Lil Durk is getting support from two of rap’s biggest names as he fights to get out of jail following his acquittal on murder-for-hire charges.

Jay-Z and J. Cole both submitted letters to a federal judge on Tuesday (Oct. 27), obtained by Billboard, supporting Durk’s motion for bail. The Chicago rapper (Durk Banks) was found not guilty last month of taking out a hit on rival rapper Quando Rondo, but he remains in custody while awaiting a second racketeering trial.

In his letter, Jay-Z says he found Durk to be “kind, respectful and focused on his career” when they met several years earlier. “What stood out most to me was how he used his success,” writes Jay-Z. “Durk was signing young artists from his community to recording contracts and giving them a real path into a legitimate industry. Many of us come from neighborhoods where the options are limited and the risks are high. Durk understood that, and he worked to help others find a way out of those conditions rather than leaving them behind.”

“Release would allow [Durk] to support his family and continue the work in his community that I saw firsthand,” adds Jay-Z.

J. Cole’s letter focuses on his collaboration with Durk on the hit 2023 track “All My Life,” which earned a Grammy for best melodic rap performance and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. J. Cole notes that “All My Life” has a message of peace and growth, which Durk advocated for despite the elder rapper’s initial reluctance.

“It speaks to the vision of Durk to mature and realize the impact his art could have, and then to be willing to fight for the chance to make that impact a positive one, even if it meant going against the instincts of an artist he respects and looks up to,” writes J. Cole.

Durk was denied bail earlier in the case after being deemed a flight risk. Durk’s attorneys say his acquittal has changed these circumstances, and they’re willing to put up collateral that includes all his future royalties, touring income and name, image and likeness rights.

“Mr. Banks offers to the court a bond package that includes his future earnings, ensuring that that should he violate his bond, he and his family would remain penniless going forward,” write defense lawyers. Brian Steel and Drew Findling. “Mr. Banks, who following the time period surrounding these charges radically transformed his life, should be released on a bond.”

A hearing to review Durk’s bond is set for Nov. 4. A rep for the prosecution, which opposes Durk’s release, declined to comment on the motion Tuesday.

Durk was acquitted of murder-for-hire in September following a two-week trial, in which prosecutors accused him of putting a bounty on Rondo in retaliation for the 2020 killing of his close friend and collaborator King Von. Rondo was shot at a Los Angeles gas station in 2022 and survived, but his cousin Saviay’a Robinson, also known as Lul Pab, was killed in the crossfire.

Durk remains subject to one more criminal count under the federal Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity (VICAR) statute, which broadly criminalizes gang violence. That charge is scheduled for a second trial in August 2027, though Durk’s lawyers have suggested that they’ll likely try to get it tossed out under double jeopardy rules. “The caselaw might very well foreclose a second trial altogether,” write the defense attorneys in Tuesday’s bail motion.

Years after Neil Young first sued Donald Trump for playing “Rockin’ in the Free World’ at political rallies, the rocker is once again taking the president’s team to court for using the 1989 hit without a license.

Young sued Trump’s political action committee, Trump 47 Committee Inc., for copyright infringement on Monday (Oct. 26). The lawsuit, obtained by Billboard, seeks $10 million in damages for the use of “Rockin’ in the Free World” as Trump’s walk-up song at an Oct. 12 rally for the upcoming midterm elections in Youngstown, Ohio.

“’Rockin’ in the Free World’ is a blistering anthem that contrasts the hollow promises of American political rhetoric with the harsh realities faced by the poor, homeless and forgotten,” reads Young’s lawsuit. “The lyrics paint vivid street-level portraits — a mother discarding her baby, addicts lost in despair, garbage piling in the shadows of prosperity — while the repeated chorus delivers a savage irony, celebrating freedom that clearly isn’t shared by all. In short, the song is the opposite of everything that Donald J. Trump stands for.”

Young claims he did not, and never would, grant Trump’s PAC a public performance license to use his song. The rocker says Trump should have known this was illegal because Young previously sued Trump’s campaign for the same thing during his 2020 presidential run. According to Young, Trump’s campaign quickly settled the 2020 lawsuit and promised that “it would never again use ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ without a license and permission from Young.”

Now, since Trump is allegedly once again playing Young’s music without permission, the musician wants a legal injunction preventing further misuse. He’s also seeking hefty financial damages.

“Among other things, Young has suffered damage to his reputation and brand as a result of the implication that he supports Donald J. Trump in any way,” write Young’s lawyers.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit Monday.

Young is far from the only artist to challenge Trump for using their music at rallies. Scores of musicians have gone public with their distaste for the practice ever since Trump entered politics in 2016, and Young isn’t the only one who’s sued. In 2024, both The White Stripes and the estate of Isaac Hayes initiated lawsuits over Trump’s use of the songs “Seven Nation Army” and “Hold On, I’m Coming.” The White Stripes suit was quickly dropped, and the Hayes estate settled this year.

During Trump’s second term in office, his administration has also been beefing with pop stars like Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and Ariana Grande over the use of their music in TikTok and Instagram posts. Many of these posts have been videos promoting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation agenda under Trump.

UnitedMasters is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by expanding its Latin division with the signings of Lyanno and Lyon La F.

“Our focus in the Latin division goes beyond distribution, we are deeply invested in true artist development, building the global infrastructure and strategy that empower the new wave of independent Latin artists to shape culture on their own terms,” Maria Gracia, head of Latin artist marketing at UnitedMasters, said in a statement.

Lyanno hails from Puerto Rico and has collaborated with Rauw Alejandro, Eladio Carrion and Young Miko. The recipient of an ASCAP Award, his notable songs include “LOKERA” and “En Tu Cuerpo (Remix).”

“I’m very happy with this new stage in my career,” Lyanno said in a statement. “Being able to work on this new facet with my own team, hand in hand with UnitedMasters, is a great achievement. I’ve always worked on my projects with the same passion, and knowing that I have a team that understands and respects the vision of what we want to achieve fills me with enthusiasm. This partnership represents an opportunity to continue growing and to take my music and my talent to the level we’ve always aspired to.”

Lyon La F comes from La Serena, Chile, and went viral with the song “Deja Que El Mundo Se Acabe.”

“Signing with UnitedMasters feels like a natural next step for me,” Lyon La F said in a statement. “I’ve been working toward this for a long time, and now I have the right team around me to take everything to the next level. I’m excited to keep representing Chile, keep growing in Latin America, and show fans what I can do with this next chapter.”

UnitedMasters’ Latin team also encompasses Adrian Mainou, senior artist and digital marketing manager; Gineyda Cornelio, artist marketing and commerce manager; and Gerardo Mejia, senior lead of A&R.

UnitedMasters presented the Billboard Latin Music Week panel “Beyond the Algorithm: From Viral Moment to Global Fanbase,” with Gracia joining Lyanno, Yo Gansta and Gabo Llano (head of music operations at TikTok Spanish Speaking Latam).

Record collecting and music discovery platform Discogs has teamed up with Germany-based indie record store Black Plastic Records for the public sale of nearly 1,300 rare Beatles records from a private collection, Billboard can exclusively report.

The collection, compiled over decades by a dedicated fan who tracked down original pressings and rare singles and editions in different countries, represents an uncommonly extensive archive of Beatles recordings from the U.K. and continental Europe. Following the fan’s death, Black Plastic Records, a shop located in Dortmund, Germany, acquired the collection from his estate. The collection includes nearly 1,500 records total, though only around 1,300 will be available for purchase.

Included in the sale are: a rare 1963 promotional pressing of The Beatles’ debut studio album Please Please Me, one of an estimated 250 copies produced for British radio stations; an early promotional copy of the 1963 single “From Me to You”; an original 1963 U.K. mono first pressing of Please Please Me, featuring the black-and-gold Parlophone label; a rare 1968 pressing of The Beatles (better known as The White Album) featuring the Parlophone label; and a 1970 U.K. box set edition of Let It Be — including the original slipcase, fragile interior tray and book of photographs from the band’s recording sessions — described in a press release as “remarkably well-preserved.”

“Beyond these individual rarities, what makes the collection particularly remarkable is its depth of international releases,” states the release. “As Beatlemania swept the world in the 1960s, record companies in different countries often released their own versions of the group’s music, with different song combinations, album artwork, picture sleeves and record labels. A Beatles single released in England, for example, might feature entirely different cover art or accompanying tracks when issued in France, Italy or Sweden. Many of these regional editions were produced in small quantities and have since become highly sought-after by collectors. Together they offer a window into how the group’s music traveled around the world, and took on different identities in different countries.”

The first drop of roughly 1,300 records will be available to purchase exclusively through Discogs starting Friday (Oct. 30) at 8:00 a.m. ET. The sale will remain exclusive to Discogs for the first 10 days, though in-store browsing and pickup will be offered at Black Plastic Records.

“You don’t end up with thirteen hundred Beatles records by accident. Different sleeves, different pressings, promo copies nobody’s seen in sixty years — that’s devotion, and a lot of record culture comes down to that: wanting to stand as close to the music as a pressing can put you,” said Discogs director of seller experience Russ Ryan in a statement. “People forget Beatlemania never landed the same way twice. Cataloguing every country’s version has been part of our project for over twenty-five years, and it’s rare to see it tested this thoroughly in one place. Most importantly, a collection like this finds its way to a shop like Black Plastic because of the trust they’ve built up over years, not luck. Our job from there is simple: get those records into the right hands, globally.”

Added Valentin Gube, co-founder and co-owner of Black Plastic Records, “Collecting Beatles records in depth is a challenging field. You can find Beatles records everywhere, as they are the best-selling band of all time, but finding rare records in good condition gets harder every year. Original Beatles LPs from the sixties, and even more so singles, have been played over and over again, whether they are true rarities or common pressings. This makes finding rare Beatles records in nice collectable condition particularly difficult. Some pressings might still turn up occasionally, but finding a copy that has survived all these years with very little wear is a completely different story. So being able to put this collection up for sale in its entirety, with hundreds of sought after LPs and singles is a true honor.”

The Beatles sale marks the latest edition of Discogs Drops, a series of curated music collections that gives fans and collectors globally access to rare records and private archives. Previous sales in the series have included the personal collections of late Television frontman Tom Verlaine and journalist and author Mikal Gilmore.

Kenny MacPherson, the longtime music publishing executive who co-founded independent publisher Big Deal Music, died Oct. 23 in Los Angeles. He was 71. No cause of death was given.

Over nearly four decades, MacPherson became one of the most recognizable figures in music publishing, known for a sharp ear for left-of-center talent and a loyalty to the songwriters he signed. “Kenny was one of a kind,” Supertramp bassist Dougie Thomson, a friend of 50 years, told HITS Daily Double. Former Big Deal partner Jamie Cerreta, now president of Peermusic U.S. and Canada, said MacPherson “was beloved by the songwriters he fought so hard for.”

Born in Largs, Scotland, MacPherson got his start in live music in Glasgow, eventually managing concerts at the city’s Apollo Theatre. There he met comedian Billy Connolly, whom he went on to tour-manage, and it was in the London offices of Connolly’s publishers that he got the advice that set his course. “You know, Kenny, if you want to be in the music business, get into publishing — it’s a gentleman’s game,” publisher Bill Martin told him, as MacPherson recalled in a 2019 interview with Billboard.

He moved to the U.S. in the late 1970s and early ’80s, working with the Manhattan Transfer and then Supertramp’s management company, where he helped launch a publishing arm. In 1989 he joined Warner/Chappell to run its New York office, and over 13 years there he signed or developed acts including Radiohead, Underworld, Paul Westerberg, the Afghan Whigs and the Blue Nile.

He then took over Chrysalis Music’s North American division, where he and his team signed OutKast, My Morning Jacket, Ray LaMontagne, TV on the Radio, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beach House, St. Vincent and Thom Yorke, along with producers including Ethan Johns and Dave Sitek. He led the division until BMG acquired Chrysalis in 2010.

In 2012, MacPherson co-founded Big Deal Music with longtime colleagues Dave Ayers and Jamie Cerreta. “I wanted to build a place that was culturally significant and great for people to work, where manners, courtesy and high touch are important,” he told Billboard in 2019. With offices in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville, the company reunited him with past signings like LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket and St. Vincent while adding Blake Mills, Weyes Blood, Kamasi Washington, Sharon Van Etten, Sylvan Esso, Sleater-Kinney and hitmaking writers Teddy Geiger, Julian Bunetta and John Ryan. It regularly ranked among the top 10 U.S. publishers by market share, and the Association of Independent Music Publishers named it indie publisher of the year in 2017.

In September 2020, Hipgnosis Songs Fund acquired Big Deal, which became Hipgnosis Songs Group with MacPherson as CEO.

MacPherson was an outspoken advocate for songwriters, arguing that writers deserved seats on industry boards and backing the idea of a publisher-funded health care fund for songwriters. “A world without songs would be a very dull place,” he told Billboard.

He is survived by his wife, photographer Melanie Nissen; daughter Nicole Walker; granddaughter Kate Land; sister Anne Cowgill; and extended family.

The owners of Elvis Presley‘s music have launched a legal war over artificial intelligence, suing AI giant Anthropic over accusations that it trained its models on hundreds of the legendary artist’s song without permission.

The new lawsuit, filed Friday (Oct. 23) and first reported by Billboard, claims that Anthropic, the tech behemoth behind Claude, infringed 274 of the rock legend’s copyrighted songs, including famed hits like “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “A Little Less Conversation” and “Don’t Be Cruel.”

“The Elvis Plaintiffs bring this action to enforce these exclusive rights against the defendant that has built its entire business model based on copyright infringement at a scale never seen before,” writes Richard Busch, the lead attorney behind the lawsuit. “The Elvis Plaintiffs are deeply protective of these iconic songs.”

Though music companies like Universal Music Group have already repeatedly sued AI companies for stealing their IP, the new lawsuits represents by far the most high-profile legal action filed on behalf of an individual musician — in this case, arguably the most famous recording artist of all time.

The case was filed by a unit of Authentic Brands Group, the licensing giant that largely controls the intellectual property rights to Elvis, including much of his song catalog, his brand trademarks and the rights to his name, image and likeness. It was co-filed by various other entities that own Elvis rights.

Like other AI firms, Anthropic is already facing numerous lawsuits over the process of “training” their models to create new ones, which involves ingesting millions of existing works without permission. AI companies say that process is protected by copyright’s fair use defense, but that issue remains pending across dozens of lawsuits — with billions of dollars in potential damages at stake.

Litigation over AI music has centered more on Suno, the leading AI song generator, which was sued in 2024 by all three major music companies over such training accusations. It eventually settled with Warner Music Group last year and has vowed to partner with the music industry, but is still facing contentious litigation from UMG and Sony Music. Anthropic, a far larger AI firm, has faced similar cases across creative industries, including from music publishers.

The new case Friday largely mirrors those earlier cases, claiming Anthropic illegally used music en masse to create technology that produces “unlicensed derivative works.” But it centers on what the Elvis plaintiffs call “some of the most groundbreaking, revolutionary, influential, and enduring musical compositions in human history.”

That includes “Can’t Help,” arguably Presley’s most famous song, “Don’t Be Cruel,” one of his early massive hits, and “Little Less,” which saw a resurgence in popularity due to a 2000s remix. The lawsuit also cites “All Shook Up,” “Return to Sender” and “(You’re The) Devil in Disguise”.

A rep for Anthropic did not immediately return a request for comment on Saturday.

Busch is no stranger to high-profile music cases. He represented Eminem in landmark cases in the 2000s over digital downloads, and later represented Marvin Gaye’s estate in a famous copyright case against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, eventually winning a much-debated verdict that their “Blurred Lines” infringed Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.”

Billboard Canada has announced some more major global names for Billboard Canada Women In Music, where Cardi B will accept the Global Woman of the Year Award.

Summer Walker will accept the Global Visionary Award. Walker has broken barriers to build a modern global R&B success story based on boundless creativity and radical vulnerability. This year, Walker transformed her now-complete Over It trilogy into her first arena tour, the Finally Still Over It tour, which sold out venues around the world. The tour told the tale of her three albums, kicking off in Toronto and culminating with a special finale in the U.K., with two sold-out nights at London’s O2 Arena.

Celebrating the feat in a special moment captured by Billboard Canada and Billboard UK, Walker paid tribute to the bold and loyal team that has helped her achieve new heights as she has built her own path within the industry.

Bebe Rexha will be honoured with the Global Hitmaker Award, which recognizes her decade-spanning career and illustrious path from songwriter to one of the most versatile charting stars on the music landscape. From pop to electronic, country and R&B, she has shown an ability to craft songs that resonate with massive audiences including multiple No. 1s in Canada and the U.S.

Now in 2026, the singer has taken greater creative control of her career, going independent and partnering with EMPIRE, a decision she describes as not just a business one, but a personal one, “embracing every part” of herself. Her 2026 album Dirty Blonde hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Dance Albums chart and reflects Bebe’s newly heightened creative ambition, which includes making music videos for every song on the album.

Chxrry will accept the 2026 Billboard Canada Rising Star Award.

It has been four years since the Scarborough-born, Los Angeles-based act (formerly Chxrry22) made history as the first female artist signed to The Weeknd’s XO record label. Chxrry has continued to build her audience, playing both intimate and stadium-sized concerts during her opening stint on The Weeknd’s record-breaking After Hours Til Dawn tour. This year, she played 16 sold-out shows across the globe, including two stops in Toronto.

The celebration will be hosted by Leandra Earl and Kylie Miller of The Beaches, the breakthrough Toronto band that was recognized as last year’s Women of the Year.

The band celebrated the major breakthrough that began in 2023 with “Blame Brett” and continued through their 2025 album No Hard Feelings and their graduation to an arena-level band. They have remained true to themselves and proudly worn their home country on their sleeve, all while continuing to build an impact that transcends beyond it.

In addition to being major honourees last year, they were undoubtedly the life of the party, celebrating with the other honourees and creating a viral moment as they shared their surprise while congratulations played from Elton John, Kid Cudi, Charlotte Cardin and more. Following the Women of the Year honour, they also became the first group to receive the Global Force Award at Billboard Women In Music in Los Angeles. They described the win, which recognizes their representation of Canada on the world stage, as a “dream come true.”

Kylie and Leandra’s charm has also breathed new life into their breakthrough hit “Blame Brett” as the guitarists lead a viral stage move that has become a viral staple during the band’s live sets. From Rebecca Black and the Off Campus cast, to their own parents, the “Blame Brett hops” have become a fan-favourite moment and taken over stages of all sizes, from festivals like All Things Go to the arenas where The Beaches opened for Louis Tomlinson this spring.

Read more here. — Billboard Canada

Drake Finances New Album From Canadian Rapper k-os 

The return of Canadian hip-hop veteran k-os is imminent — and it’s fuelled by one of the country’s biggest global stars.

BLackneck will release on Oct. 30. It’s the genre-blurring Canadian rapper’s first full album in over a decade, and it has a major credit: Drake.

The new seven-track LP finds k-os reconnecting with the influence he’s left behind — the ambition of a Canadian artist willing to think beyond the country’s borders while also representing where he came from — and it took one of its biggest benefactors to bring it to life.

Drake is credited as an executive producer on the project. Though he wasn’t behind the boards, the Toronto star bankrolled the whole project while offering encouragement to k-os to make the album only he could make.

“Drake was like, ‘please make me a k-os record, please, please, please.’ That’s all he wanted,” k-os tells Billboard Canada over the phone from Mayne Island in B.C., where he’s putting the finishing touches on the mix for the album.

By a ‘k-os record,’ he means an album that takes big swings and doesn’t pigeonhole itself to one genre or perspective — a vision that inspired a young Aubrey Graham as he was building his Drake persona.

He grew up watching k-os on Canadian music video channel MuchMusic in the 2000s, when k-os was making his name as a major name in Canadian hip-hop. They collaborated on the songs “Faith” part one and two in the early 2010s, and remained friendly ever since. They first reconnected, k-os says, in 2021 or 2022 when they saw each other at a club. They re-exchanged phone numbers and Drake asked him to send him some music.

“He was like ‘dude, clearly you’re still good at this,’” k-os remembers. “‘I want to put you into a situation where you can make some music.’”

Drake spoke to Matte Babel, the former MuchMusic VJ who now works closely with Drake as the chief brand officer of his entertainment company, DreamCrew.

Babel has been managing the project with k-os, with Drake as the “chief financier,” says k-os.

“He’s like ‘oh, he wants to go to this big studio? He wants to get this string section?’ It’s hard for a label to spend that on an artist these days,” says k-os, who was formerly signed to major label Universal Music Canada and indie label Dine Alone. “If you’re a new artist and you just get signed off of streams, you tell them you want the Vancouver String Orchestra, they’re going to say ‘we’re not paying for it.’”

But Drake is able to pay for it, bringing him back to a musical situation he was in when he was a major label artist in a pre-streaming world.

Read more here. — Richard Trapunski

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau Criticizes Tate McRae’s Victoria’s Secret Performance: ‘Nothing Empowering Here’

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau is criticizing Tate McRae’s debut performance of “Housewife.”

The Calgary-born pop sensation took the stage at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show on Sunday night (Oct. 18) to perform her new single “Housewife” live for the first time, along with her hit singles “Sports Car” and “Dear God,” wearing a sleek red lingerie ensemble that drew criticism from the author and mental health advocate formerly married to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Under Billboard Canada‘s Instagram post of the performance, Grégoire Trudeau writes, “Really? This is what we need to do now to make a mark as an artist? I like her music and she’s talented but I see nothing empowering here; more like falling into the mold of people pleasing.”

Ahead of its release, McRae described her song to Jimmy Fallon as an empowerment anthem, one that’s “kind of about a woman who can’t be contained.” The Canadian pop star has explained the song is about wanting to be her own provider, to be rich, successful and her own housewife. “I just wanna make a lot of money/ be my own housewife/ You could be the one I’m calling honey/ Be my sex on the side,” she sings over the song’s mellow, 2000s-inspired production.

The viral hit is already breaking career records for the Canadian artist, having earned McRae’s largest streaming debut to date with 5.67 million streams in one day and landing at No. 1 on the Global Spotify chart. Her previous record was held by “Tit for Tat,” which garnered 4.31 million streams in a day and landed at No. 3 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, becoming her second-highest-charting solo hit in Canada. “Housewife” is McRae’s first new single of the year and her first since releasing her Canadian and U.S. No. 1 album So Close to What and its deluxe edition in 2025.

McRae’s performance has been the talk of the internet, with many fans raving over her catwalk strut to “Sports Car,” as well as the brief moment she shared with Gigi Hadid while performing “Housewife.”

Read more here. — Heather Taylor-Singh

Earlier this week, Spotify announced that Paris-based Believe had joined Universal Music Group, Merlin and Kobalt to agree to license its music catalog for use by Spotify’s AI remixing tool. Spotify’s co-CEOs said it will take time to release the new tool – not least of all because it relies on artists’ consent. But once launched, the platform’s models will allow fans to create covers and remixes of their favorite songs from participating artists and songwriters.

“Even beyond [these companies], we have broad-based support,” Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström tells Billboard. “I can’t speak for our label partners or publishing partners, but you know, there’s a lot of conversations being had with artists, rights holders, songwriters across the industry, and it’s moving in the right direction and excitement is gaining.”

In announcing the partnership this week, Believe and its digital distributor TuneCore echoed Spotify’s “three C’s” approach: first, securing artists’ and songwriters’ consent to have their music included; second, crediting them on related works; and third, compensating them from the royalty pool funded by the new AI remixing service.

Customers who want to use the tool will be able to pay for the service as an add-on. Spotify’s co-CEOs declined to comment on pricing, except to say the tool will provide new revenue for the industry and creators.

“This is a way for artists to participate in AI rather than just focusing on net new music being created,” says Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström. “And, if you think about that royalty pool, Spotify is the biggest one. We think we’re the right company to do this.”

Spotify added 6 million net new subscribers in the third quarter, 1 million more than guidance, for a total of 316 million premium subscribers, up from 71 million subscribers when it went public in 2018. Since its founding 20 years ago, Spotify has paid out $70 billion to music industry rights holders.

Also this week, Spotify provided an update on songs it described as “AI-spam” that were removed from the platform. The company said more than 50 million songs had been removed from recommendations, and that those songs were in addition to more than 75 million tracks that have been removed from the service since it tightened its AI policies in September 2025. Spotify says it’s using several tools to identify these types of songs, including upload patterns, metadata, third-party AI detection tools and listener engagement and feedback.

The estate of Aaron Carter has settled wrongful death claims against Walgreens and another pharmacy that filled the singer’s Xanax prescriptions before his 2022 drowning.

Attorneys for Carter’s family announced in a Thursday (Oct. 15) court filing, obtained and first reported by Billboard, that they’ve “reached a settlement resolving all claims” against both Walgreens and Santa Monica Medical Plaza Pharmacy. The estate still has claims remaining against a dentist that prescribed Xanax to the 2000s pop star.

Deal terms were not made public. The Carter estate’s attorney, Marc Lazo, told Billboard on Wednesday (Oct. 21) that they’re “satisfied” with the settlement. “We’re pleased that the pharmaceutical parties have accepted a resolution,” added Lazo. “It took some time to get there, but we did it.”

Reps for Walgreens and Santa Monica Medical did not return requests for comment.

Carter drowned in a bathtub at the age of 34 with drugs in his system. In 2023, his former fiancée brought a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of their four-year-old son alleging a psychiatrist and dentist were to blame for overprescribing Xanax to Carter, and that pharmacies wrongly filled the prescriptions without checking to see if he was abusing the drug.

The defendants all maintained that Carter’s death was caused not by Xanax, but by the gas he inhaled from canisters of compressed air (known as difluoroethane). In court filings, they argued that the amount of Xanax in Carter’s system at the time of death was not enough to make him lose consciousness.

The psychiatry clinic was the first to settle with Carter’s family this past May. The pharmacies have now followed suit, though dentist Jason Mirabile is still fighting the claims. Mirabile is currently scheduled to go to trial against the Carter estate in January.

Mirabile’s attorneys have indicated in pre-trial filings that they plan to argue Carter was an absentee father to his son, and that therefore, the child cannot win damages for lost financial support or companionship. Mirabile’s team wants to call witnesses from the Department of Children and Family Services, who allegedly got involved in a custody dispute between Carter and his former fiancée before he died.

Lazo, the Carter family’s attorney, told Billboard on Wednesday, “We do remain disappointed about the dentist. It seems like he’s spending his time trying to defame Aaron Carter and trying to contrive stories about Aaron not having been a good father, et cetera, rather than accept liability for his own conduct.”

“Trial is now set for early January,” added Lazo. “We’ll see if that goes, or if the dentist comes to his senses.”

Mirabile’s attorneys declined to comment on Wednesday.

Carter got his start opening for the Backstreet Boys, of which his older brother Nick Carter is a member, in the late 1990s. He later became a teen heartthrob in his own right, and his 2000 album Aaron’s Party (Come and Get It) peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. His next two albums, 2001’s Oh Aaron and 2002’s Another Earthquake, both had top 20 debuts on the chart.

Later in life, Carter was open about struggling with substance abuse. The singer did multiple stints in rehab, and he had been attending outpatient therapy in the months leading up to his death.