Music News

For a uniquely brutal year, 2020 had more than its share of fantastic music, and in our latest episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, we look back at the year’s best albums, from Bad Bunny’s Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gan to Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You. (The podcast previously covered many of the albums on Rolling Stone’s list, via interviews with Dua Lipa, Phoebe Bridgers, and Jason Isbell, among others.) Brittany Spanos, Rob Sheffield, and Simon Vozick-Levinson join host Brian Hiatt for the discussion, which dives deep on albums from City Girls, Ariana Grande, Megan Thee Stallion, Paul McCartney, Jeff Tweedy, Fontaines D.C., Hayley Williams, The Weeknd, and many more.

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Penske Media Corporation (PMC) announced a new partnership with YT Media, one of China’s leading media companies, launching the Chinese Edition of Rolling Stone on Tuesday. Under a multiyear license, Rolling Stone China will feature original and syndicated content tailored to a booming consumer market and providing a new lifestyle brand to China’s Y-generation and 600 million online music consumers.

Rolling Stone China’s launch issue, out now, features cover stars Zhang Chu and Roy Wang, as well as Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift in their “Musicians on Musicians” interview. This debut issue will be followed by a series of corresponding core products and experiences including: a website, WeChat, Weibo, Bilibili channels, events, and quarterly print issues.

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Eric Church will give one of the biggest performances of his career on Sunday when he sings the National Anthem at the Super Bowl alongside Jazmine Sullivan. Today, Church made it clear that he doesn’t want it to be his only performance of 2021.

“Hey guys, we are working on a North American tour,” Church said in a video statement to fans. “We’re waiting for the right timing to officially announce all the details, but I want you to know that a tour is coming, and we are very excited to play new music for our old friends… I cannot wait to see you on the road.” In a press release, Church’s team said the statement was also intended to offer “reassurance that live music will indeed return in 2021.”

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After The Supremes disbanded in 1977, Wilson continued on as a solo artist. She was rarely far from the spotlight.

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Since 2019, podcasts have been central to Spotify’s growth strategy and goal of improving the company’s margins. Original and exclusive content not only attract listeners but can help ease pressure from rigid music licensing costs. On that front, Spotify’s spending matches its ambition. Most notably, Spotify paid $100 million to exclusively license The Joe Rogan Podcast, a consistent top podcast since its arrival on the platform in December. Other deals show Spotify is looking beyond celebrity podcasters to attract smaller creators. Megaphone, acquired in November, inserts audio advertisements into podcasts. New self-serve tools for Anchor, the podcast app it purchased in 2019, as well as new monetization options announced Monday, could also attract “long tail” podcasters and, eventually, more advertisers.

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Sisters and pop duo Aly & AJ discuss going viral on TikTok and making videos with their mom, breaking out of the Disney mold, realizing they’d become “gay icons,” and more in the latest installment of Rolling Stone’s The First Time.

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"You All Over Me (From the Vault)" is due out at midnight on Thursday (March 25).

Taylor Swift is opening her archives on Thursday night (March 25) to release the first song in her "From the Vault" series. "HI. I wanted to let you know that the first 'From the Vault' song I’m releasing from Fearless (Taylor’s Version) comes out tomorrow at midnight eastern," Swift said of the track, titled "You All Over Me (From The Vault)."

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Of Khaled Khaled’s 93,000 equivalent album units earned in the tracking week ending May 6, SEA units comprise 76,000 (equaling 106.87 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks), album sales comprise 14,000 and TEA units comprise 3,000. Khaled Khaled was preceded by a pair of top 10-charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, both featuring Drake: “Popstar” and “Greece,” which reached Nos. 3 and 8, respectively, on the Aug. 1, 2020-dated chart.

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Southern rockers Blackberry Smoke have announced new dates for an extensive tour giving praise to their musical heritage. The Georgia group’s headlining Spirit of the South Tour: A Celebration of Southern Rock N Roll will kick off July 30th and feature guests the Allman Betts Band, the Wild Feathers, and founding Allman Brothers Band member Jaimoe.

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