Milo J atraviesa un presente inmejorable. Continuando su racha de hitos, el cantante y compositor nacido en Morón, de apenas 19 años, fue galardonado con el Gardel de Oro tras ganar el Premio Gardel a Álbum del Año por La vida era más corta. Camilo Joaquín Villarruel —nombre real del artista— fue el gran protagonista […]
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Las Vegas doesn’t do anything small, and neither does BTS. The Bangtan Boys arrived in Nevada last week for four nights at Allegiant Stadium (May 23, 24, 27 and 28), and the city met them in full.
Landmarks from the Luxor Hotel to the Harry Reid International Airport tower illuminated in red, covering the Strip in the group’s “Arirang” era color. That’s what “BTS THE CITY” looks like in its flagship location: an entire metropolis remade in the K-pop group’s image, with exclusive afterparties, themed hotel experiences, and an Arte Museum exhibition.
The last time BTS played a world tour was four years ago. All seven members completed their mandatory South Korean military service between December 2022 and June 2025, and their reunion has been one of the most anticipated moments in pop music. Their new studio album ARIRANG dropped on March 20, and the tour behind it is already on track to exceed half a billion dollars in ticket sales, with more than 3 million fans set to see the show across 85 dates.
In Las Vegas, fan experiences are taking over the city. Korean tech company Samsung has activated one of its biggest concert partnerships of the year around the “Arirang World Tour.” The “Samsung Galaxy x BTS World Tour Arirang” experience runs at Allegiant Stadium on concert days, and is built around the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. There are six touchpoints for fans at the stadium, each designed to spotlight specific camera features of the S26 Ultra. The phone’s Nightography Video mode, which uses AI-driven processing to brighten and sharpen footage in low light, is a natural fit for a concert environment. Photo Assist, an AI photo editor powered by text prompts, is another feature on display.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Released back in March, Samsung has the new phone on sale for 14% off right now on its website.
As for the BTS partnership? Located on Lot G outside Allegiant Stadium and before security, the activation offers fans a chance to get up close and personal with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. At the Photo Assist station, attendees can swap in custom backgrounds — a BTS music video or a crowd-surfing concert moment — before printing out a souvenir photo to take home. An Interpreter feature on the Android phone lets fans compose a personal message to the K-pop group, and a mirror selfie station stamped with the BTS logo makes for one last photo op before heading to their seats. The first 500 visitors who complete a survey about their experience at this activation will walk away with a Samsung x BTS collectible bag.
This is not the first time Samsung and BTS have worked together. The group has appeared in campaigns for Samsung phones and earbuds over the years, and the partnership famously extended to music when Suga remixed “Over the Horizon” — the Samsung Galaxy brand song — for the company’s Unpacked 2021 event.
After visiting Samsung’s activation on Lot G, security lines moved fast heading into the Allegiant Stadium, but the concourse was packed, with food and drink queues running at least 10 minutes. Merch lines were longer. But fans were in good spirits for their long-awaited reunion with the band. The crowd included everyone from grandparents to toddlers. Attendees dressed in sailor outfits to celebrate the group’s comeback single “Swim,” and wore purple wigs as a tribute to BTS’ signature color. The band didn’t keep fans waiting too long, starting only five minutes past the scheduled time.
Beyond Allegiant Stadium, BTS’ Las Vegas takeover continues with the food and beverage brand ARIH — developed in direct collaboration with the K-pop group. The Korean-Western fusion-food brand features a modern noodle, dual biotic sodas, and postbiotic energy drinks, all in seven different flavors as a nod to the septuple group.
ALSO AVAILABLE
ARIH Noodles 4-Pack (Truffle Bulgogi)
ARIH describes this “truffle bulgogi” flavor as a “Western-Korean” fusion.
The brand has its own fan experiences running across Las Vegas, like the immersive ARIH Zone at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace until May 28. Here, fans can pose for photos with brand ambassador ARIH Seonbi, receive an “ARIH Las Vegas Takeover passport,” play a game to win a prize (everyone gets something!), and take part in an “ARIH Seonbi Flash Hunt,” tracking down brand ambassadors dressed in traditional Korean attire for chilled ARIH samples. Another activation is situated on Lot G next to the Samsung booth.
ASelect locations across Las Vegas are featuring an ARIH tasting bar, food truck, and a live cooking station until May 28. You can also visit the ARIH booth at Allegiant Stadium Lot G before heading into the concert. Note that this activation is located before you enter the stadium, so make sure to visit before passing through security.
Spotify is expanding into a new arena: long-form magazine articles.
On Tuesday (May 26), the streaming service announced it will now host narrated audio articles from outlets including Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, Vogue, Variety, Billboard, Vibe, GQ, WIRED, Vanity Fair and Pitchfork. At launch, the platform is offering more than 650 long-form articles, which are now available in English to users who reside in markets where audiobooks are available. Each narrated article, included in Premium users’ monthly audiobooks allowance, is under two hours long. Free users can buy individual articles for $1.99 each.
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“As we have seen with bringing audiences over from podcasts, Articles will allow people to trial shorter, less intimidating listens, opening the gateway to explore longer-form listening like books,” Spotify noted in a blog post about the launch.
“With Articles, we’re introducing long-form journalism in audio as a natural extension of the music, podcasts, and audiobooks people already come to Spotify for, focused on topics we know they love,” said Colleen Prendergast, licensing lead at Spotify Audiobooks, in a statement. “By bringing shorter form content into the mix, we’re meeting audiences where they are to help build healthy listening habits, ultimately growing engagement with books over time.”
“We’re thrilled to partner with Spotify in what we see as a natural synergy between two platforms that celebrate music and culture,” added Julian Holguin, CEO at Rolling Stone. “This collaboration with Articles allows us to deepen the connection between our readers and the artists, stories, and features they care about, while also providing an opportunity for discovery. By making Rolling Stone’s journalism more accessible on Spotify, we’re excited to bring our storytelling to an even wider audience.”
According to the blog post, Spotify has expanded audiobooks into 22 markets since launching just over two years ago and has grown listening hours 60% year over year.
There are a handful of pending bills before the 119th Congress that are being closely watched by the music industry. These pieces of federal legislation could affect artists, consumers and companies across many different areas of the business, including songwriting, licensing, tourism, royalties, ticketing and live performances.
Many of these bills have bipartisan support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and industry players have been heavily involved in advocating for their passage: The Recording Academy and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) have signed onto many of them, as have corporate giants like the major record labels and Live Nation.
The legislative process is long and at times difficult to decipher. Many bills get introduced more than once over the years, often with different versions in the Senate and House of Representatives. There are committee reviews, hearings and revisions before a bill makes it to the floor for a congressional vote and, eventually if passed, the desk of the president to be signed into law.
In the interest of compiling all the information in one place, Billboard has put together a list of all the music-related legislation currently before the 119th Congress. Below, you can read about the history behind each bill, who supports it and what impact it would have on the industry.
We’re keeping track of developments for each piece of proposed legislation, and this list will update as bills move through the House and Senate. We’ll also add new bills as they’re introduced and tell you why they matter for the music business.
Drake flooded the zone when he released three new albums — ICEMAN, HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR — all on May 15, and now he’s reaping the chart rewards, debuting in the top three slots on the Billboard 200 albums chart and landing 42 new songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the first artist to surpass 400 entries on the tally.
On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are discussing just how unprecedented Drake’s chart stats are and whether there are any other musicians who could put up these kinds of numbers. What if Taylor Swift released three albums in one day? Or if Morgan Wallen decided to put out a triple-album next after previously holding the Hot 100 record with 37 concurrent hits? Or maybe a streaming-favorite act like Travis Scott could pull off the prolific feat?
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Listen to our full discussion below:
Also on the show, BTS dominated the 2026 American Music Awards on Monday night, taking home all three awards they were nominated for, including the top prize of artist of the year. The singing voices of HUNTR/X (EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI), Sombr, KATSEYE, Sabrina Carpenter, Bruno Mars and Cardi B also took home a trio of awards, while the night’s top nominee Taylor Swift went 0-for-8 on the night. And the Black Eyed Peas — with Fergie! — hit the stage to accept the new best throwback song award. Might we be seeing more of the quartet again soon? Listen to our full AMAs recap in the episode above.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
La Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (CAPIF) celebra este martes 26 de mayo una nueva edición de los Premios Gardel, galardón que premia lo más destacado de la industria discográfica argentina. La ceremonia principal, conducida por Diego Leuco, tendrá lugar desde las 21 h en el Teatro Coliseo de Buenos Aires, y será televisada por TNT […]
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Keith Richards siempre tuvo la lengua filosa y nunca titubeó a la hora de mostrarla al mundo. Tal es así que en muchas oportunidades ha expresado su parecer al respecto de una banda o un género musical y ha dado de qué hablar. Como miembro clave de una de las bandas más importantes de la […]
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Los integrantes de The Beatles fueron grandes fanáticos de Elvis Presley. El Rey del Rock and Roll fue una fuerte influencia no solo para su música, sino para los looks que usaron en sus inicios. Sin embargo, con la llegada de la fama del cuarteto, Presley no se mostró muy entusiasmado ante el fenómeno cultural […]
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El universo de Friends se volvió parte de la cultura popular. A pesar de que la sitcom llegó a su fin en 2004, sigue cosechando nuevos fanáticos, generando visualizaciones continuas y logrando la identificación de gran parte del público. Por eso, a comienzos de 2026, Starbucks lanzó una campaña limitada de productos y propuestas gastronómicas […]
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El cine y la Iglesia católica no siempre van por la misma línea. Mientras el séptimo arte ha sido una vía para la expresión sexual explícita, la crítica y la manifestación más radicalizada, las instituciones religiosas han intentado, en diversos momentos de la historia, frenarlo. A continuación, cuatro películas que fueron atacadas por la Iglesia […]
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