SZA has been inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, with actor Danny DeVito taking part in the induction. The singer confirmed the honor on social media, noting the recognition of her home state ties.
The induction adds to a run of accolades and milestones for SZA, whose career has been closely associated with New Jersey throughout her rise in R&B.
Read the full story at Billboard.
ASCAP has appointed Jackson Wagener as Senior Vice President and Head of General Licensing. He steps into the role overseeing the division responsible for licensing the performing rights organization’s catalog of more than 20 million musical works.
The general licensing team handles agreements with restaurants, bars, fitness studios, live music venues and other businesses that play music for their customers. Wagener’s remit will include managing that operation and its licensing relationships across those sectors.
Read the full story at Music Business Worldwide.
Warner Music Group has reshuffled its executive ranks. Val Blavatnik is joining the company, Elliot Grainge is taking on oversight of ADA in addition to his existing responsibilities, and Simon Robson is departing.
The changes also include a promotion for Alejandro Duque, while Aaron Bay-Schuck has been confirmed as sole Chairman and CEO of Warner Records Group, consolidating leadership of that division under him.
Read the full story at Music Business Worldwide.
Simon Robson, President of EMEA Recorded Music at Warner Music Group, will step down in December after nearly three decades with the company. Robson shared a farewell note to staff marking the end of his tenure.
His exit adds to a string of senior leadership changes at major labels this year, as executives with long tenures move on and companies reassess regional structures across recorded music divisions.
Read the full story at Music Business Worldwide.
Music Business Worldwide’s latest weekly digest covers a leadership shake-up at Warner Music Group alongside AI startup Suno’s continued legal resistance in court. The round-up compiles the week’s top industry headlines into a single recap.
Details on the scope of Warner’s executive changes and the specifics of Suno’s courtroom stance were not disclosed in the summary, though both stories signal ongoing volatility at the intersection of major-label management and AI music litigation.
Read the full story at Music Business Worldwide.
New York folk rock project Fish Hunt, led by Lucy Mondello, has released a new single, “Monkey See Monkey Do,” ahead of its third studio album, Life, due October 23 via VHS Records. The song features pianist Tex Patrello and marks Mondello’s first fingerpicking composition, inspired, according to the artist, by her frustration with current U.S. politics.
The album was recorded at VHS Studios in Brooklyn and includes contributions from Melaina Kol, Boone Patrello of Teethe, Joe Taurone of Bruiser and Bicycle, and Dan Poppa of People I Love. An earlier single, the title track “Life,” arrived in August alongside a music video.
Fish Hunt will play a series of shows in New York and Los Angeles this fall, including a September 26 date at Union Pool with Alexalone, Proun and Laveda, and two dates at VHS Studios in October and November alongside Melaina Kol, Chatterton, Tex Patrello and Weatherday.
Based on a press release provided to Music Industry Weekly by Kenzie Davis.
Los Angeles indie rock artist brookelen has released “omen,” a single accompanied by a music video featuring Jessicka Addams of Jack Off Jill and Scarling. The track is the latest preview of brookelen’s third EP, “dark side of the sun,” due October 23 via Soliloquy Records.
According to the announcement, the song was written after the artist learned of an ex-boyfriend’s engagement, and explores themes of self-actualization, independence and queerness through witch-rock imagery. The video was shot at Addams’ home in Los Angeles and depicts symbolic imagery including a wedding dress that Addams cuts the artist out of during the video.
The six-track EP was engineered by Claire Morrison, known for her work with Goon, with additional production and mixing by Pearce Gronek, who has worked with Hudson Freeman, Miya Folick and Paper Lady. The project marks brookelen’s first release with Soliloquy Records, an independent Nashville-founded label started in 2025 by Jacob Kolb, following her prior EPs “time to go” and “going, going, gone.”
Based on a press release provided to Music Industry Weekly by Romy Bayhack.
Polyphia has released “With Eyes To See,” the third single from its upcoming fifth studio album, “Be Not Afraid,” due October 23 via Rise Records. The track arrives with a music video that the band describes as juxtaposing dreamlike visuals with references to real-world events.
The single follows earlier releases “Can You Feel It” and “Power In The Blood.” The band recorded the new album over 2024 and 2025 across Miami, Los Angeles and Dallas with co-producer RJ Pasin and guitarist Spiro Dussias. Guitarist Tim Henson said the album moves between uplifting and unsettling extremes, adding that some passages still unnerve him on playback.
Polyphia will tour the UK and Europe this November and December with support from Perturbator and RJ Pasin, followed by a North American leg beginning in February 2027 with support acts including Ladrones, RJ Pasin and, on select dates, Intervals. The band’s 2022 album “Remember That You Will Die” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart and entered the top 40 of the Billboard 200.
Based on a press release provided to Music Industry Weekly by Dayna Travers, bigpicturemediaonline.com.
BandLab has updated AutoMix, its AI-assisted mixing feature, to let users guide mixes with text instructions in addition to preset genre profiles. The tool analyzes audio and MIDI tracks within a BandLab project and adjusts levels and panning, with creators now able to type direction such as “push vocals forward” or “more space and depth” after selecting from eight genre-based starting points.
According to the company, AutoMix is designed to work on music that already exists rather than generate new material, positioning it as a production aid that handles technical adjustments while leaving creative decisions to the user. The result is meant to serve as a starting point that creators can continue to refine manually.
The update reflects a broader push among music software makers to apply AI to workflow and production tasks rather than composition or generation.
Based on a press release provided to Music Industry Weekly by Meg Banich, rockpaperscissors.biz.
Direct-to-fan platform EVEN has named Josh Remsberg to the newly created role of Head of Commercial Partnerships. He will oversee the company’s commercial relationships with labels, distributors, managers and artist teams, along with ties to merchandise partners and chart-reporting organizations, according to the announcement.
Remsberg joins EVEN from Warner Records, where he served as SVP, Head of Commercial Strategy & Revenue, working across the label’s roster including Zach Bryan, Benson Boone and Teddy Swims. The label says its U.S. revenue and market share grew significantly during his tenure. Earlier in his career, Remsberg spent nearly 20 years at Capitol Music Group and Universal Music Group in commercial strategy and business development roles, and he co-founded management company Art Associates, whose clients have included Mayer Hawthorne and Tuxedo.
EVEN, which launched in April 2024, provides e-commerce, fan-data and payments infrastructure for artists to sell music and experiences directly to fans ahead of streaming release. The company says eligible sales are reported to Luminate for Billboard chart inclusion.
Based on a press release provided to Music Industry Weekly by Carrie Davis, cdconsultingco.com.