Category: Music

On Wednesday (Oct. 22), around fifteen employees in U.S. and Latin American music roles at TikTok and ByteDance across multiple territories were told their positions were terminated, according to sources close to the matter. Two sources say a number of those impacted will have their accounts on the company’s business management platform, Lark, deactivated on Friday (Oct. 24), marking the end of their employment.

More music team members at TikTok in other parts of the world are expected to be laid off soon. One source says that some TikTok employees in the U.K. office were recently notified that they had been terminated — a requirement by U.K. law — foreshadowing another round of layoffs.

Sources say TikTok will focus on current artist and festival partnerships for now. A number of roles are said to have been eliminated on the music-related partnerships and programming teams.

The people who remain on the music team after the layoffs include Tracy Gardner (global head of music business development), Rachel Dunham (artist partnerships lead), Kat Kernaghan (label partnerships director), Jordan Lowy (global head of music publishing licensing and partnerships), Emily Mitchell (manager, music publishing partnerships) and Graham Pierce (music partnerships Americas, Australia, New Zealand), according to sources.

Six months ago, Gardner took over the post of global head of music business development from longtime leader Ole Obermann. Obermann is now the co-head of Apple Music. Gardner’s team remains unaffected by the layoffs.

This would mark the first round of significant layoffs at TikTok’s music division since 2023, when seven U.S.-based staffers on the artist services team were cut to improve efficiency. Those cuts came one month after the company unveiled its TikTok Music streaming platform in several international markets, though that service was wound down the following year as the company said it would instead focus its efforts on its “Add to Music” app.

A representative for TikTok declined Billboard’s request for comment.

TWICE scores its eighth top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Oct. 25) as TEN: The Story Goes On debuts at No. 2 with 23,000 copies sold in the United States in the tracking week ending Oct. 16, according to Luminate. The group’s last eight chart entries have all debuted inside the top three, dating back to 2021’s chart-topping Taste of Love.

Also in the top 10 of the latest Top Album Sales chart, new projects arrive from Not for Radio, CxM and Testament.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.

Holding atop the latest Top Album Sales chart for a second week is Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl, while the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is a non-mover at No. 3. Not for Radio, the solo debut project of The Marías’ frontwoman María Zardoya, bows at No. 4 with Melt. The SEVENTEEN subunit CxM (comprising members S.COUPS and MINGYU) debuts at No. 5 with its first project, CxM 1st Mini Album ‘HYPE VIBES’.

Stray Kids’ chart-topping KARMA falls 2-6 on Top Album Sales, Sabrina Carpenter’s former leader Man’s Best Friend dips 4-7 and KATSEYE’s Beautiful Chaos is steady at No. 8.

Veteran rock band Testament returns to the top 10 for the first time since 2020 with the No. 9 entry of Para Bellum. The band made its overall Billboard chart debut in 1988 with The New Order’s debut on the Billboard 200 in June of that year.

Rounding out the latest top 10 is Laufey’s A Matter of Time, rising 12-10.

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The 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards is finally here. Hosted by Goyo, Elizabeth Gutiérrez and Javier Poza, the annual award show will broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET at the James L Knight Center in Miama, Florida. The show will air live on Telemundo, which you can stream online with DirecTV.

Puerto Rican megastar and the upcoming Super Bowl LX halftime headliner Bad Bunny leads the night with a whopping 27 total nominations. Fuerza Regida comes in second with 15, Rauw Alejandro with 14, Karol G and Tito Double P, each with 10 nods and Peso Pluma with 9 mentions. See the full list of nominees here. On top of his lengthy list of nominations, Bad Bunny is also set to receive the Latin Artist of the Century award.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Billboard Latin Music Awards, including how to watching online without cable.

The 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards, at a Glance:

Who’s Performing at the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards?

Tonight’s performance lineup includes Daddy Yankee (DY), Grupo Frontera, Kapo, Abraham Mateo, Ángel Lopez, Arthur Hanlon, Danny Ocean, Ozuna, Olga Tañón, Laura Pausini — this year’s Billboard Icon Award recipient — La Arrolladora Banda El Limón de René Camacho, Beéle, Juan Duqu, Musza, Netón Vega, NXNNI, and Óscar Maydon.

How to Watch the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards Online

The 2025 Latin Billboard Awards will broadcast live on Telemundo. If you don’t have cable, DirecTV, Peacock and Fubo are great affordable options to stream the show live online.

DirecTV

Join DirecTV with a five-day free trial to enjoy live entertainment, like the 2025 Latin Billboard Awards, as well as your favorite sports, TV shows and movies. The streaming service’s signature packages feature more than 90 channels: Telemundo, ABC, TNT, ESPN, NBA TV, ESPN2, FS1, SEC, MLB Network, TLC, CBS, USA, Bravo, E!, BET, MTV and more.

A subscription to DirecTV — which comes with Telemundo — gets you access to live TV, local and cable channels, starting at $49.99 for the first month of service ($89.99 per month afterwards). The service even offers a five-day free trial to watch for free, if you sign up now.

Peacock

With Peacock, there is no free trial for new users but the platform offers cheap plans starting at just $10.99 per month, or you can get an annual plan for $109.99 per year (which gets you 12 months of streaming for the price of 10).

Also, Peacock and Apple TV have recently joined forces to give new and returning subscribers more originals, live sports and music programming at one low price. Prices start at $14.99 per month for the Apple TV and Peacock Premium (ad-supported) bundle, which is a nearly a 38% savings, if you were to subscribe individually. You can also upgrade to the Apple TV and Peacock Premium Plus (ad-free) bundle for $19.99 per month, a savings of almost 35% the individual streaming plans.

Fubo

Fubo’s streaming plans start at $59.99/month (regularly $79.99) after a 5-day free trial. Fubo Pro, one of the cheapest among the aforementioned streaming plans, includes 202 channels, 1000 hours of Cloud DVR and streaming on up to 10 screens. For Spanish speakers, Fubo Latino is $19.99/month (regularly $32.99/month) to stream 62 channels.

More than 550 entertainment industry leaders gathered in Los Angeles on Sunday (Oct. 19) for Creative Community for Peace’s (CCFP) seventh annual Ambassadors of Peace gala to promote dialogue and unity through the arts. The event was held at the Beverly Park residence of Haim Saban, chairman and CEO of Saban Capital Group.

This year’s honorees were Bruce Resnikoff, president/CEO of Universal Music Enterprises; Jonathan Strauss, CEO of Create Music Group; David Kohan, showrunner and executive producer of Will & Grace and Mid-Century Modern; his wife, Blair Kohan, partner and board member at United Talent Agency; and actor Jerry O’Connell.

The event featured a performance by John Mellencamp, who said, “I don’t like to call it antisemitism. It’s too polite a word for what it really is. Hatred is what it really is. And I may just be a guy with a guitar and sing some songs, but I promise this to the Jewish people: I will remain a staunch ally to you guys as long as I’m on this earth. And to the Jewish haters, I say f—k you.”

“In order to make a difference, sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zone, and that’s what I’m doing tonight,” Resnikoff said. “In the Jewish community, especially during an epidemic of undeniable and widespread antisemitism, we will always need more voices, and particularly in the music industry. CCFP brings caring people together to help amplify our voices, and I’m proud to do my part tonight.”

Strauss added, “Great companies and great cultures are not built in an echo chamber. Disagreement doesn’t mean division; it means engagement. And there’s nothing worse than apathy.”

CCFP chairman and co-founder David Renzer opened the event and said, “We have to push back. We have to educate. We believe in coexistence. We believe in the power of music and arts and culture to help build bridges and that it should not be shut down.”

Ari Ingel, CCFP executive director, added, “Jewish pride means knowing where we come from and taking control of where we are going. It means speaking Hebrew with joy, wearing your Magen David in the open, loving Israel, not with blind nationalism, but with eyes wide open, with commitment, with critique and care.”

Among those paying tribute to this year’s honorees were Ringo Starr, Def Leppard, Paul Rudd, Nick Kroll, Rebecca Romijn, Howie Mandel, Mayim Bialik, Debra Messing, Greg Berlanti, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos.

Artists and entertainment leaders in attendance included Gene Simmons of KISS; Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records; Gary Barber, co-founder Spyglass Media Group; Suzanne de Passe, co-chairwoman of de Passe Jones Entertainment Group; Jody Gerson, CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group; Jacqueline Saturn, president of Virgin Music; Michael Rotenberg, founder and partner at 3 Arts Entertainment; David Zedeck, global co-head of Music at UTA; Jacob Fenton, UTA partner; Larry Rudolph, founder and CEO of 724 Entertainment; and Phylicia Fant, global head of music industry & culture collaborations at Amazon Music.

Previous Ambassador of Peace honorees include Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr., Grammy-winning songwriter Diane Warren, reggae star Ziggy Marley, music mogul Scooter Braun, chairman & CEO of Sony Music Latin America Afo Verde, and CEO and co-chairman of Warner Records Aaron Bay-Schuck.

More information on Ambassadors of Peace can be found on the event’s website.