Across the United States some of the music industry’s legacy indie stores have been reporting their best day ever thanks to this year’s Record Store Day (RSD 2026) release line-up. As usual, Retail Track implemented the annual RSD store crawl on Saturday (April 18), visiting 10 stores that day to witness first-hand how RSD was performing. 

But unlike past years when Retail Track started further afield — in Poughkeepsie one year, in Patchogue another, and once in South Jersey — and stop by stores on the way back to New York City, this year the Crawl consisted of visiting stores in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, with the road trip culminating, as it usually does, at Rough Trade in Rockefeller Center for its annual Indie Plaza event.

Retail Track began the day a little before 7:30 a.m. in my hometown of Astoria, Queens, with a visit to Pancakes Records on Steinway Street. There were already 60 people in line before the store’s scheduled 8 a.m. opening, including Kyle, who arrived first at 1 a.m. He said he was hoping to buy Laufey’s A Matter Of Time: Live at Madison Square Garden and Pink Pantheress’ Girl Like Me. Second in line was Jose, who got there at 2:30 a.m., whose coveted record list included Paramore’s All We Know Is Falling (Deluxe), Carly Rae Jepsen’s 7-inch “Disco Darling” and Dijon’s How Do You Feel About Getting Married.

Retail Track didn’t wait for Pancakes Records to open. Instead, he hopped into his jalopy at 7:40 a.m. and took off for Vinyl Veritas — which opened its flagship location in 2024 — to see how long the Brooklyn store’s line was ahead of its scheduled 8 a.m. opening. It was the only other store on the Crawl list scheduled to open that early, and — with Google Maps promising it was only nine miles and 19 minutes away — there was just enough time. However, an overturned car on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) stymied that plan and Betsy III — Retail Track’s 2000 Buick LeSabre — didn’t turn onto Front Street in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Dumbo until 8:30 a.m. Nevertheless, there was still a line of customers about 50 people long, suggesting the queue was even longer when the store opened.  

Rather than get my ass kicked by trying to jump the line, Retail Track figured it was safer to interview Vinyl Veritas owner Will Grandberg, via phone later. He reported two people were in line the midnight before RSD, with a third arriving at 3:45 a.m. on Saturday. By the time he got to the store at 5 a.m., he says there were about a dozen people waiting.

The store hosts two locations in the same building, including a street-level store on Front Street, and another on the seventh floor. On the seventh floor, customers received refreshments and discount offers (as well as a few giveaways) while four DJs continued to spin throughout the day— all livestreamed on Vinyl Veritas’ Instagram account. Grandberg declared it their best day ever since opening their doors in January 2024, with the Grateful Dead set being their top-seller for the day. Although, Grandberg shared, he wished the store had more inventory of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Disco Darling” single. 

Retail Track then made his way to 5th Avenue Records in Park Slope, which the internet claims is open at 10 a.m. on Saturday, but by 9:05 a.m., there wasn’t any line. Since there was a parking spot out front and the next group of stores on the crawl list wouldn’t open until 10 a.m., Retail Track decided to investigate. Across the street was Smith’s Tavern, a splendid dive establishment which was already open and had an impressive 10 customers. Since Retail Track was driving, it seemed wise to forego asking for the usual can of PBR or Budweiser, and instead requested a Diet Coke, which subsequently turned out to be the worst Diet Coke ever. Regardless, Retail Track persisted in his informational quest, and queries to the customers and bartender yielded information that the store had been closed for some time. But, customers said, every once in a while, the store would seemingly open for a day or two before once again shuttering for weeks on end. 

Next up, Retail Track drove to nearby Psychic Records, also in Park Slope, and, by 9:30 a.m., saw a line of about 15 people waiting ahead of the store’s 11 a.m. opening. Henry was first in line, and was looking to buy the Stax B-sides record and Ray Charles Live set. Peyton was second in line — even though, she claimed to have been the first to arrive at 7 a.m. However, she says she had gone across the street for a coffee, thus losing her spot to Henry. But not to worry, her desired RSD titles were different than Henry’s as she was looking for Taylor Swift and Steely Dan records and some jazz records for her dad. Peyton told Retail Track she chose to shop at Psychic for RSD because researched and heard people don’t line up at the store as early as they do at other participating places. 

Retail Track left before the store opened, but spoke to Psychic Records owner Chris Lentz via phone on Sunday, who said his store’s big seller was Sonic Youth’s Diamond Seas. He also said that he sold many copies of the Springsteen album and a few Pink Floyd albums. Lentz also admitted that he wished he had more copies of the RSD pop records like Charli xcx and Jepsen. Overall, he says the store has a wide customer base, so he carries everything for Taylor Swift to Throbbing Gristle. 

For the last stop in the Park Slope segment of the RSD crawl, Retail Track headed to Sterling Records, arriving at 9:58 a.m. According to the internet, the store usually opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday. But, in celebration of the RSD festivities, the store opened earlier than expected, at 9:15 a.m. Sterling Records owner Gary Giddens reported to Retail Track that there were about 30 people in line when he opened the store. A perusal of the inventory showed that at a little after 10 a.m., the store still had plenty of copies of The Cure, Pink Floyd and Jeff Buckley RSD releases, but Sterling noted he could have used more of the Bruce Springsteen Live From Asbury Park 2024 boxset.  

After Retail Track left, Giddens called to report the Buckley and Pink Floyd and Cure titles had sold out by noon. Other titles that did well were Olivia Dean’s “BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge,” the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack and Ariana Grande/Cynthia Erivo Wicked: One Wonderful Night (Live) titles, he said. 

Sterling Records was a fairly new two-year old store. Giddens, who is 69, told Retail Track he got the urge to open a record store. “I have never been a very smart person but wanted to do something that makes me happy,” he said. “And I am friends with Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yahoo, and Erasure) and was talking to him and said aloud that I wanted to open a record store; and Clarke said ‘I’m in.’” Clarke serves as an investor for the store.

Retail Track opted to browse Sterling Records for his own purchases, taking home the Lunachicks’ We Can Be Worster, Stax Killer B’s, The Westbound Sound: Single Minded and the non-RSD title, Cramps’ Bad Music For Bad People.

Since it was still early and most other stores on Retail Track’s crawl list weren’t opening until noon, a trek to VP Records in Jamaica Queens, which opened at 10 a.m., seemed like the next logical store to visit. VP Records Retail is a unit of Jamaican-born record label and music company. The company was founded by husband and wife Vincent “Randy” and Pat Chin.

The store’s website claims that VP Records is the largest indie reggae label in the world. Throughout the years, they’ve put out releases from artists including Yellowman, Lee Scratch Perry, Gregory Isaacs, Buju Banton, Maxi Priest, Beenie Man, Shaggy and Sly & Robbie. Like the label, the store on Jamaica Avenue is mainly dedicated to dance hall, reggae and all its sub-genres, but the store also carries a mix of R&B and soul.

When Retail Track arrived at VP Records at 11 a.m., there was a beehive of activity in the parking lot next to the store. Store manager Rashan Mykoo reported that the RSD Festivities would begin at noon, with merch tables and four DJs scheduled to entertain during the day. Recording artist I Wayne was also due to make an appearance to help sell merchandise, sign autographs, and take photos with fans. The vinyl showcase featured “legendary sound system King Addies, alongside Massive B, DJ Proud, and DJ Anthony, with hosting duties were led by Killa Boo and sound powered by Next Level Sound,” according to a subsequent press release. After I Wayne performed, Buju Banton surprised guests with an appearance.

“Presenting the sound systems each year has been a great way to connect with the community and today will be well remembered,” Chris Chin, CEO of VP Records, said in a statement.  

Meanwhile, inside the store, featured RSD titles included the Bruno Mars “Collaboration,” Elton John “The Remixes,” the Ariana Grande/Cynthia Erivo Wicked: One Wonderful Light (Live), The Soundtrack, the Taylor Swift “Elizabeth Taylor” 7-inch single; and Ziggy Marley’s Brightside. Besides official RSD titles, the store’s own highlighted selections were Jackie Mittoo’s “The Myestro — In Cold Blood,” Congo Ashanty’s “Congo,” Ziggy Marley albums and Randy’s 50th Anniversary Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, the latter compilation titles named for the company’s late co-founder, Mr. Chin. 

While the store still had the Bruno Mars title in stock when Retail Track arrived, Mykoo said every copy of the Taylor Swift single had been bought up by a woman who had arrived in time for the store’s opening. As it was, Retail Track scored the RSD title Skeeter Davis’ “The End of The World: Navy Hoedown Sessions,” quipping the store’s buyer must have purchased the title by mistake. Instead of sticking around for the party to begin next door in the parking lot, Retail Track headed back to Brooklyn for the next RSD stop on his list, but first he went to grab some sustenance, i.e. lunch.

By 1 p.m., Retail Track pulled up to Octopus Records for the Bushwick leg of his crawl. Store owner Nigel Filson reported he had about 20 people waiting when he opened at 11 a.m., with the first bunch of arrivals rewarded with cupcakes. The big sellers during the day at that point had been the Pink Pantheress and Charlie xcx titles, while store associate Celine Mancuri noted that Cam’ron’s “Killer Season” was also popular. Filson also acknowledged that some customers were asking for the Taylor Swift record, “Which I didn’t carry.”  

At Octopus Records, Retail Track scored RSD titles Power Pop! American Power Pop for the Now Generation: 1977-1981, Teenage Fanclub & Jad Fair’s Words of Wisdom and Hope and the Misfits Famous Monsters. 

Next up was the nearby Rebel Rouser, which didn’t participate in Record Store Day because, in the words of sales associate William Martin, “We don’t do corporate discs.”

Rebel Rouser primarily carries used records and is in a long shed in an alley off Broadway, in Bushwick, about a mile from the Williamsburg Bridge. It has a huge selection of punk, glam rock, power pop, new wave, garage rock and old soul music, both albums and 7-inch singles, as well as many old classic rock magazines and fan zines. The only new product it carries are largely local indie band releases. 

“Our idea of record store day is loading up on local indie bands and selling vinyl LPs at 25% off,” Marten said. 

At Rebel Rouser Retail Track bought The Charly Black Music Sampler, two Millie Jackson albums: E.S.P. (Extra Sexual Persuasion) and Get It Out’cha System, Candi Staton’s eponymously named album, Little Anthony and the Imperials’ “I’m on the Outside (Looking In)” and Johnny Thunder’s “Loop De Loop.” 

Finally, Retail Track arrived at what would be the last Brooklyn record store stop of the day at Superior Elevation Records, also located in Bushwick. The used record store caters to the DJ and the dance music crowd, carrying electronica, house, disco and soul music; sales associate Alex Feldherr says the store and even has a school for DJs. Despite the store not participating in Record Store Day, Feldherr shared that business on the day was good.

“That’s because “we get everybody who is tired of waiting on lines,” he told Retail Track. At Superior Elevation Retail Track bought two Laura Lee albums, Women’s Love Rights and her eponymously named album; and an album from 100 Proof (Aged In Soul).  

Around the same time, elsewhere in Brooklyn, Billboard’s executive digital editor, east coast, Joe Lynch served as a Retail Track deputy for the day and visited the Record Grouch and the Academy Records Annex, both in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint. 

After participating in Record Store Day celebrations for several years, Record Grouch in Greenpoint chose to opt out of the vinyl holiday the last few years. But even without a trove of exclusives on offer, the highly curated store of reasonably priced rarities and obscurities was packed on Saturday afternoon. Walking past an 8.5 x 11-inch piece of paper proudly proclaiming, “THIS IS NOT A RECORD STORE DAY CELEBRATION,” patrons browsed the stacks while an assortment of local and indie artists performed in the small space. The Retail Track Brooklyn deputy caught a punishing but impressive experimental set from Outdoor Horse Shrine (one of five artists playing Record Grouch that day) while picking up used copies of Jobriath’s second album, the soundtrack to Forbidden Zone by Oingo Boingo and a single by ANOHNI and the Johnsons. 

Moving toward Williamsburg, but still in Greenpoint, the Academy Records Annex was also doing banger business despite opting out of the official celebration. Patrons munched on free Peter Pan donuts while browsing the store’s extensive, eclectic collection of new and used vinyl (and if you wanted to enjoy the fabulous weather, 40-some boxes of music were out on the curb). Academy Records owner Cory Feierman says he stopped participating three years ago — not just because it was becoming too corporate, but for business reasons. 

“I might make $20,000 in a day, but I spent $13,000 to get there, and I’m left with a bunch of product that won’t move,” he tells Retail Track’s Brooklyn deputy. In his eyes, the early years of RSD included “warranted” reissues of rarities, but the recent glut of RSD exclusives are much less interesting to him and his shoppers. Retail Track picked up a clear-vinyl copy of Rosalía’s Lux (which he notes is about as mainstream as the store’s product gets) as well as used copies of Isaac Hayes’ Shaft soundtrack plus Eartha Kitt’s 1955 album Down to Eartha. 

For the last stop of the day before heading into Manhattan for the annual Rough Trade Indie Plaza RSD celebration, Retail Track returned to his hometown of Astoria to re-visit Pancake Records and see how it was doing since opening, arriving there at 3:30 p.m. (Before joining Billboard, Retail Tracked worked in three record stores on the same block on Steinway Street— Words ’n’ Music, Record Scene/Record Spectacular and Sound City — in the 1970’s and 1980s.)

Pancakes Records co-owner Tanya Gorbunova reported that the big sellers were John Frusciante’s “To Only Record Water For Ten Days;” Ethel Cain’s Inbred, and Hemlock Springs going…going…GONE! Meanwhile she said the Springsteen and Pink Floyd titles were slow movers on RSD, but she wasn’t worried about the latter, “because Pink Floyd fans are known for sleeping in.”  

For RSD, the store was offering customers a selection of CDs for only 50 cents, as well as 10% off used records. Overall, she said the store’s customer base was a cross between the “pop echo chamber, but still have people looking for niche stuff.”  

For the last purchase of the day, at Pancakes Records, Retail Track scored Robert Plant’s Savin Grace All that Glitters with Suzi Dian.  

Alas, the day unfortunately ended without Retail Track scoring the four RSD titles was still looking for: Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted, Bob Brady and the Con Chords, Bruce Kulick’s Transformer, and T. Rex’s Songs from ‘Marc.’

Joe Lynch provided assistance in preparing this story. 

Spotify beat guidance for monthly active users in the first quarter, as the number of consumers on the streaming giant’s ad-supported tier rose by double-digits, helping the streaming giant meet its revenue target despite a 5% decline in ad-supported revenue.

Spotify reported it added 10 million monthly users for a total of 761 million monthly active users (MAUs), driven by ad-supported MAUs rising 14% to 483 million in the quarter ending March 31 compared to a year ago. Premium subscribers rose by 9% to 293 million, in line with target expectations. The company reported 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in revenue for the first quarter, as 10% growth in subscriber revenue outweighed a 5% decline in revenue from ad-supported accounts compared to a year ago.

An ongoing concern for streaming companies has been achieving growth even after most adults in developed markets have streaming accounts. Spotify’s executives noted they saw growth in their free tier in highly saturated markets like the United States, with users there listening and watching content more frequently each month since Spotify rolled out certain personalization features.

“We’re well positioned because of our large, engaged user base, deep creator relationships, and years of investment in personalization and infrastructure at scale,” co-CEO Gustav Söderström said in a press release. “These create a platform that can take advantage of this moment and unlock entirely new growth vectors that will enable us to climb new mountains previously unimaginable. We see significant room to grow across users, formats and engagement and to expand what Spotify is and can become over time.”

Revenue from premium accounts in the quarter rose 10% to 4.15 billion euros ($4.87 billion), while revenue from ad-supported accounts declined 5% to 385 million euros ($456.6 million).

Gross profit rose 13% in the quarter from a year ago for a gross margin of 33%.

The company will discuss earnings during a presentation to investors at 8 a.m. New York time. The company’s stock was down 4.28% in pre-market trading.

Here are the key take-aways from Spotify’s first quarter results:

After sweeping the publisher rankings for the Hot 100 and Top Radio Airplay songs by ranking No. 1 on both charts in all four quarters, it’s no surprise that Sony Music Publishing comes in as the No. 1-ranked publisher for both those charts for the full year, thanks to a 28.33% market share for the Hot 100 and an even better 29.85% showing for Radio Airplay.

Probably the main reason Sony ranked as the top publisher for the year in 2025 is that it had stakes in 70 or more songs on both of the charts for three of the year’s four quarters. Its best showing came in the second quarter, when it had a share in 75 songs on the Hot 100 chart and 73 songs in that quarter’s Radio Airplay chart. Moreover, that quarter was one of two quarters — with the other being the third quarter — in which it topped the 30% market share marker for both charts. In the third quarter, it snared 30.90% for Radio Airplay and 33.88% for the Hot 100 — with the latter being the single highest market share performance Sony attained during the year.

With regard to the publisher rankings, among Sony’s top-performing songs during the year were Leon Thomas’ “Mutt,” Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” and Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s “Luther.” Other factors boosting Sony’s stellar year-long performance include having the top songwriter for both the Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 charts in the third quarter and also coming in with the top songwriter on the fourth quarter’s Radio Airplay chart on its roster: Shane “sombr” Boose.

Also during the year, Sony absorbed a big chunk of the Hipgnosis song catalog when it struck a deal with Blackstone and became its administrator. Blackstone acquired the previously publicly-traded Hipgnosis Songs Fund in mid-2024, merged it with its privately owned Hipgnosis Songs Capital, and then rebranded those catalogs as Recognition Music in March 2025. Blackstone subsequently sold the Hipgnosis Songs Group administration platform and some publishing assets to Sony in June 2025 and made that company its main publishing administration partner.

While Sony’s eight percentage point spread in the Hot 100 rankings and seven percentage point spread in the Radio Airplay rankings show it would have been the No. 1 publisher for 2025 with its own song catalog alone, the addition of the Hipgnosis catalog boosted its overall percentage to attain that lofty spread. Indeed, in 2024, Hipgnosis made the top 10 publisher rankings for both the Hot 100 and Radio Airplay charts in every quarter, with its market share ranging from 1.59% (on the Hot 100 ranking in the first quarter of that year) to 4.36% (on the Radio Airplay ranking in the second quarter). In the first quarter of 2025, Recognition boasted a 1.83% share on the first quarter’s Hot 100 tally.

Coming in as the second-ranked music publisher for the full year for both the Hot 100 and the Radio Airplay charts is Warner Chappell Music, which was the only other music publisher besides Sony to surpass the 20% market share milestone on both charts. Its best showing in 2025 was on the Radio Airplay chart, where it garnered 22.50% for the full year, while it produced a 20.29% showing on the Hot 100 chart. Moreover, Warner Chappell managed to attain better than the 20% market share marker in seven of its eight opportunities during the year, only failing to reach that threshold on the Hot 100 chart in the fourth quarter, when it had a 16.92% share. Its best showing came in the third quarter, when it had a 22.32% share on the Hot 100 chart and a 23.67% share on the Radio Airplay chart.

Warner Chappell’s top songs during the year included “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” and “Doechii’s “Anxiety.”  Meanwhile, it was the top-ranked publisher on Country Airplay, finishing the year with 31.02% — more than four percentage points higher than its closest rival, Sony, which garnered 26.76% on that chart in 2025.

Coming in as the No. 3 ranked publisher last year on both the Hot 100 and the Radio Airplay charts was Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), which garnered a 19.38% market share for the Hot 100 and 15.81% for Radio Airplay. UMPG’s best showing during the year came in the first quarter, when it tallied a 25.04% market share on the Hot 100 chart, enough to make it the No. 2 ranked publisher on the tally. Its top songs during the year included Taylor Swift’s “The Fate Of Ophelia,” Justin Bieber’s “Daisies,” Shaboozey’s “Good News,” and HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI’s “Golden.” Moreover, a UMPG songwriter — namely Drake — was named the top songwriter on both the Hot 100 charts and Top Radio Airplay charts in the second quarter, while in the first quarter Kendrick Lamar was the top songwriter on the Hot 100 and Taylor Swift was the top songwriter on the Hot 100 chart in the fourth quarter — a distinction she shared with two of her co-writers.

Kobalt, the No. 4 ranked publisher on both the Hot 100 and Radio Airplay charts in 2025, was the only other publisher to attain a double-digit percentage market share for the year, finishing with 11.9% on the former chart and 10.22% on the latter. Its best performance in 2025 came in the last quarter of the year, when it finished as the No. 2 publisher on the Hot 100 with a 21.43% share. Its top songs during the year included “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, “Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Shaboozey’s “Good News,” and Morgan Wallen’s “What I Want” featuring Tate McRae.

While BMG is usually the No. 5 ranked publisher and maintained its hold on that position for the full year, it bucked its traditional ranking in the third quarter, when it hit No. 4 on the Hot 100 ranking with a 12.75% share. Its top songs during the year included Shaboozey’s “Good News,” Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s “Luther,” HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI’s “Golden,” and “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. Overall, BMG scored 5.61% market share on the Radio Airplay chart and 6.91% on the Hot 100 for the year.

Three publishers appear in the second half of the Top 10 publishers rankings on both charts: Pulse, Position and Concord. The latter enjoyed the best performance, coming in at No. 6 on the Radio Airplay ranking and at No. 7 on the Hot 100 with a market share of 1.71% and 1.14%, respectively. What’s more, its separately operated joint-venture with Pulse finished at No. 8 on the Radio Airplay ranking with a 1.13% share and at No. 10 on the Hot 100 ranking with 0.64%, just beating out the No. 11-slotted peer music’s 0.63% showing on the Hot 100.

If Concord and Pulse’s market share was consolidated, it would have been the No. 6 publisher on the Hot 100 ranking with 1.78%. However, its combined 2.84% in Radio Airplay market share would still leave it in the No. 6 spot  on that ranking.

As for the other publisher to make both charts, Position Music was boosted by having three songs from the Benson Boone catalog, all its top-performing tunes last year: “Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else,” “Beautiful Things” and “Mystical Magical.” It finished at No. 8 on the Hot 100 and No. 9 on Radio Airplay for the year.

Rounding out the Top 10 publisher rankings on the Hot 100 was St. Nicholas Music, which came in No. 6 based solely on its fourth quarter showing, when the Christmas songs of the late Johnny Marks made their annual revisit on the charts; and Reservoir, which ranked at No. 9 thanks to a strong performance in the first quarter when its top song was Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.”

On the Radio Airplay ranking, Big Machine Music came in at No. 7 with 1.17% for the year, thanks to its strong third quarter performance with a 1.75% tally, when Russell Dickerson’s “Happen To Me” was its top song; and Spirit Music Group, which ranks No. 10 with a 1.07% share when its various catalogs are consolidated — just beating out the No. 11-ranked Me Gusta Music with a 1.06% share.

METHODOLOGY 

In order to come up with an annual publisher ranking, Billboard added together the Hot 100 point totals for each publisher for each of the four quarters, then divided each publisher’s point total by the Hot 100 point totals for all four quarters combined, to come up with each publisher’s market share for the year. Billboard did the same for the radio airplay rankings, adding up each publisher’s song detections for the year for the top 100 songs in each quarter and then dividing their respective totals by the total play detections for the Top 100 songs from all four quarters.

To determine the top 10 publishers on the Top Radio Airplay chart, percentage calculations were based upon the overall top 100 detecting songs electronically monitored by Mediabase (which provides data to Luminate for Billboard’s airplay charts) at: 3,066 U.S. radio stations in the first quarter and second quarters; 3,133 stations in the third quarter; and 3022 stations in the fourth quarter. Monitoring was done 24 hours a day, seven days a week for each of the successive four calendar quarters for the year beginning Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2025.

To determine the top 10 publishers on Hot 100 Songs, percentage calculations were based upon the top 100 songs for each quarter as ranked by Billboard Hot 100 points calculated from digital sales, streaming and radio airplay detections tracked by Mediabase (which provides data to Luminate for Billboard’s airplay charts) during the respective periods of: Dec. 27, 2024 to March 27, 2025, reflecting the chart dates of Jan. 11 to April 5; March 28 to June 26, reflecting the chart dates of April 12 through July 5; June 27, 2025, to Oct. 4, 2025, reflecting the chart dates of July 12, 2025 through Oct. 4, 2025; and Sept. 25 to Dec. 25, 2025, reflecting the chart dates of Oct. 11, 2025, to Jan. 3, 2026. Publisher information for musical works on both charts has been identified by the Harry Fox Agency. A “publisher” is defined as an administrator, copyright owner and/or controlling party.

April, DJ Chase B told Billboard, is “always weird.” Like athletes, DJs and other touring musicians making money in numerous states each year are responsible for filing multiple state tax returns. Since the majority of artists don’t make as much money as top professional athletes, they can risk falling behind if they’re not careful to pay quarterly taxes based on earnings estimates — otherwise, they can rack up unpaid bills and penalties. “That’s probably the biggest lesson I learned,” says the Houston DJ and producer who has worked with Travis Scott, Ty Dolla $ign, Don Tolliver and others.

“It’s not fun,” adds Jamie Cheek, owner and business manager at Nashville-based FBMM, which represents artists and songwriters. “If you’re big enough, and it’s big enough money, you’ll file a tax return in every state. You’ve got to watch it if you’re touring.”

According to the New York Times, early in the year, athletes, umpires, coaches and broadcasters receive a separate W-2 whenever they make money in any state. For some artists who receive income from top promoters such as Live Nation or AEG, the process is similar — although it gets complicated in circumstances where promoters pay advances in one year and the actual tour doesn’t take place until the following year.

Many smaller artists who perform at clubs are considered self-employed gig workers and often receive 1099s, as opposed to W-2s like those on tours promoted by Live Nation or AEG, or an athlete playing for a major league sports team, such as the Boston Red Sox.

“A touring band thinks, ‘Hey, I live in Nevada or Florida, I don’t pay any income tax,’” says Wendy On, managing partner for Fineman West & Co., a business-management firm whose roster includes Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, producer J.R. Rotem and Maroon 5’s Sam Farrar. “Well, every state wants a piece of their pie.”

Income from sales, streaming and songwriting royalties are more straightforward — generally, artists can report from a single state, as opposed to filing multiple state tax returns. The key nuance here, Cheek says, is making sure to report this income as self-employment tax on Schedule C: “Because that’s their primary source of revenue.” 

For artists lucky enough to have lucrative publishing catalogs — like those sold in recent years by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks — Cheek advises paying attention to obscure but powerful tax nuances. Royalties received through a record label are similar to making a wage from a company, and taxed federally as ordinary income at roughly 40%. If the same songwriter owns master recordings, and decides to sell them to another company, the revenue is taxed as capital gains — or at 20%. That makes for a big difference.

While it’s tempting for artists to sell as soon as the master recording reverts to them 35 years after signing an initial record deal, per copyright law, business managers note it’s best to wait at least one year before doing so. That allows them to avoid costly short-term capital gains, which can be taxed at 40% of the sale price, as opposed to just 20% for long-term gains. “I’ve seen a deal get 80% done, where nobody thought of that,” Cheek says, “and you’re like, ‘Whoa! You might want to wait 10 months.’”

Wardrobe is often the most common expense artists try to deduct when tax season comes around, Cheek says. Generally, it’s not a wise choice to go on a shopping spree for stage outfits with the intent of deducting the extravagance the following April 15. 

“If you wear a black T-shirt and blue jeans on stage, they’re not going to let you deduct that, because you can also wear the same black T-shirt and blue jeans going to the grocery store the next day,” he says. But if an artist were to buy matching black T-shirts and blue jeans for the entire band to wear on stage, then that might qualify for a deduction. 

“A client in the entertainment space got audited, and had to prove [to the I.R.S.] why hiring security and flying private planes for their travel is important — because they get swarmed by people,” On says. “I try, if I [am] in front of the auditor, to be able to justify it.”

It was 20 years ago today that Spotify began to play. And to mark the streaming service’s big anniversary, for the first time ever on Thursday (April 23) Spotify shared its list of the most streamed artists, songs, albums, podcasts and audiobooks in its history.

Some of the artists at the top of the music categories won’t surprise anyone. You would expect Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Drake, the Weeknd and Ed Sheeran to feature prominently given their domination during the streaming era. There are, of course, plenty of veteran acts in the mix on the most-streamed of all time list as well — Rihanna, Eminem, Coldplay, Kanye West — but the real interesting mix is on the top 20 most streamed albums tally.

That’s where Benito’s smash 2022 album, Un Verano Sin Ti, with a record 22 billion total streams to date, is No. 1, followed by The Weeknd’s 2016 album Starboy, Ed Sheeran’s ≠ (Deluxe), Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour and another one by The Weeknd, After Hours. Abel is tops on the most-streamed songs tally as well, with “Blinding Lights” coming in at No. 1, followed by Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” The Neighbourhood’s “Sweater Weather,” the Weeknd and Daft Punk’s “Starboy” and Harry Styles’ “As It Was.”

Check out the full lists below.

Most-streamed artists of all time on Spotify:

1. Taylor Swift

2. Bad Bunny

3. Drake

4. The Weeknd

5. Ariana Grande

6. Ed Sheeran

7. Justin Bieber

8. Billie Eilish

9. Eminem

10. Kanye West

11. Travis Scott

12. BTS

13. Post Malone

14. Bruno Mars

15. J Balvin

16. Rihanna

17. Coldplay

18. Kendrick Lamar

19. Future

20. Juice WRLD

Most-streamed albums of all time on Spotify:

1. Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny

2. Starboy by The Weeknd

3. ÷ (Deluxe) by Ed Sheeran

4. Sour by Olivia Rodrigo

5. After Hours by The Weeknd

6. SOS by SZA

7. Hollywood’s Bleeding by Post Malone

8. Lover by Taylor Swift

9. AM by Arctic Monkeys

10. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish

11. Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa

12. Beerbongs & Bentleys by Post Malone

13. ? by XXXTentacion

14. Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season) By Karol G

15. YHLQMDLG by Bad Bunny

16. Doo-Wops & Hooligans by Bruno Mars

17. Views by Drake

18. Midnights by Taylor Swift

19. Scorpion by Drake

20. Beauty Behind the Madness by the Weeknd

Most-streamed songs of all time on Spotify:

1. “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd

2. “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran

3. “Sweater Weather” by The Neighbourhood

4. “Starboy” by The Weeknd and Daft Punk

5. “As It Was” by Harry Styles

6. “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi

7. “Sunflower (from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) by Post Malone and Swae Lee

8. “One Dance” by Drake, Wizkid and Kyla

9. “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran

10. “Stay” by the Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber

11. “Believer” by Imagine Dragons

12. “I Wanna Be Yours” by Arctic Monkeys

13. “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals

14. “Lovely (with Khalid)” by Billie Eilish and Khalid

15. “Yellow” by Coldplay

16. “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron

17. “Closer” by the Chainsmokers and Halsey

18. “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish

19. “Riptide” by Vance Joy

20. “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars

Most-streamed podcasts of all time:

1. The Joe Rogan Experience

2. Gemischtes Hack

3. Crime Junkie

4. Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

5. Last Podcast On The Left

6. The Daily

7. Fest & Flauschig

8. Morbid

9. My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

10. Relatos de la Noche

11. Call Her Daddy

12. Não Inviabilize

13. Pardon My Take

14. Distractible

15. La Cotorrisa

16. Dateline NBC

17. Mordlust

18. Baywatch Berlin

19. Hobbylos

20. Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén

Most-streamed audiobooks in premium of all time on Spotify:

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

2. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

3. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

4. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

5. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

6. Lights Out by Ted Koppel

7. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

8. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

9. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

10. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

11. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

12. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

13. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

14. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

15. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

16. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

17. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

18. The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden

19. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

20. Funny Story by Emily Henry

Spotify is in the early stages of giving artists a tool to disclose how generative AI was used in the creation of their music. The new tool started rolling out this month in beta, first to Distrokid users, and it will continue to become available for other distributors in the coming weeks. The rollout is part of what was first promised in September 2025 as part of a Spotify blog post titled, “Spotify Strengthens AI Protections for Artists, Songwriters and Producers,” which detailed a number of ways the company would be improving its response to the rise of AI-generated songs.

That blog post has been recently updated to note that now, “where artists have chosen to disclose through their label or distributor, you’ll see credits for specific contributions like vocals, lyrics, or production in Song Credits on mobile” and that this is “a first step in [Spotify’s] long-term commitment to transparency.”

It goes on to explain that “because [Spotify] depend[s] on artist disclosure, the absence of a credit doesn’t mean AI wasn’t used. Not all distributors enable artists to disclose yet, but we intend to expand this more broadly over time,” adding, “we know this isn’t a complete solution on its own.”

Those who elect to use the new tool can explain exactly how AI was used in the creation of their song. This includes whether it was used in production, composition or even individual instrument parts.

Since January 2025, a number of streaming services have started experimenting with tags and disclosures for songs that contain AI elements. French streaming service Deezer, for example, uses a proprietary AI detection tool to scan for 100% AI-generated content and automatically applies a tag to those tracks. In March, Apple Music launched “Transparency Tags” as a “delivery requirement” for labels and distributors, including AI use in a sound recording, composition, artwork or music video.

Spotify’s post says that adding this disclosure within song credits will be made available as it continues to try to reach “industry-wide alignment” to build out a “truly comprehensive system” for labelling AI use across all streaming services. According to the original blog post, this system is being developed through DDEX (Digital Data Exchange), which is an international standards-setting organization for music metadata.

In a September episode of Billboard‘s On the Record podcast, Spotify’s global head of marketing and policy, music business, Sam Duboff, said that “the starting point has to be shared language through the existing supply chain of music about what the formatting of that will be.” He pointed to the rise of artists, songwriters and producers who are increasingly using AI in the creative process, like Brenda Lee to create a Spanish version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” or a K-Pop Demon Hunters songwriter who talked about brainstorming lyrics with ChatGPT, and how this system could create more transparency for fans.

“It’s early days for AI tech,” Duboff continued. “I know it feels like it’s moving fast, but consumption of AI-generated music’s insanely low. We have some time for artists, songwriters, producers to take the lead in figuring out how they want to use these tools. We don’t want to act like we know where AI music’s headed and exactly every policy and role we need to future-proof for the next two or three years. But also, we didn’t just want to wait and do nothing.”

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office publicly revealed the cause of death for 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez on Wednesday (April 22), six days after D4vd was charged with her murder.

According to a press release from the medical examiner, Rivas’ cause of death was determined as “multiple penetrating injuries caused by object(s).” Her manner of death was ruled a homicide.

“After several months, I am grateful this information can now be released, not only to the public, but also to the grieving family enduring loss,” Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey Ukpo said in a statement.

Rivas’ decomposed partial remains were found in the front trunk of an impounded Tesla registered to D4vd (real name: David Anthony Burke) in September after police responded to reports of a “foul odor” coming from the car in a Hollywood tow lot. They discovered two bags containing severed, decomposed body parts that were later identified as Rivas.

D4vd was arrested on April 16. On Monday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman revealed the rapper was charged with first-degree murder in Rivas’ death. Hochman’s office alleged in a press release that D4vd killed Rivas with a “sharp instrument” in a plot to protect his music career after Rivas threatened to reveal that the then-20-year-old had engaged in illegal sexual acts with her as a minor. D4vd was also charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and mutilating a body.

In a statement shared with CBS News and ABC on Tuesday, Rivas’ family spoke out about her murder, thanking the Los Angeles Police Department and the District Attorney for their “hard work.”

“Celeste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance,” the family wrote. “We love her very much and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply. All we want is justice for Celeste.”

Milk & Honey Music + Sports, M3 Music and ONErpm have teamed up to launch INVERSA, a record label dedicated to bridging Latin America’s growing electronic music scene with the global dance community. Announced on Wednesday (April 22), the venture aims to discover, develop and elevate electronic artists from the Latin community, leveraging the expertise and reach of these industry leaders to amplify their presence internationally.

Milk & Honey Music + Sports will contribute its expertise in global artist and repertoire, marketing and promotional services, while M3 Music will bring regional insight, localized A&R and catalog development for remixes and covers. ONErpm will serve as the label’s distribution partner.

The first artist scheduled to drop new music on INVERSA is Colombian music producer 19Clouds, with his release set to arrive on Tuesday (April 28).

“Having experienced firsthand the challenges of building an artist project within the Latin dance ecosystem, I’m excited to be part of an initiative focused on creating a solid foundation for artists locally while connecting them to the larger dance community,” said 19Clouds in a press release. “This represents an opportunity to not only empower local talent, but to also help contribute to the long-term growth of the region’s larger creative ecosystem.”

“We’re incredibly excited to help build the foundation for the rapidly expanding electronic industry across Latin America by bridging the gap between regional artists and the larger global electronic community,” said Max Geistfeld, manager at Milk & Honey.

Daniel Zawadzki, partner and head of management at M3 Music, added: “We entered this venture because we believe that the electronic music industry in Latin America is growing tremendously with its own identity. The idea of this venture is to have a record label for those artists from Latin America to the world.”

“We’re proud to partner with Milk & Honey and M3 Music as we continue expanding our global dance and electronic footprint,” Eddie Blackmon, vp of A&R ONErpm, said in a statement. “INVERSA is a key step in connecting Latin talent with the worldwide electronic market.”

The U.K.’s Official Charts Company has shared an update for its leadership following the departure of its former chief executive.

In March, Martin Talbot announced that he was stepping down from the role after 18 years. Talbot assumed the position in 2007 and led the OCC — which tracks music sales in the U.K. — during a revolutionary tenure which saw the charts adapt to new sales strategies and the introduction of streaming services. 

The Official Charts Company publishes a number of charts on a weekly basis, including the Official Albums Chart and Official Singles Chart, both of which are currently topped by Olivia Dean with her The Art of Loving LP and “Rein Me In,” a collaboration with Sam Fender.

In a memo sent to Billboard and a number of clients and partners, Official Charts’ chairman, Drew Hill, shared an update regarding their leadership structure in the coming months.

With immediate effect, Chris Austin and Becca Monahan will jointly assume interim leadership of the company as co-managing directors. Hill adds that “Chris and Becca will be further supported by Lauren Kreisler, ensuring continuity of senior management team leadership, and a consistent focus across all key areas of the business.”

The note continues that over the coming months, “the board will consider the long term requirements” of the Official Charts, and that it is “very much business as usual.” Hill also praised Talbot for his leadership over the past 18 years and said “his leadership has helped shape not only the organisation, but the wider UK music and entertainment landscape and we wish him every success in the future.”

The Official Charts company reports it is due to launch “a brand new, state-of-the-art data system later this year following the largest infrastructure investment in the company’s history” as part of a new contract with market research comapany Kantar, which was finalized in 2025.

Read the full memo below.

Dear clients and partners,

With the recent departure of Official Charts’ CEO Martin, I am writing to share an update about Official Charts’ leadership moving forwards

Naturally, I and the Board want to recognise Martin’s significant contribution to the Official Charts Company. His leadership has helped shape not only the organisation, but the wider UK music and entertainment landscape and we wish him every success in the future.

With immediate effect, Chris Austin and Becca Monahan will jointly assume interim leadership of the company as Co-Managing Directors. Both bring a strong understanding of our business and have the full confidence of the Board to lead the Official Charts in the coming months.

Chris and Becca will be further supported by Lauren Kreisler, ensuring continuity of senior management team leadership, and a consistent focus across all key areas of the business. 

Over the coming months the board will consider the long term requirements of the Official Charts.  In the meantime, it is very much business as usual. Our priorities remain unchanged, and the work Official Charts does with its clients and partners is hugely important. The Board is hugely excited about the future and looking forward to working with the team. 

Regards

Drew Hill

Chair, Board of Directors