Category: Music

The U.K. government hopes to decrease the price of resale tickets by an average £37 per ticket ($48 USD), according to a new report released released Wednesday (Nov. 19) in which it outlined its plan to outlaw ticket resale above face value.

According to a memo outlining the new rules, “Music and sport fans will no longer be ripped off on the ticket resale market thanks to new measures which will destroy the operating model of ticket touts,” also known as scalpers. The memo, released by the country’s Department for Business and Trade and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, adds that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government will make it “illegal for tickets to concerts, theatre, comedy, sport and other live events to be resold for more than their original cost.” The news was first reported by multiple U.K. outlets on Monday (Nov. 17) prior to the memo’s release.

The new rules effectively make ticket resale above face value — defined as “the original ticket price plus unavoidable fees, including service charges” — illegal. The law limits the service fees that resale sites can charge and requires platforms like StubHub and Viagogo “to monitor and enforce compliance with the price cap.” The law also bans fans and resellers from buying more tickets than they are legally entitled to purchase during an initial ticket sale. 

The U.K. government’s website features supportive quotes from politicians, music managers and artists about the bill, including U.K. Business Secretary Peter Kyle, who said the legislation taking on scalpers was meant to “smash their model to pieces and make sure more fans can enjoy their favourite stars at a fair price.”  

In her own statement, U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy compared ticket scalpers to “a shadow industry, acting without consequence” while Dan Smith of the band Bastille described the legislation as “a good step towards protecting music fans from being ripped off.” 

The new rules apply to both ticket resale platforms and social media sites where fans buy and sell goods. Violating the new regulations, according to the government, could result in large financial penalties from the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

“Government analysis suggests that these measures could save fans around £112 million annually [$146 million USD], with 900,000 more tickets bought directly from primary sellers each year,” the government’s website reads.

The law is meant to build on a development from September in which the Competition and Markets Authority secured commitments from Ticketmaster to give U.K. fans 24 hours’ notice if Ticketmaster plans to use tiered pricing and provide clearer information about how the company’s online queues work, among other measures.

“The CMA’s enforcement action in this case, and the measures agreed with Ticketmaster, send a clear message to all ticketing websites that fans must have access to clear and timely pricing information with accurate ticket descriptions, especially where there are different pricing models and queues in play,” the government’s website reads. “In the future, the CMA will be able to respond even more swiftly and robustly to breaches of consumer law.” 

The new legislation drew both praise and condemnation from different corners of the music industry. U.S.-based pro-ticket resale group the National Association of Ticket Brokers warned in a statement that it does “not support efforts to thwart competition. We discourage laws that impose price caps that make it more difficult for ticketing companies to compete with one another.” 

Others were more supportive, with Chris Lipscomb, managing girector for AXS U.K., telling Billboard in a statement, “We strongly support the UK government’s efforts to strengthen safeguards around ticket resale, which align with AXS’s longstanding practices in support of fair fan access.” 

Matt Kaplan, who heads up U.K. and EU operations for fan-to-fan exchange Tixel, said “the UK’s move to outlaw touting is a huge win for fans, artists and the wider industry, and we fully support this long-overdue reform. Tixel was built to tackle these exact problems, and after nearly a decade fighting for fair, transparent resale in multiple markets around the world, we’re proud to see a framework emerge that protects fans, restores trust and shuts out the bad actors.” 

In a statement to Billboard, Nathaniel Marro with the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) added, “We hope policymakers stateside are paying attention and that reining in predatory resellers is a global movement.” Also in a statement, Stephen Parker of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) called on “state lawmakers throughout the United States to follow the United Kingdom’s (UK) proposed ticket resale price cap.” 

Carrie Underwood is an eight-time Grammy winner, a three-time ACM entertainer of the year winner, an American Idol judge, an actress and a businesswoman — and she’s also a mom to two sons, Jacob and Isaiah. Thus, Underwood is well-acquainted with the scourge facing countless parents right now: Kids’ obsession with the phrase “6-7.” The trend has become so popular, in fact, that it was named Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year.

During a preview clip for American Idol‘s upcoming season, Underwood greets a contestant on the show, Uzziah Hutchinson, who works with kids and references the popular catchphrase.

“I bet you get a lot of funny stories,” Underwood says, with the contestant replying, “Right now, it’s ‘6-7.’”

Immediately, Underwood begins mimicking the hand gesture that goes with the catchphrase, which is wildly popular with school-age kids. “6-7” originally came from the song “Doot Doot (6 7)” by rapper Skrilla, in reference to NBA star LaMelo Ball’s height, but it’s mostly just become extremely popular for students to repeat — and an annoyance for many parents and teachers.

Fortunately, Underwood has a scheme to get the “6-7” craze to halt.

“Here’s how we stop that, Uzziah. I have the cure,” Underwood says. “Every time the kids say ‘6-7,’ we have to immediately say [singing], ‘5-3-0-9,’” she says — referencing Tommy Tutone’s Billboard Hot 100 top five hit “867-5309/Jenny” from 1982.

“That’ll work!” Uzziah said.

“And if we all band together and do that, it will stop,” Underwood insists. “It’s gonna take all of us.”

Season 24 of American Idol will launch on Jan. 26 — exactly 67 days from now — welcoming back Underwood as a judge alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie. The music competition airs on ABC and streams on Hulu.

See the American Idol preview clip below:

Warner Music Group (WMG) reported a 23% decline in annual profit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 on Thursday (Nov. 20), as restructuring costs and the end of the company’s BMG distribution deal weighed on revenue.

However, executives struck an optimistic tone during their earnings presentation, pointing to higher publishing and recorded music revenue, driven by subscription streaming growth, as evidence that their cost-cutting and reinvestment strategy was working.

WMG’s share price fell 2.66% on Thursday to $29.69. However, analysts at Guggenheim Partners, who have rated WMG a buy over the past few quarters, wrote in a note to investors that the company’s subscription streaming revenue and growth forecast is “encouraging.”

“We modestly raise our [full year 2026] revenue … estimates primarily reflecting higher subscription revenue as a result of pricing adjustments,” Michael Morris, equity analyst at Guggenheim, wrote on Thursday.

Here are a few of the highlights from WMG’s earnings presentation and filings.

Digital music revenue growth and market share improvement

WMG’s digital income improved by 3% in the year, helped by two straight quarters of recorded music streaming growth. Music subscription streaming rose by 8.5% during the quarter. Ad-supported streaming grew by 3%.

This was driven by hits from sombr, whose “Back to Friends” has spent 33 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, Cardi B’s Am I The Drama?, which has spent the past two months on the Billboard 200, and Twenty One Pilots, whose Breach had the best debut week for a rock album in six years.

On an earnings call, WMG CEO Robert Kyncl noted that the company’s share of the Spotify Top 200 grew “by around 6 percentage points versus fiscal 2024” and that it “had the No. 2 market share” for the full quarter. 

Meeting savings goals by using AI for dealmaking

WMG is on track to meet its goal of cutting internal costs by $200 million in 2026 and $300 million in 2027, said Armin Zerza, WMG’s CFO. Because the company is investing more in front-line artist development and key regions and genres, Zerza added, it has focused on savings in back-office functions.

In addition to introducing the cloud-based finance software SAP in Zerza’s department and using data to tailor marketing spend, WMG is working with an AI company to help “optimize” its mergers and acquisitions strategy, Zerza added.

Ultimately, the company’s cost savings plan, along with other growth, is expected to drive a 150 to 200 basis point improvement in WMG’s adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) margins.

Details on the Tempo and Bain Deals

WMG’s February acquisition of 50.1% of Tempo Music was for a “consideration of $77 million, including transaction costs,” and it included the option to buy out the remainder of Tempo for $73 million before the end of November 2027, according to an SEC filing released Thursday. That acquisition saw WMG recognize $351 million in publishing copyrights and $88 million in recorded music catalogs, along with $13 million in cash and other assets. Also included in the acquisition was $311 million of asset-backed securities secured by some of Tempo’s catalog, according to the filing. The Tempo catalog includes rights to songs by Wiz Khalifa, Florida Georgia Line and Brett James.

Additionally, Warner disclosed in filings that as part of the joint venture it announced in June to acquire catalogs with Bain, it secured a $500 million line of credit.

Zerza said during the earnings presentation that WMG’s joint venture with Bain has a robust pipeline of deals they expect to begin announcing in 2026.

When KPop Demon Hunters fever came to the Top Gabb Music Songs chart in July, listeners seemed more inclined to stream Saja Boys, the Netflix film’s demon boy band, than HUNTR/X, the girl group trio hunting them down.

But now the tides have turned, as HUNTR/X’s “Golden” not only reigns for a second month on the October 2025 chart; the group’s “How It’s Done” also rises to No. 2.

Billboard has partnered with Gabb Wireless, a phone company for kids and teens, to present a monthly chart tracking on-demand streams via its Gabb Music platform. Gabb Music offers a vast catalog of songs, all of which are selected by the Gabb team to include only kid- and teen-appropriate content. Gabb Music streams are not currently factored into any other Billboard charts.

The October 2025 chart marks the third published ranking since Gabb Music was made available via app stores, meaning users can now download the streaming app to devices other than Gabb Wireless’ phones and tablets.

In July, Saja Boys’ “Your Idol” crowned the ranking, followed by a pair of HUNTR/X songs in “Golden” and “Takedown” at Nos. 2 and 3. Saja Boys’ “Soda Pop” ruled the August survey, followed by the aforementioned “How It’s Done” and “Your Idol,” and “Golden” ascended to the throne in September, with the two Saja Boys tunes in hot pursuit.

But this time, HUNTR/X becomes the first of the warring groups to occupy the entire top two thanks to “How It’s Done” rising to No. 2, while “Soda Pop” and “Your Idol” must be content with Nos. 3 and 4, respectively.

With a second month at No. 1, “Golden” is the first song to reign for multiple months since Forrest Frank’s “Your Way’s Better” ruled between April and June.

“Golden” topped the multimetric, weekly Billboard Hot 100 for two frames in October, reigning on the Oct. 4 and 11 lists. It appears at No. 2 on the latest (Nov. 22-dated) tally.

While music from KPop Demon Hunters remains ubiquitous on the latest Top Gabb Music Songs ranking, occupying seven of the top eight positions for the second month in a row, October marks the first time since the songs’ July debut that something else seeps into the top five: Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” which lifts one position to No. 5.

One song debuts on the October chart, though it’s not a newly released song. Billie Eilish and Khalid’s 2018 collaboration “Lovely” bows at No. 24, over six years after the song peaked at No. 64 on the Hot 100 in January 2019. It’s Khalid’s first appearance on Top Gabb Music Songs since the ranking’s October 2024 inception, while Eilish has previously made the 25-positon survey with “Wildflower.”

See the full chart below.

Top Gabb Music Songs

DROPS: “Strategy,” TWICE; “Love Me Not,” Ravyn Lenae; “Lemonade,” Forrest Frank & The Figs; “Chk Chk Boom,” Stray Kids