Beyoncé’s label and management company, Parkwood Entertainment, has defeated a copyright lawsuit over the EDM sample that opens her hit 2022 Renaissance track “Alien Superstar.”

A Friday (June 26) court ruling, first obtained and reported by Billboard, dismisses the lawsuit brought against Parkwood last summer by a company claiming to own the 1998 John Holiday song “Moonraker.” A sample of that track serves as the introduction to “Alien Superstar”: “Please do not be alarmed, remain calm/ Do not attempt to leave the dancefloor/ The DJ booth is conducting a troubleshoot of the entire system.”

Parkwood cleared this sample from Holiday; the house musician is listed in the lengthy Renaissance credits and was paid $10,000 plus 0.5% of the royalties from “Alien Superstar,” which hit No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. But in the July 2025 lawsuit, Florida-based Hirose Enterprises LLC alleged that it is actually the owner of the “Moonraker” copyrights and thus should have been part of that licensing process.

Hirose Enterprises LLC is owned by Shuji Hirose, the co-founder of now-defunct indie label Soundmen on Wax. The lawsuit claims Soundmen on Wax bought the “Moonraker” copyrights in 1998. Parkwood argued in response that there’s no paperwork documenting that purported transfer of rights, and thus it properly cleared the “Alien Superstar” sample from Holiday directly.

Judge Mark C. Scarsi did not need to address those arguments in order to dismiss the lawsuit on Friday, however. That’s because it turns out Hirose Enterprises was not actually formed until a week after the lawsuit was filed — a major legal defect that bars it from suing in the first place.

“Please do not be alarmed, remain calm: like the DJ booth referenced in the works at issue, this district judge must conduct a troubleshoot test of the entire system — that is, a jurisdictional inquiry — before reaching any of the parties’ merits arguments,” wrote the judge, quoting the “Moonraker” lyrics. “Plaintiff had no legal existence at the time it brought suit, so it cannot have held a stake in the outcome of the litigation at the time it filed the complaint.”

Judge Scarsi thus threw out the entire case against Parkwood, as well as Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell. Beyoncé herself was not targeted in the lawsuit.

Reps for the various litigants did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday (June 29). Hirose Enterprises has the right to appeal Friday’s dismissal ruling if it wants another chance at pursuing the copyright claims.

Fuerza Regida frontman Jesús Ortiz Paz (JOP) and Rancho Humilde CEO Jimmy Humilde are taking their legal battle from the courtroom to social media.

JOP and Humilde each posted fiery messages to Instagram on Sunday (June 28) expressing frustration about the ongoing litigation between Fuerza Regida and Rancho Humilde. For nearly a year, the música mexicana hitmakers and their longtime label home have been fighting in court over contract terms.

Fuerza Regida is trying to convince a federal judge to terminate the band’s record deal with Rancho Humilde, alleging that the label has withheld royalties and is now aiming to “sabotage” their success. Rancho Humilde, meanwhile, maintains that the record deal cannot be abandoned and that Fuerza Regida violated that contract by unilaterally doing features for other artists and excluding it from lucrative deals with Apple Music and Live Nation.

JOP’s Sunday post on Instagram alluded to this dispute, as well as to Fuerza Regida’s more recent allegation that Rancho Humilde wrongly blocked them from performing at this year’s FIFA World Cup and being included on Major League Baseball’s official soundtrack for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

“To everyone who supports Fuerza Regida: You deserve to hear our music,” wrote JOP. “You deserved to see us perform at the World Cup. You deserved to listen to us on the MLB album. You deserve to celebrate every release, every accomplishment, and every chapter of our journey. Instead, our music keeps disappearing.”

“We’ve never stopped making music, continued the bandleader’s post. “We’ve never stopped fighting for you. Everyone knows what’s going on; you seen it on the media. That’s why I’m going to let justice do its job. Everyone is going to know who you really are.”

JOP then wrote, “EL QUE NADA DEBE, NADA TEME” — a Spanish idiom meaning “he who has nothing to hide has nothing to fear” — and ended his post by specifically calling out Rancho Humilde and its CEO: “Go and let @jimmyhumilde.rh & @ranchohumilde know how you feel. Make your voices heard. Our story isn’t over I promise.”

Humilde responded the same day with a post of his own, addressed directly to JOP, arguing that the label always supported Fuerza Regida: “You asked me for a bigger deal I got it done. You asked me for your masters I fought to make it happen. You wanted to become one of the biggest artists in the world I gave everything I had to help build that dream. When you needed help, I didn’t just bring business. I brought my lawyers, my doctors, my relationships, my time, and my heart. I stood by you when it mattered most. You walked away with the biggest check of your life over $50 million. I never complained. I was happy to see you win because your success was our success.”

Humilde added, “What hurts is seeing everything we’ve built together reduced to a public narrative that doesn’t tell the whole story.” He then appealed to JOP to fulfill the band’s record deal, writing, “If you believe people deserve the truth, then honor the agreement we made. Complete the contract the same way I honored every commitment I made to you. I never stopped looking out for you. I only ask that you do the same. El que nada debe, nada teme.”

In a separate post on Sunday, Humilde also suggested that JOP has mistreated his bandmates and artists on his own label, Street Mob Records. In the post’s caption, he tagged Fuerza Regida bandmembers José García and Samuel Jaimez and Street Mob artists Chino Pacas, Calle 24 and Armenta.

“Let’s talk about your own band members went from partners to being employees,” wrote Humilde. “They didn’t have much of a choice. And let’s not forget I helped you land a $15 million deal for your label. After that, how you chose to take care of your artists is on you. [Let’s] ask Chinito, Calle and Armenta! I’ve kept my mouth shut out of loyalty, not because I can’t speak. Don’t mistake silence for weakness. Remember a man that sells his soul will never be able to help his own…don’t start lol.”

Rancho Humilde’s attorney, Michael Trauben, emphasized in a Monday (June 29) statement to Billboard that the label has never intended to prevent Fuerza Regida from making music. Rather, said Trauben, Rancho’s position in the lawsuit is that “those opportunities should proceed through the exclusive distribution and approval structure the parties voluntarily agreed upon.”

“Every exclusive agreement is built on one fundamental promise: if a company invests years of work and millions of dollars developing an artist, the artist agrees to release music through the agreed distribution channels,” added Trauben. “Rancho believes no artist — regardless of success — can simply decide to ignore that bargain and independently release recordings at will.”

Reps for Fuerza Regida did not return a request for comment on Monday.

The lawsuit remains in its early stages, with a judge currently weighing Rancho Humilde’s motion to dismiss some of Fuerza Regida’s claims at the outset. Once that decision comes down, the two sides will begin exchanging evidence in the discovery phase before an eventual trial — that is, if they don’t reach a settlement first.

As touring costs continue to skyrocket, experienced touring musicians Craig A. Meyer and Gary Arbuthnot have teamed up to launch GigLogic, a platform for artists to determine the financials of a show before accepting a gig.

GigLogic evaluates the price of commissions for management and booking agents, taxes, travel, lodging, and any other expenses that go into making a show happen, in an effort to allow artists and their teams to better budget and evaluate whether a show is worth traveling to.

“For decades, performers have been taught to focus on getting the gig,” Meyer says in a statement to Billboard. “Very few have been taught how to evaluate whether the gig is actually good business. As touring costs continue to rise, that’s becoming a much more important conversation. We built GigLogic because artists deserve the same level of financial visibility that businesses in other industries take for granted.”

Meyer comes in with 20 years of touring experience, having been on the road as an Elton John tribute performer in shows including Remember When Rock Was Young — The Elton John Experience and Piano Men: A Tribute to Elton John & Billy Joel. Arbuthnot has toured as a flautist.

On the platform, artists can input the details of a potential gig, after which GigLogic will build customized cost profiles and projected earnings. While artists and their teams often create budgets using spreadsheets and estimates, GigLogic says its platform helps to streamline the process.

“One of the biggest misconceptions in live entertainment is that a bigger paycheck automatically means a better opportunity,” Arbuthnot adds in a statement. “It doesn’t. An artist can be busier than ever, bringing in more revenue than ever, and still be struggling financially if they don’t understand their true costs. Sustainable careers are built on profitability, not just activity.”

In May, Warner Music Group quietly completed a test program that could change the future of vinyl. 

The program, conducted in partnership with the world’s largest vinyl manufacturer, GZ Media, set out to answer one question: can recycled vinyl deliver the same sound quality?

GZ Media collected 10,000 unsold records across artists, titles and pressing plants throughout Europe and first shredded, then repressed them using a range of recyclable materials — from 10-100%. Next, a selection of industry experts were gathered at London’s famed Abbey Road Studios for a blind listening evaluation. Each vinyl passed.

“What impressed me was how consistent the pressings were across the different material blends, showing that sustainability and sound quality do not have to be at odds,” Abbey Road’s mastering engineer, Miles Showell, shared in a statement to WMG.

The recycled pressings weren’t just being evaluated for quality, though, as the project also aimed to evaluate the environmental impact of preprocessing vinyl. Even with the added steps of transport, warehousing, sorting and shredding — all of which impact the product carbon footprint (PCF) — carbon emissions dropped 10% from using recycled polyvinyl chloride (PVC, from which vinyl is pressed) compared to fresh materials. 

Now, on Friday (June 26) WMG will double down on its mission with a first-of-its-kind vinyl take-back program, which invites consumers to help recover unwanted vinyl. A group of 11 indie retailers across the country — including in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York — will serve as collection locations before handing the vinyl over to Virterras Materials, a company that helps recycle “complex waste,” such as plastics and rubber. 

“Independent record stores have long served as gathering places for music fans and stewards of music culture,” Madeleine Smith, WMG’s senior director of environmental, social and governance, shared in a statement. “[This is] a vital first step in understanding what’s possible.”

The pilot will run through September. For a complete list of participating independent record stores, see below.

Amoeba Hollywood (Los Angeles, CA)

Antone’s Record Shop (Austin, TX)

Country Line Records (Keller, TX)

Criminal Records (Atlanta, GA)

Easy Street Records (Seattle, WA)

Home Rule Records (Washington D.C.)

Red Zeppelin Records (McKinney, TX)

Rough Trade NYC (New York City, NY)

Spin Me Round (Easton, PA)

Reckless Records (Chicago, IL)

Sweat Records (Miami, FL)

Boosie Badazz’s federal probation supervisors say he should spend a year and a half in prison after his most recent arrest for allegedly assaulting someone with a glass hookah.

The rapper (Torence Hatch) was exposed to possible prison time last year after pleading guilty in federal court to illegally owning a gun after earlier felony convictions. In January, however, a judge exercised leniency and sentenced him to three years of supervised release instead.

Now, the U.S. Probation Office says Boosie has “failed to capitalize on the opportunity afforded by the court.” The agency claims in a Wednesday (June 24) petition that Boosie violated his supervised release by allegedly smashing a man in the head with a glass hookah at a Houston nightclub in May.

Boosie is facing a state-level aggravated assault charge for that alleged incident in Texas. Generally, it’s considered a violation of supervised release for anybody to commit another state, local or federal crime while on probation.

The Probation Office further alleges that Boosie broke the rules by making that trip to Texas from his home state of Georgia without permission, as well as by testing positive for marijuana, a federally illegal substance, during a recent drug screening. Because of all this, authorities say Boosie should have his no-jail sentence revoked and replaced with an 18-month prison term.

“His conduct demonstrates a disregard for the court’s authority and unwillingness to comply with the expectations established to facilitate a successful transition to the community,” reads the Wednesday court filing. “Additionally, his history reflects longstanding involvement in a criminal lifestyle beginning at a young age. This lifestyle has continued to expose him to high-risk situations and criminogenic influences, including violence, weapons possession, antisocial peer associations, and illegal substance use.”

The Probation Office says this recommended federal sentence should be consecutive with any possible punishment he receives in the Houston assault case. Boosie is currently out on bail in that matter and next scheduled to appear in court in September.

Boosie denied violating his supervised release in a Wednesday post on X, in which the rapper said he did have permission to travel to Houston, and that he’s been “crystal clean” of drugs since beginning probation.

“IM NOT STUPID. MY probation officer has been fair to me throughout this process. it’s the people over him who have problems with me,” wrote Boosie in the post. “I will not sit back n let these people drag my name. I have several hours of community service completed. I’ve been doing great on federal probation. Me n my attorneys r working to get this other case dismissed.”

Boosie, who’s previously done prison time for drug charges, has faced this current federal case since 2023 for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The details of his arrest were unusual; after local authorities spotted a handgun tucked into Boosie’s waistband while monitoring the Instagram feed of a “known gang member” in San Diego, they used a helicopter to track him in real-time and then found a Glock pistol in his vehicle during a traffic stop.

Following years of procedural ups and downs, the case against Boosie was scheduled for a trial last summer. But in August, the rapper said he would accept a plea deal because he was “tired of fighting.”

After unveiling its new board of advisors earlier this month, on Tuesday (June 23), BET appointed Hollywood polymath Keke Palmer as its latest member.

“BET has been part of my journey for so many years, which makes this appointment especially meaningful,” said Palmer. “I’m honored to join such a distinguished group of leaders and cultural trailblazers on the Board of Advisors. Together, I look forward to helping shape the future of BET and creating even more opportunities for the next generation of artists, storytellers, and entrepreneurs.”

“Keke Palmer represents the future of entertainment,” said Louis Carr, president of BET. “She understands audiences, embraces innovation, and has consistently used her platform to open doors for others. Her insight, creativity, and entrepreneurial mindset will be invaluable as we continue positioning BET for the next generation.”

Earlier this month, Carr assembled a formidable board of advisors to help guide BET’s growth and strategic direction. The group includes Bob Johnson, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Troy Vincent, Raymond J. McGuire and George Cheeks.

“BET has always been more than a platform,” Carr explained in a statement. “It is a cultural institution with a responsibility to serve, reflect, and advance our community. As we enter into this next chapter, this Board brings together leaders whose influence, perspective, and integrity will help ensure we continue to honor that responsibility while building what comes next.”

As for Palmer, her longstanding relationship with BET runs deep. In 2014, she became one of the youngest people to host her own talk show when she was tapped to host Just Keke on the network. Palmer’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BET as the network continues to expand its cultural footprint ahead of Sunday’s 2026 BET Awards in Los Angeles, where performances from Kehlani, Cardi B and Doechii are expected. Meanwhile, Lauryn Hill, Teyana Taylor and music executive Sylvia Rhone will be honored during the ceremony.

The BET Awards kick off at 8 PM EST / 5 PM PST on BET.

Jack White’s wife of four years, the singer Olivia Jean, has filed for divorce from the rock star.

Jean, a fellow rocker under White’s label Third Man Records, married the White Stripes frontman onstage during a 2022 concert in their shared hometown of Detroit. She submitted divorce papers on June 3 in Nashville.

The court filing cites “irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct” as the reason Jean (full name Olivia Jean Markel) wants a divorce from White (born John Anthony White). Further details are not provided, and reps for Jean and White did not immediately return requests for comment on Tuesday (June 23).

Jean claims in the divorce papers that White should pay her alimony and continue providing her with health insurance coverage, since “she is dependent on husband’s income for her support.” She says all the property they jointly bought as a couple, including real estate and furniture, should be split up between them.

“Wife hopes that the parties will be able to enter into a written marital dissolution agreement, which makes adequate and sufficient provision for an equitable division of the parties’ assets and liabilities,” reads the filing. The couple share no children.

White was married twice before: first to White Stripes member Meg White from 1996 to 2000, then to model and singer Karen Elson from 2005 to 2013.

White both proposed to and married Jean on opening night of his Supply Chain Issues Tour in April 2022, for which Jean was an opening act. He popped the question during the White Stripes song “Hotel Yorba,” which features the lyrics “Let’s get married/ In a big cathedral by a priest/ ’cause if I’m the man that you love the most/ You could say ‘I do’ at least.” The duo exchanged rings minutes later onstage, with Third Man co-founder Ben Swank officiating.

“I asked her, ‘Do you want to get married now, or do you want to wait?’” White explained of the impromptu marriage ceremony during a 2022 appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. “And she said. ‘No, right now, this is a great day!’”

Per Jean’s divorce papers, the marriage was made legally official the following December in Nashville.

Outernet London has unveiled a new identity for its flagship music and live events venue, announcing that HERE will now operate as Outernet Live.

The rebranded space, located near Tottenham Court Road station, has a capacity of 2,000 and is the largest purpose-built venue to open in central London since the 1940s. Since it launched in late 2022, Outernet Live has played host to headline performances from Charli xcx and 5 Seconds Of Summer, among others.

The move comes as part of a broader strategy to strengthen Outernet Live’s position within London’s live music landscape. The venue sits within the wider Outernet district, which comprises basement room The Lower Third and the flagship The Now Building with four-story, 360-degree screens, which have been used for immersive events with Oasis, Madonna, Louis Tomlinson and The BRIT Awards. 

Ticketmaster has been appointed as the venue’s official ticketing partner and will assume responsibility for all Outernet Live digital ticketing operations in the coming weeks. As per a press release, the partnership is expected to benefit from Ticketmaster’s marketing and flexible technology and drive further discoverability toward Outernet Live.

In January, Outernet London unveiled a partnership with Legends Global, who have since supported on venue management operations including programming and premium sales. Legends Global have also built a dedicated in-house programming team to support Outernet, and are revising the food and beverage offerings for fans at each venue.

Philip O’Ferrall, CEO of Outernet, said: “We are developing a whole new programming strategy for Outernet Live with our in-house programming team and Legends Global and we will supercharge the lineup. Having Ticketmaster on board is fantastic and we are very glad to be working with them. 

“You’ll be seeing more underplays and special shows like Primal Scream and an increased use of our screens to support artists to do amazing things when they perform. We want artists and their fans to have the very best time at Outernet Live and this really is a rebirth of our music venue.” 

Sarah Slater, managing director at Ticketmaster U.K, said: “London’s cultural scene continues to grow and evolve, with venues like Outernet Live helping to redefine what fans can expect from live entertainment. We’re excited to be partnering with the team at this important moment in the venue’s journey. Ticketmaster is perfectly placed to help Outernet Live grow its audience, deepen fan engagement and deliver a seamless experience.”

Artists set to play Outernet Live this year include Young Miko, dance duo Two Shell, Joshua Idehen and Scottish rock outfit Primal Scream, who will perform their sixth studio album XTRMNTR in full for two nights in September (15 and 16).

Over the last several years, music fans have increasingly been faced with sticker shock when buying concert tickets — leading many to ask why they’re paying so much to see their favorite artists. To answer that question, it’s imperative to look under the hood and consider the various factors that help determine the final price.

In today’s music industry, the bulk of artists make most of their money on the road. And to make a profit, or at least break even, artist managers, attorneys, booking agents, business managers, production managers and tour directors — as well as the artists themselves — all play a role in helping determine the right price for a show. But with production costs having risen dramatically since the pandemic, the right price is often substantially higher than it was 10 years ago. While touring crews have taken to doing less with more, scaling down their ambitions and juggling multiple jobs, fans spending hundreds of dollars to see a show often expect a spectacle — and a spectacle costs money.

“There are two pieces that really go into [determining ticket prices],” Omar Al-joulani, president of touring at Live Nation, tells Billboard. “One is that artists have given parameters around how much they need to make per night after tracking buses, staffing, production, commissions and then the profit margin they would want to make. The second is the cost of actually mounting the show: venue rent, advertising, stagehands, security, catering.”

Oftentimes, it’s the booking agent’s job to sit down with the promoter and negotiate the best deal for their artist.

“It’s definitely a back and forth,” says Chris Visconti, an agent at UTA. “There’s an honest discussion and collaboration around markets, because some can withstand a higher ticket price for a certain act, and some markets cannot. That comes down to a lot of real-world factors.”

Al-joulani explains that artist teams typically come in with price parameters, with the aim of ensuring fans at each price point have the opportunity to see a show. From there, the promoters and agents will both look at what prices recently worked within a market and provide guidance if a price for a market seems too high.

“The socioeconomic conditions of every city are different,” Visconti says. “Certainly in every country. We want to make sure it’s not a one-size-fits-all answer.”

Al-joulani says that at times, he has to tell artist teams that certain prices don’t work in particular markets. Ultimately, though, he’s not the one making the final decision.

“You debate whether an artist has to cut down their production, whether they can make the show smaller, there’s all these different levers you wind up pulling,” he says. “Ultimately, the artist makes the final call on what the fan needs to pay for an artist to go on tour.”

According to Ticketmaster’s website, a large chunk of the services and fees tacked onto ticket prices typically go toward the venue, which has its own costs, including security, bartenders, electricity and the box office. A much smaller percentage of those services and fees go to the ticketing platforms, which are told what the ticket price will be (minus the services and fees) by the promoters and artist teams. The ticketing platform used for a show depends on the venue, which typically has a partnership with a specific service. (For example, Red Rocks Amphitheatre utilizes AXS; Madison Square Garden and Sphere both have partnerships with Ticketmaster.)

Notably, the final price also depends on the venue’s size. Soft ticket rooms such as clubs already have the most expensive equipment built in, allowing artists to simply plug-and-play. That reflects in the ticket price, with shows in larger rooms often charging more to help cover the costs, while club shows can remain more affordable for fans.

“Labor is expensive, production is expensive,” says Eric Silver, a manager at Red Light Management whose clients include dance music artist Subtronics. “For a hard ticket place like Red Rocks Amphitheatre and The Gorge, it’s an empty place and you’re building everything. In the case of The Gorge, you’re even building the stage.”

Though putting on a show at a larger venue comes with additional expenses, Silver says the cost is often worth it — and can pay big dividends down the road.

“When we do these events at these hard ticket plays, they’re less profitable,” he says. “But we want to offer the best experience, and these hard-ticket plays are an investment. If you can show that you can sell out multiple nights at an arena, your value goes up to promoters for festivals, where there are less expenses.”

While the primary ticket price factors in touring and production costs, artist teams must also consider the secondary market. Al-joulani often looks at what prices sold on sites like StubHub and SeatGeek the last time an artist played in a city to help determine the price for an upcoming tour.

“We’ll look at whether a lot of tickets were transacted, whether brokers made a huge lift on a tour — that’s money not being paid to the artist or holder of the IP,” he says. “In the process — after the on-sale — you’ll look at the secondary activity and that may give you feedback on how to price releases, whether you should add a second show in a market or whether your tickets are priced correctly. And then you can always enact changes.”

When determining ticket prices, Visconti and his wife, Nicole Schoen Visconti, who works in the marketing department at UTA, also consider when a fan may choose to purchase. Some fans closely follow their favorite artists’ social media pages and sign up for SMS messages to be in line right at the on-sale. Other fans may need to wait a few days to purchase a ticket, holding off until their next paycheck. But there’s no clear answer on when in the cycle it’s best to have the lowest ticket price.

“You could punish [fans] if early bird tickets [are discounted] and then prices increase later on,” Schoen Visconti says. “With the economy and bills, some fans might not be able to make a decision until day of, or the night before. Do you drop the price to make it fair for them, but not the fans that were there first? That’s something we try to keep in mind.”

Part of Schoen Visconti’s role is to advise artist teams on the number of tickets a fan can purchase and the number of times a ticket should be allowed to transfer in an attempt to help combat scalpers. “It’s not something you can do in every state, because there are laws in New York and Illinois that you can’t limit how people transfer their tickets,” she says.

Ahead of the sales, Schoen Visconti works with clients to set up emails and SMS messages with pre-sale access codes, with the aim of getting tickets into the hands of fans. This isn’t always a foolproof system, however. In the wake of on-sales, agents, promoters and ticketing platforms look at the IP addresses for each purchase to see if scalpers managed to break through. If there are duplicates, the agents and promoters will inform the ticketing platform to cancel those tickets and re-release them back onto their primary ticketing platform. When it comes to using dynamic pricing — which includes an option to change the price of a ticket due to demand — the artist teams are ultimately the ones who make that call.

Those arguing in favor of dynamic pricing highlight that some fans are willing to pay a premium for shows, and ticket prices should adjust accordingly. But many artist teams feel dynamic pricing risks upsetting their audience, and opt against using it.

Silver says that when his clients do decide to utilize dynamic pricing, it’s put in place closer to the date of the show, versus right off the bat. “We probably weren’t going to sell those tickets anyway, and, if we do, it’s just a little bit of extra money,” he says. The profit from dynamic pricing goes back to the whole pot, split between artist and promoter depending on the percentage shares they worked out when first plotting a show.

At the end of the day, the process of pricing tickets is a delicate balancing act, as artist teams must weigh the price sensitivity of fans with what’s required to make a profit on a show.

“Our teams will sit and look at the Twitter threads and comments and take a lot of that into consideration,” Schoen Visconti says. “The artist definitely has their development and their own agenda, but they need fans to be there and support, and the fans should feel like they’re being supported.”

You can’t have failed to notice that these are high times for British and Irish music. After a rocky period marked by industry uncertainty and a relative lull in global breakthroughs, the past 18 months have seen a new wave of talent firmly restore the region’s chart and cultural clout.

The numbers tell part of the story. In December 2025, the BPI reported that the U.K. recorded music sector surged both domestically and internationally last year, powered by breakout stars including Lola Young, whose viral smash “Messy” became the year’s biggest British single. Olivia Dean, meanwhile, cemented her transatlantic rise by becoming a Billboard Hot 100 darling, with top 10 entries for “Man I Need” (No. 2) and “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” (No. 5). 

Elsewhere, Mercury Prize nominee CMAT has continued her ascent, while Sienna Spiro, Skye Newman and Scouse rapper EsDeeKid have forged their own unique paths into the mainstream. The momentum has lifted sterling albums from established stars, too: Charli xcx’s Brat and Sam Fender’s People Watching both notched platinum-selling status in the U.K. There is, unmistakably, a renewed sense of possibility in the air.

For Andy Sloan-Vincent, who recently stepped into his new role as managing director at Spotify (U.K., Ireland, and Netherlands) after 11 years at the streaming platform, this resurgence has been “the culmination of a long-term strategy from a lot of labels developing artists.” The region, he argues, has always possessed the foundations required to develop world-class artists, pointing to how Young and Dean are success stories of the free-to-attend BRIT School in Croydon, south London.

“The U.K. has always been a hotbed for nurturing talent,” he tells Billboard U.K. over video call. “We have places like the BRIT School that form part of our cultural identity; we have TV moments throughout the year where artists are put at the forefront. We’ve always been a musical nation.”

According to the most recent Loud and Clear report, which shares data behind Spotify’s royalty payments, U.K. artists generated over £860 million ($1.138 billion) in revenue from the streaming platform in 2025, representing a 6% increase year-on-year. In 2026, 75% of all royalties generated by British artists on Spotify came from listeners outside the U.K., with recorded growth in key markets including Germany, Australia, Brazil and Mexico, while the U.S. remains the region’s biggest export partner.

From Sloan-Vincent’s position, those figures represent not just a U.K. music ecosystem that “has reached a level of maturity and confidence,” but Spotify’s role in amplifying that reach. As he looks towards his first year in the new role, the London-based executive — who featured on Billboard‘s 2026 U.K. Power Players list — is focused on how the platform can further support artists at every stage of their careers, pointing to the upcoming initiatives such as Reserved, Spotify’s new, fan-focused ticketing offering, as evidence of that ambition.

“We want to keep growing and become bigger, but we’re also a mature and profitable business,” Sloan-Vincent explains. “We want to continue building on that success while growing into the next chapter.”

2025 was a breakthrough year for British artists — such as Olivia Dean, Lola Young, and Sam Fender — globally. What have you seen in Spotify’s data that has perhaps helped to explain that resurgence?

The U.K. has always been a strong export business. We’ve always been quite powerful in that regard, and a kind of cultural leader. Last year was perhaps the culmination of a long-term strategy from a lot of labels developing artists. The artists you reference have been signed for five, 10-plus years, and then we’ve hit this world at Spotify where we’re paying out £860 million [in streaming royalties] in the U.K..

Those two things map neatly together, in the sense that the industry has now reached a level of maturity and confidence where we’re really breaking artists through again. I think you can see with the industry itself fishing for British artists from labels all over the world. It’s confidence in British music that’s coming through.

To what extent do you believe this huge, new level of success for U.K. artists is being driven by international audiences?

We have a huge export success story with Spotify. We have this £860 million figure, but 75% of those royalties come from outside the U.K., so listeners from other markets are pretty significant for us. The U.K. would previously export to Canada, America, Australia, New Zealand, and now we’re seeing our artists bubbling in places like Mexico and Brazil. There’s always been a handful of British acts that can go out and play those monster shows at football stadiums all over the world, but now that number is going up.

I’ve been with Spotify for 11 and a half years, during which we have launched our Radar, Equal, and Glow programs, supporting emerging artists, female artists, and then LGBTQ+ artists. A big focus for me and for the company has always been taking people from early days and carrying them through to a career arc. Part of it comes from finding artists early and thinking, “This could be a generational act, let’s build something here.”

We shot some live performance with Skye Newman at Hackney Church a week ago, for a one-night-only show. Skye is a Radar artist in the U.K., which means we’ve made the commitment to develop her. She has an incredible voice; when you go into the room with her, everyone wants her to win. I think the reason we want to get behind artists like that is because we want the artist to win. That’s our outlook on things.

How do the headlines from the U.K. and European findings in this year’s Loud & Clear report compare with the wider global picture?

We’re one of four net exporters, so the U.K. has been very, very strong in that regard. I think globally we have seen our payments go up pretty considerably. Europe was obviously a bit of a powerhouse in terms of the amount of money that gets driven to the industry. From a U.K. and a European perspective, we’re seeing growth in the independent sector. So, 45% of royalties in the U.K. are generated by independent artists. I would say that those are kind of the core things: independent sector growth, export growth, and overall revenue going up.

When you speak to newer or independent artists, what concerns about streaming economics do you hear most often? And how do you respond?

The first and main kind of myth that’s important to dispel is the ‘per stream’ rate. It’s not a thing; most, if not all, streaming platforms work in exactly the same way, by paying a certain percentage out on a flat revenue model, and the way that an artist then gets paid is by their percent of the overall revenue pie. I think it’s important for artists to understand that that’s how it works: there are fluctuations in that revenue and the way it comes in. 

I’d also say that it’s very important to understand that Spotify and other streaming platforms pay out to rights holders, so we aren’t paying the artists directly, it goes to the rights holder. The rights holder then has their jurisdiction, and they work out how it then goes on to the artists. It’s important to understand that you’re not going to get [the name] Spotify on your bank statement, you’ll probably get your distributor or record label.

On Substack earlier this year, you wrote that “there’s so much to be optimistic about” across the U.K. music industry in 2026. Who, or what, is inspiring you at the moment?

It’s really nice to talk about the Olivia Deans, the Lola Youngs, the Sienna Spiros of the world who are blowing up. My remit also takes me to Ireland, and we’ve recently announced some statistics around an artist called F3mii and how they’ve blown up recently. But we’ve also been committed early to artists like Florence Road and Kingfishr.

The thing I love is that it never ends, in the sense that there’s always something new to discover. We’re not like a fashion department, and I think that’s kind of a strange statement to make, but we’re focused on building sustainable, lifelong careers where artists can make a living. We’re not playing an overnight, snap-numbers game. It’s about who’s out there doing the work, building a fan base, playing the shows, being someone who is inspiring to new fans, and how we can help them and develop them. For us as a platform, that’s always been our focus.

It’s that discovery, that love that comes when people sit and really listen. I think we’ve made product innovations in that space to help open up those doors. We’re consistently trying to get fans closer to their artists, and I think giving artists control is a really important part of that.

The live touring market has become an increasingly contentious topic throughout 2026 with conversations around pricing and access. How do you see Reserved improving the fan experience?

There’s this sense that the secondary market is quite chaotic at best, and it has been for a long time. I explicitly remember going to shows and trying to find a ticket from a guy outside the Tube station. Technology has essentially given that guy outside the Tube station the ability to bot and buy up all the tickets to a show, and then sell them at an increasingly crazy markup.

I think the reason Reserved works, and the reason our partners want to get involved with it, is that it helps drive that artist-fan relationship, cuts through some of that chaos, and puts tickets in the right hands. I love it from a fan perspective, too. Speaking personally, it’s about being able to get tickets for the things I genuinely want to go and see.

I think, first and foremost for me, it’s that responsibility element. As a business, we are number one in each of the markets I look after, and I think it’s important for us to remember that comes with a level of responsibility to the music industry and the wider creative industries in the countries we’re operating in. A big focus for us is making sure we’re still helping artists, podcasters, and authors find new audiences. That’s a huge part of what we do.