consecutive year, growing by +8.6% to 47.9 million units. Total U.S. Physical Album Sales increased by +6.5%. In contrast, U.S. Digital Album Sales dropped by -15.9%.

2025 marks the first time in the U.S. consumption era (2014+) that two individual albums earned 5m+ units in a single year (Taylor Swift’s “Life of a Showgirl” and Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem”)

Djo Tops the Spotify Charts

Jason Tate

Djo, the project by actor Joe Kerry (Steve from Stranger Things) has the new number one song on Spotify’s Global Charts.

The track originally came out on his 2022 album, Decide, but has since been released as a standalone single after gaining some traction. Now, the song is sitting pretty at #1 on Spotify’s Global Chart with 6.5 million streams—but it’s not the first time it’s enjoyed the view. “End of Beginning” went viral on TikTok in 2024, which saw it reach the milestone for the first time. It’s also #1 on the U.S. Spotify Chart with 1.38 million streams.

Jimmy Kimmel Cuts Back Musical Guests

Jason Tate

Jimmy Kimmel will be reducing the musical guests to only twice per week:

Multiple sources familiar with the matter say Kimmel music producer Jim Pitt had informed them in the past several weeks about the move, though none who spoke with THR say they were given any reason on the decision. The ABC late night show is not expected to get shorter, another source familiar with the matter says. […] The decrease is the latest below to a late night TV ecosystem that has already been cutting down on music in the past several years. NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers, for example, rarely if ever features musical guests on the show now, and the show lost its Fred Armisen-fronted house band in 2024 due to budget cuts. Meanwhile, even before the news of the show’s cancellation, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert‘s musical guest inclusion had waned as well, and the cancellation takes an entire show off the board for artist features.

Knowing about, posting about, and staying up late to watch musical guests on late shows was a staple of my teenage years. This sucks.

‘James Bond’ Coming to Netflix

James Bond
Jason Tate

Variety:

Twenty-six James Bond films (the 25 Eon joints, plus the prodigal Never Say Never Again) are coming to Netflix this month. The deal was inked last year, with Bond making the streamer jump alongside other MGM films like Legally Blonde, Rocky, and series The Man in the High Castle. Sources told Deadline the movie is a “strategic business decision designed to broaden global reach and reengage audiences.” To put in less business-speak terms, it’s to remind people James Bond exists before Denis Villeneuve’s version comes to theaters.

Prince Streams Surge After ‘Stranger Things’ Placement

Prince
Jason Tate

Prince is having a surge in streams after being featured in the Stranger Things finale:

According to data released by Spotify, “Purple Rain” saw a 243% increase in global streams between December 31st (when the Stranger Things finale debuted) and January 1st, 2026. Additionally, the song saw a 577% increase in streaming by Gen Z users, who hopefully weren’t hearing it for the first time. “When Doves Cry” experienced smaller but similar results: a 200% increase in global streams, with a 128% increase for Gen Z specifically. The feature also brought an increased interest in Prince’s catalog overall, with a 190% increase in global streaming.

Napster Pivoting to Being an AI Platform

Headphones
Jason Tate

Digital Music News:

Napster is no longer a music streaming service. We’ve become an AI platform for creating and experiencing music in new ways. That means the streaming catalog and playlists from the old app won’t work here,” the splash screen reads. “We know this can be frustrating, especially if you spent years building your playlists. To make things easier, you can export all your Napster playlists in just a few clicks.

Josh Ritter Talks With Rolling Stone

Josh Ritter
Jason Tate

Josh Ritter talked with Rolling Stone about his latest album:

“I’m going through all the things that all of us are in this country right now,” he says. “All these enormous feelings and uncertainties. In inviting the muse in to experience that, I’m inviting it to be witnessed. It helps me to make sense of my own life and make sense of my own feelings.”

Pop-Punk’s 2000s Explosion: 20 Years Later

Rolling Stone
Jason Tate

Rolling Stone revisits the early 2000’s pop-punk and emo explosion:

It all points back to 2005, the year pop punk and emo exploded into the mainstream like never before, taking over the world of Billboard charts and MTV. Fall Out Boy released their seminal record From Under the Cork Tree, trading spots on TRL with My Chemical Romance, Paramore debuted onto the scene with All We Know Is Falling, and Panic! at the Disco’s LP Fever You Can’t Sweat Out proved just how vital the internet was to the genre’s success. 

But pop-punk and emo’s meteoric rise wouldn’t be complete without bands like Motion City Soundtrack, Gym Class Heroes, and Cartel, who each helped build the genre’s wave into a tsunami in the early-aughts. Now, 20 years later, they’re reflecting on the genre’s takeover as they plot just how to keep the spirit alive.