Category: Music

Donald Trump is once again addressing the possibility of granting a presidential pardon to Sean “Diddy” Combs.

During a Friday (Aug. 1) interview on Newsmax’s Finnerty, the president was asked whether he would consider pardoning Combs following his recent federal conviction. In early July, the Bad Boy Records mogul was found guilty of transportation with intent to engage in prostitution, though he was acquitted of more serious charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering.

“Well, he was essentially, I guess, sort of half-innocent,” Trump told host Rob Finnerty. “He’s still in jail or something, but he was celebrating a victory. But I guess it wasn’t as good of a victory.”

Trump also reflected on his past relationship with Combs, noting they were once “very friendly” and that he “got along with him great.” However, he said that dynamic shifted when he entered politics, describing Combs as having become “very hostile.”

This isn’t the first time Trump has commented on the case. During an Oval Office press briefing in late May, he was asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy whether he would consider a pardon for Combs. At the time, Trump said he’d “look at the facts,” acknowledging their former rapport while insisting personal feelings wouldn’t influence his decision.

“I haven’t spoken to him in years,” Trump said. “He used to really like me a lot. I think when I ran for politics, that relationship busted up. … I would certainly look at the facts. If I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don’t like me, it wouldn’t have any impact on me.”

Combs’ partial acquittal followed seven weeks of testimony, including statements from singer Cassie Ventura, who accused him of abuse and trafficking during their relationship. Combs has denied all allegations. He now faces up to 20 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for Oct. 3.

Watch Trump’s full response on Finnerty about pardoning Diddy in a clip posted on X.

Stevie Nicks has had a change of plans after suffering a recent injury, with the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman announcing Friday (Aug. 1) that her next two months of shows will be postponed as she heals.

In a note shared to her social media accounts, Nicks’ team wrote, “Due to a recent injury resulting in a fractured shoulder that will require recovery time, Stevie Nicks’ scheduled concerts in August and September will be rescheduled.”

Noting that the star will proceed with her shows in October as scheduled, the message concludes, “Stevie looks forward to seeing everyone soon and apologizes to the fans for this inconvenience.”

Fans with tickets to any of the postponed performances are encouraged to hold onto their seats, as all previously purchased tickets will be honored at their corresponding rescheduled shows. More information can be found at point of purchase.

Nicks had been slated to perform in a handful of cities across the United States and Canada across August and September, including Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Cincinnati and Brooklyn, N.Y. All of the postponed shows have already been rescheduled to new dates in late October, November and the first couple of weeks in December, as listed in the rock star’s post and on her website.

The news of Nicks’ injury comes more than three months after she first announced her solo tour in April, writing at the time that she couldn’t “wait to share these nights with you.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer had also been supposed to tour with Billy Joel this year, but the Piano Man similarly had to cancel all of his 2025 and 2026 performances as he battles a condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus. In July, he provided an update on how he’s faring, telling Bill Maher, “I feel good … They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I’m feeling.”

Nicks is currently working on a new album, her first in 14 years. The Grammy winner first revealed that she was getting back into the studio as she was being inducted into the Pollstar Hall of Fame.

“I call it the ghost record,” she said in her speech. “It just really kinda happened in the last couple of weeks because of, you know, the [Los Angeles] fires. I was sitting in a hotel for 92 days, and at some point during that last part of the 92 days, I said, ‘You know what? I feel like I’m on the road, but there’s no shows. I’m just sitting here by myself, because everybody else is at the house, doing all the remediations and everything, and it’s just me, sitting here.’ And I thought, ‘You need to go back to work.’ And I did.”

See Nicks’ post below.

MGK has flexed his acting chops on the silver screen in a plethora of roles, but he turned down a chance to star in the Ryan Coogler-directed blockbuster Sinners over the audition’s requirement of using the “n-word.”

Kels stopped by The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday (July 31), where he opened up about skipping out on a potential audition for a vampire role over the inclusion of a racial slur in his script.

“Like Sinners, I was supposed to be in that,” MGK explained. “The vampire, they had me set up to do the audition — it’s the one that’s in the house, so he’s the second vampire, the one that the guy comes and eats the family. In the audition, he has to say the ‘n-word’ and I wouldn’t do it.”

Former NFL player and The McAfee Show co-host, Darius Butler, appreciated the Cleveland native’s gesture to turn down the role, proceeding to give him a fist-bump.

It seems Kelly was describing the role of Bert, the racist KKK member turned by Remmick (Jack O’Connell) in the first act of the film. The role ultimately went to actor Peter Dreimanis, while Ryan Coogler brought out a loaded cast for Sinners, including stars Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld and Miles Caton.

The horror thriller’s release has been a major blockbuster success, as Sinners has grossed over $45,000,000 domestically and more than $60,000,000 at the global box office since its April arrival.

Elsewhere in the interview, MGK had a message for Hollywood directors looking to cast him. “Hey dude, I’d like to be in cinema while I still look young,” he said. MGK is gearing up for a busy August, which will include the release of his Lost Americana album on Aug. 8.

Watch the interview below. Talk about Sinners takes place after the 10-minute mark.

Some earnings results are more difficult to interpret than others, and Spotify’s were no exception. Like Universal Music Group’s Q2 earnings, which contained a jumble of metrics headed in opposite directions, the streaming giant’s results were a mixed bag of wins and losses — a contrast to previous quarters when the metrics were in much better alignment.

The market seemed to take the Spotify results poorly, as the company’s share price dropped more than 11% following Tuesday’s earnings release. (Importantly, a pullback of that scope isn’t a surprise given Spotify’s share price was up 112% over the last year through Monday, July 28.) Analysts, however, were more sanguine and focused on the company’s long-term prospects rather than the quarter-to-quarter bumpiness.

Some of the factors that influenced Spotify’s mixed quarter were under its control (subscriber growth, lower-than-expected advertising performance). But some factors were out of its control (foreign exchange losses) while others were a combination of external and internal forces (higher stock-based compensation expense related to Spotify’s soaring share price). That’s a lot to digest.

Spotify’s earnings results highlighted the tension between investors’ desire for neat, linear growth and the untidy realities for companies that report earnings every three months. For a variety of reasons, some quarters will be better than others, and CEO Daniel Ek encouraged investors “to be prepared” for those instances where Spotify spends more money to grow the business over the long term.

A drop in advertising prices, for example, might spur Spotify to “double or triple” its marketing expense, Ek explained. “We generally expect to see more efficiencies as we’re leveraging better and better tools,” he said, “but sometimes that efficiency may mean that the right thing is to actually spend more in the short term to then get it back in the long term.” Translation: The path to success isn’t a straight line.

Equity analysts, who love a clean narrative as much as anybody, tried to make sense of the contrasting indicators. J.P. Morgan analysts called it a “messy” quarter for its mix of positives and negatives. Some analysts slightly lowered their forecasts for revenue and operating income. Everybody pointed to the fact that Spotify will encounter some bumps in the road as it makes investments (which are a drag on earnings) in pursuit of long-term growth (which, to Ek’s point, could help earnings down the road).

But there was nothing in Spotify’s results and executives’ comments that changed analysts’ overall theses. Investors want to see year-over-year growth every quarter, but analysts know that isn’t realistic. In their notes to investors, analysts focused on long-term opportunities to attract subscribers, benefits from current investments and Spotify’s ability to generate additional revenue.

Analysts believe that Spotify will continue to succeed if it makes the platform more engaging. Some of them homed in on two statistics that Spotify mentioned during the earnings call: 350 million users have streamed a video podcast, and video consumption is growing 20 times faster than audio-only consumption. Spotify’s investments in AI could also lead to better engagement. Spotify now has AI playlists in 40 countries, and user engagement with its AI DJ has “nearly doubled” in the last year, Gustav Söderström said during Tuesday’s earnings call.

Another factor in long-term growth is Spotify’s ability to generate revenue in different ways. For most of its history, Spotify has made money selling ads and subscriptions based on music listening. That has changed in recent years, and J.P. Morgan analysts believe the company has the ability to improve monetization outside of the record label/music publisher royalty structure. In other words, podcasts and audiobooks have the potential to help drive revenue without giving 70% of that revenue to music rights holders.

In the end, analysts’ valuation models didn’t change much, if at all. Guggenheim lowered its price target to $800 from $840 and maintained its buy rating. J.P. Morgan maintained its $740 price target. Cantor Fitzgerald left its $640 price target unchanged and reiterated its neutral rating. Bernstein kept its $840 price target and outperform rating. There’s a $200 variance in price targets within those four examples. But considering Spotify closed Friday at $627.15, it’s clear all the analysts feel there is upside for investors willing to hold on through occasional rough terrain.