The Red Hot Chili Peppers has sold its recorded music catalog to Warner Music Group (WMG) for more than $300 million, a source confirms with Billboard. The company purchased the catalog via its $1.2 billion joint venture with Bain Capital, which is aimed at acquiring both recorded music and publishing rights.
Billboard was first to report that the Chili Peppers was shopping its recorded catalog in February 2025, with sources saying the band was seeking up to $350 million. At the time, some sources told Billboard a deal had already been reached, and that WMG was the most likely buyer, but money hadn’t yet changed hands.
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Sources previously told Billboard the band owns its 13 studio albums and other releases issued by WMG in the U.S., but Billboard couldn’t determine if it owned its first four studio albums (also part of the sale) released by EMI in the U.S. It’s also unclear if the deal includes name, image and likeness rights for the band.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported news of the sale finally being executed on Friday (May 8), after WMG announced it had acquired $650 million in recorded music and publishing catalogs via the Bain joint venture so far.
According to Billboard estimates published last year, the Red Hot Chili Peppers master recording catalog generates about $26 million in revenue annually, with the majority of that coming from WMG’s part of the catalog, including such smash albums as Blood Sugar Sex Magik and Californication.
News of the sale to WMG comes five years after the band sold its music publishing catalog to Hipgnosis for between $140 million and $150 million. The publishing assets and recorded music catalog were both shopped by law firm Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobster Younger & Light, according to sources.
WMG declined to comment. Eric Greenspan, the lawyer who had been shopping the Red Hot Chili Peppers deal, didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.
The members of NewJeans and their label partners have been sued in the U.S. over purported similarities between their hit 2024 track “How Sweet” and an outside demo submitted during the songwriting process.
The Thursday (May 7) lawsuit, obtained and first reported by Billboard, lodges copyright infringement claims against NewJeans’ label ADOR, its parent company HYBE and performers Minji, Hanni, Haerin, Hyein and Danielle. The five women were part of NewJeans beginning in 2022, though Danielle recently departed amid a contract dispute between the powerhouse K-pop girl group and ADOR.
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NewJeans released “How Sweet” in May 2024 on an EP of the same name. The song went on to peak at No. 15 on the Billboard Global 200 and No. 7 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. Four songwriters are now alleging that the track copied key elements from their demo “One of a Kind.”
According to the lawsuit, songwriter Audrey Armacost was sent an instrumental track by her publisher in January 2024 and invited to submit topline lyrics and melody for consideration by NewJeans. Armacost convened with three other writers — Aidan Rodriguez, Adam Gokcebay and Michael Campanelli — and together, they say they wrote and recorded “One of a Kind” over that instrumental.
The four writers say they sent “One of a Kind” along to NewJeans, but were told it was not selected. Yet when “How Sweet” was released four months later, the lawsuit claims the song’s first verse was “quantitatively and qualitatively similar” to the first verse in “One of a Kind.”
“Both works are in 4/4 meter and the key of B flat minor,” reads the legal complaint. “And both works contain a topline that includes an approximately eight-bar, 31-note melodic sequence consisting of four series.”
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Armacost, Rodriguez, Gokcebay and Campanelli allege HYBE, ADOR, the NewJeans members, and a host of other collaborators and distributors violated their rights by failing to license the “One of a Kind” demo. Through the lawsuit, the four songwriters are seeking a cut of the royalties from the “great commercial success” of “How Sweet.”
“Plaintiffs, as joint authors and co-owners of the composition of ‘How Sweet,’ are entitled to their pro rata share of the profits that defendants have each gained from the exploitation of ‘How Sweet,’” the complaint reads.
A lawyer for the four writers, Trevor Barrett, said in a Friday (May 8) statement to Billboard, “Adam, Aidan, Audrey and Michael are accomplished songwriters who were deeply disappointed to discover this blatant copying of their original song, ‘One of a Kind,’ in New Jeans’ ‘How Sweet.’ They look forward to having their rights acknowledged and vindicated via this lawsuit.”
Reps from HYBE did not immediately return a request for comment on the claims.
The new lawsuit comes in the midst of an ongoing reconciliation between some members of NewJeans and ADOR following a protracted legal battle of their own.
In 2024, all five original NewJeans members attempted to sever ties with the HYBE subsidiary and go independent under the new moniker NJZ following the controversial firing of their mentor, former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin. This led to a lawsuit, and ADOR ultimately prevailed when a a South Korean court ruled in October that the women must remain under an exclusive contract until 2029.
In the wake of that ruling, Hanni, Haerin and Hyein all decided to return to ADOR and resume working with the label. Danielle will not be part of NewJeans’ future; ADOR announced in December that they label had dropped her from the group and alleged that a member of her family bears “significant responsibility for causing this dispute.” Minji is still negotiating a possible return, and The Korea Herald reported this week that discussions are moving in a “positive direction.”
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
aespa is embarking on their fourth world tour and this time it’s titled SYNK: COMPLaeXITY.
The four-member K-pop girl group, consisting of Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning, announced their tour on April 21, alongside the news of their second studio album titled LEMONADE. The album is set for release on May 29, while aespa will make stops in North America, Latin America, Europe and Taipei.
The group will begin their North American stint on Sept. 15 in Hamilton, ON at TD Coliseum before making stops in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities. Afterwards, aespa goes on a nine-city European run, which will open in Manchester, England in January 2027. The tour closes in Paris on Feb. 2, 2027.
During the tour, fans can expect solo, as well as group performances of tracks from their past albums, along with songs from their upcoming album LEMONADE.
Below, we’ll be showing you where you can buy affordable tickets to the girl group’s 2026 world tour. Keep reading to learn more.
Where to Buy Affordable Tickets to aespa’s SYNK: COMPLaeXITY 2026 Tour
General admission for aespa’s tour went on sale Wednesday, May 6. Ticketmaster is the official retailer to snag tickets to the K-pop girl group’s tour. The platform has a slew of tickets readily available, but competition for seating is often fierce. However, it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for deals. The ticketing service offers a fan guarantee, which allows for cancellations, refunds or exchanges within 24 hours of booking. However, these options are subject to certain exclusions.
StubHub is another good option. As of this writing, we’ve seen pricing for as low as $123. The platform makes buying tickets easy with its “FanProtect Guarantee,” which protects purchases with authentic tickets and refund policies. Plus, if your event is canceled and not rescheduled, you will receive a credit worth 120% of the amount you paid, or the option of a cash refund.
On SeatGeek, a quick click through the website reveals tickets for aespa’s tour go for as low as $110, as of this writing. Right now, you can use promo code BILLBOARD10 at checkout to receive $10 off. The ticketing service features a buyer guarantee that ensures smooth ticket purchases every time.
Another great option is Vivid Seats. At the time of publication, aespa’s tickets are selling for as low as $100 for venues like UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. The site has some of the lowest pricing we’ve seen on our search thus far.
If you’re looking to make ticketing on Vivid Seats even more affordable, you can use our promo code BB30 to snag $30 off your purchase. The ticketing service offers a 100% buyer guarantee that vows your transaction will be secure, that your tickets will be delivered before your event, and that those tickets will be valid and authentic.
TicketNetwork is great for those seeking out aespa tour tickets. When you search for tickets on TicketNetwork, you can use our code BILLBOARD300 to save $300 off orders of $1,000 or more, or code BILLBOARD150 to save $150 off orders of $500 or higher. Pricing for ticketing start around $124 and above, as of this writing. The third-party retailer has lots of seating still available too.
During our search for aespa’s tour tickets, we’ve seen pricing for as low as $107 on Gametime, at the time of publication, which is pretty great. To make shopping for the perfect ticket even easier, Gametime will notify you when certain venues and dates are discounted. You’ll also see indicators on your search that will tell you which venues are in high demand, a helpful tool for preplanning your attack plan when purchasing tickets.
2026 SYNK: COMPLAEXITY North American Dates
- Sept 15: Hamilton, ON – TD Coliseum
- Sept 18: Elmont, NY – UBS Arena
- Sept 22: Washington, D.C. – Capital One Arena
- Sept 24: Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
- Sept 26: Miami, FL – Kaseya Center
- Sept 29: Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
- Oct 3: Los Angeles, CA – Intuit Dome
- Oct 6: Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
- Oct 9: Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
- Oct 11: Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
To keep in the know on K-pop concerts happening this year, check out our comprehensive article here.
Taylor Swift is fiercely protective of her intellectual property. The world learned this during the pop superstar’s well-publicized pursuit to own her music by re-recording — then eventually buying back — her back catalog masters. Behind the scenes, Swift has also spent the last two decades quietly building a formidable trademark portfolio.
In addition to now owning all of her music, Swift has more than 150 trademarks, giving her ownership over various uses of her name, initials, most of her album titles, various song titles, lyrics and numerous words and phrases including “Swiftie,” “Swiftmas” and “Taylor’s Version.” She even has a trademark on the names of her cats.
It’s common for artists to file legal protections for words associated with their work; stars like Beyoncé, Justin Bieber and Bad Bunny also hold large trademark portfolios. This means that when someone else tries to use an artist’s name or work without permission, the artist has the weight of the law behind them to stop it. Indeed, Swift’s legal team has taken advantage of these enforcement rights over the years to crack down on everything from counterfeit merch to a “Swift Home” bedding line.
Swift does not own every trademark she’s ever applied for. To the contrary, her team has put in more than 300 submissions to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over the course of her career — more than double the number of trademarks she now owns. Some of these include marks she once registered but later allowed to expire once their use ran out, like “The 1989 World Tour”.
Other filings have been abandoned by Swift’s team before the completion of the lengthy Trademark Office review process, which can often take years and make a trademark obsolete by the time approval rolls around. Such was the case for “The Swift Life,” the title of a Swift-themed app that had already been discontinued when it reached the final trademark registration phrase.
During this review process, the Trademark Office vets a trademark application for similarities to any pre-existing registrations. This has led the office to reject some of Swift’s marks over the years. A requested mark for her 2019 song “The Archer,” for example, was determined to be too similar to one already owned by the indie label Archer Records. Similarly, Swift’s recent attempt to trademark The Life of a Showgirl for her record-smashing latest album was preliminarily denied in November because Las Vegas performer Maren Wade already owns the phrase “Confessions of a Showgirl.”
Months later, Wade filed a highly publicized trademark infringement lawsuit against Swift. The star’s lawyers are fighting those claims, which they call “absurd” and “meritless,” and say they remain confident that the Trademark Office will ultimately allow them to register a mark of their own for The Life of a Showgirl. “It is widely known that Ms. Swift’s fanbase is a dedicated and informed set of consumers,” her attorneys wrote in their first response to the lawsuit. “Their attention to detail is legendary… There is no chance they would be confused between plaintiff’s cabaret shows and Ms. Swift’s album and related promotional merchandise.”
While this Showgirl fight remains ongoing, Swift’s lawyers are also continuing to pursue ownership of a host of other trademarks. The singer has pending applications to trademark phrases like “Female Rage: The Musical” (Swift’s description of her set for The Tortured Poets Department during the Eras Tour), as well as “Taylor Swift Taylor’s Version” and “Reputation Taylor’s Version” (signs of hope, perhaps, for Swifties clamoring for the release of her remaining re-records). She also recently filed to trademark her voice and likeness, an unusual legal maneuver that is untested but likely aimed at combatting artificial intelligence deepfakes.
Below, Billboard has collected and contextualized a running list of all the trademarks Swift currently owns. This story will update as her IP portfolio evolves.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Passionate about music? Here’s your chance to learn from some of the best in the business with MasterClass, the online learning site that features on-demand video classes from some of the biggest celebrities and thought leaders in the world.
Even better: MasterClass is offering a 50% off deal for Mother’s Day when you sign up for any of its plans. That means users can get the Premium Plan, which lets six users share a subscription for just $10 per month (normally $20 per month). If you need a last-minute gift, all gifting subscriptions are included in the limited time discount.
But act fast and sign up now, this Mother’s Day deal expires on Sunday, May 10.
As a point of comparison: you can get the standard plan for only $5 per month (normally $10 per month), which makes this the cheapest MasterClass price online.
What Musicians Are on MasterClass?
Music lovers can take classes taught by Mariah Carey, John Legend, Christina Aguilera, Usher, Herbie Hancock, Reba McEntire, Alicia Keys, Nas, Questlove, Metallica, Timbaland, Yo-Yo Ma, Ringo Starr and other singers, songwriters, musicians and producers.
And it’s not just music, MasterClass features top-rated courses in science, tech, sports, gaming, wellness, business and leadership, design, style, photography, cooking, writing, acting and other genres.
The service features more than 200 video lessons taught by celebrities, political figures, fashion designers and other public figures, including Serena Williams, Steph Curry, Simone Biles, Tony Hawk, RuPaul, Issa Rae, Shonda Rhimes, Kevin Hart, Martha Stewart, Amy Poehler, Tan France, Mindy Weiss, Wolfgang Puck, Marc Jacobs, Anna Wintour, Diane Von Furstenberg, Naomi Campbell, Kris Jenner, Richard Branson, Gordon Ramsey, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, celebrity stylist Karla Welch and professionals in other industries.
How Much Does MasterClass Cost?
With this Mother’s Day deal, the platform starts at $60 per year (which works out to $5 per month for a single subscription). The subscription gives you unlimited access to all classes, including new courses launched monthly.
The Premium Plan costs $120 per year (which works out to $10 per month with the Mother’s Day deal) but you can share this plan with six users in total. While the site sometimes offers promotions, this is the best MasterClass deal we’re seeing online right now.
Your membership unlocks access to the streamer’s mobile and TV apps, high-definition videos, and class workouts that you can download and watch on a smartphone, computer and other devices, such as Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku. MasterClass also provides Audio Mode for certain courses, so that members can download classes and watch them offline from the plane and other modes of transportation.
From beginners to novices, MasterClass courses are designed to suit all skill levels. Every class includes around 20 videos that are approximately ten minutes in running time each, and a detailed workbook. The course instructor will walk students through the curriculum, which comes with step-by-step instructions, but encourages students to explore their own creativity by going “beyond the session content.”
When gearing up for the follow-up to his breakout album Stick Season, Noah Kahan and his team knew there was a lot riding on the project. “Expectations were otherworldly, and pressure was palpable,” says his manager, Drew Simmons at Foundations.
But that new album, The Great Divide, has met and exceeded those expectations: Following its release on April 30, the set flew to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 389,000 equivalent album units, making it Kahan’s first chart-topper and best week ever. What’s more, The Great Divide’s debut marked the third-biggest week for any artist of the year, the biggest week for a rock album since 2014, the largest streaming week for any album this year and, at 118,000 vinyl units, the biggest vinyl sales week for a rock album in the modern era, dating to 1991.
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The album, which was preceded by a Netflix documentary and will be followed by a stadium headlining tour, is a big moment for Kahan. After nearly a decade signed to Republic Records (he is now on REPUBLIC’s Mercury Records), his breakout moment finally arrived in 2024, when the single “Stick Season” climbed all the way to the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10, peaking at No. 9. With this new project, Kahan bested that mark — the title track has reached No. 6 — on the way to landing all of the album’s 21 tracks on the chart, making him just the 13th artist to chart that many tracks there simultaneously.
And now, it helps Simmons earn the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week. Here, he talks about the album’s massive debut, the work that went into the rollout and how the team came through amid the massive expectations and pressure that existed following Kahan’s big break. “Everything we do as a team filters through the question: What makes for the best fan experience?” Simmons says. “Noah and his team care deeply about their fans, treating them like friends and bringing them along with genuine, consistent attention throughout the rollout.”
This week, Noah Kahan’s The Great Divide debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 389,000 equivalent album units, the biggest week for an album classified as rock since 2014 and the biggest streaming week for any album of this year. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
Noah made a brilliant record — everything starts with the music. The demand we built throughout the rollout was driven by the strength of what was teased and Noah’s ability to connect with his audience. Behind it were years of thoughtful decisions from the core team, from assembling the creative team to giving Noah the space to step back and live life.
Key moments of the campaign included revealing the first single just before the Grammys and debuting the video during the broadcast, thanks to Mastercard. The Netflix documentary, Noah Kahan: Out of Body, captured the end of the Stick Season touring cycle and the transition into making The Great Divide. We set out to chronicle that journey and it resulted in an honest look at Noah’s relationships with family, friends and his community. Directed by Nick Sweeney, it premiered 11 days before the album and helped contextualize the project.
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Across Foundations and Mercury Records, there is an amazingly supportive and talented group of people weighing in on decisions, all focused around what serves Noah and his art most sincerely. As a team, we were intentional about creating the perfect storm around this release and building momentum — sharing songs live and on socials while developing a visual world that matched the introspective lyrics and strong sense of place created by Noah. Everything we do as a team filters through the question: What makes for the best fan experience? Noah and his team care deeply about their fans, treating them like friends and bringing them along with genuine, consistent attention throughout the rollout.
Some notable members of the creative team are producers Gabe Simon and Aaron Dessner and collaborators Carrie K, Sam Westhoff, Noah Levine, Dylan Jones, Nina Devitri, Todd Clark and Amy Allen, mixer Ryan Hewitt and creative director Mikey Laviolette at Without Contrast.
This is Noah’s first No. 1 album, and his first project since “Stick Season” became a global phenomenon. How did you approach this album differently given the success of the last one?
Expectations were otherworldly, and pressure was palpable. Although it is Noah’s fourth album, The Great Divide is effectively his sophomore release given how much his world changed through Stick Season. There were many challenging hurdles along the way, but we kept reminding ourselves that we need to trust our instincts, continue to be ourselves and pursue the songs that genuinely moved us emotionally. At times, it was a grind in the studio, and at moments we had to step away to allow the creative process space. Patience was key, and our belief in Noah’s ability never wavered.
Noah’s 118,000 vinyl sales are also the best sales week on vinyl for a rock album in the modern era. With eight vinyl variants available, what was your physical release strategy for the album?
The sales were driven by a deep relationship between Noah and his audience. It’s mostly a reflection of how invested fans are in Noah’s music and him as a meaningful artist. All the variants were themed as extensions of the album details. We wanted to offer an intentional and meaningful variety, and made a point to share offerings with his longtime fans first.
How did that Netflix documentary help introduce this release to fans, and how has it helped Noah tell his story?
The documentary was one of the cornerstones of our rollout. Noah is a beautifully articulate narrator and such a sincere, funny and humble person. Through the documentary, we wanted to offer insight into Noah’s unique and charismatic perspective. We worked with the team at Radical Films — Dave Sirulnick, Samantha Mustari and Stacey Reiss — over a three-year period of time, capturing Noah’s life. On the management side, Noah’s operations manager, Ryan Langlois, was the engine behind this process.
Noah was incredibly brave in exposing some of his most personal vulnerabilities. It takes a caring and compassionate person to reveal their biggest struggles for the world to see, simply in the hope that it will help viewers feel seen and help someone know that the challenges they face are human.
Noah is about to embark on his first stadium tour, which sold out, just three years after he was on the road as an opening act. How do you help manage a career that has blown up so quickly?
I have been working with Noah for 12 years. The first eight years of development helped him gain experience on stage and navigate the trials of touring. Even with a solid base to build on, nothing can fully prepare someone for the new reality that comes with fame and demand. Artists can be the best versions of themselves when they have trusting, caring and empathetic support around them. Having a capable and experienced community helps to minimize some of the challenges brought about by taking leaps forward in scale. When we don’t have the direct experience to solve a growth issue, we bring in people that have been through it before and seek their guidance. For me, having the community of my team at Foundations to troubleshoot with has been invaluable.
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Noah has been open about his mental health struggles, and has worked as a mental health advocate through his Busyhead project. How have you supported him on that front?
Noah and I launched The Busyhead Project together. It came from his desire to walk the walk of supporting the mental health community. It was a natural evolution and an answer to, “What good can we do with the platform we have?” The Busyhead Project is a career-long and deeply fulfilling endeavor. We set out to try to raise $1 million for mental health, and over three years we now have raised $6.6 million and counting.
We have an annual golf tournament and concert where 100% of proceeds go to supporting mental health care providers, and we integrate TBP into every ticket sale, every tour experience and every brand deal we do. We commit a lot of time and energy to continuing its growth. We work with partners like Jeb Gutelius and Lindsay Rosenberg at Sailworks to run the operations of TBP, as well as Hilary Gleason at Backline to offer access to care for our community in the music industry. We have big ambitions for the future years of The Busyhead Project and are really proud of what it has become.
What’s next for Noah in addition to this tour?
Bringing this album to venues around the world, continuing to grow The Busyhead Project and finding new ways to create and expand Noah’s community.
From Ashes to New rules a Billboard radio chart for the first time, lifting a spot to No. 1 on the May 16-dated Mainstream Rock Airplay tally with “Drag Me.”
The song is the Pennsylvania rockers’ first leader, via its 13th entry on the survey. The group first reached Mainstream Rock Airplay in 2016 with “Through It All,” which peaked at No. 6, marking its first of seven top 10s. Prior to “Drag Me,” the band’s best was “Barely Breathing,” featuring Against the Current (No. 2, 2024).
Six acts have hit No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Airplay for the first time in 2026, in line with the 10 that did so in all of 2025. The two most recent leaders have been by newcomers to the top spot, as “Drag Me” displaces Dayseeker’s “Crawl Back to My Coffin” after one week.
Concurrently, “Drag Me” zooms 24-17 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart thanks to 2.2 million radio audience impressions in the week ending May 7, a gain of 17%, according to Luminate. It’s From Ashes to New’s highest-charting entry there, surpassing the No. 20 peak of “Barely Breathing.”
“Drag Me” reached a new No. 20 best on the latest multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart (dated May 9, reflecting data accumulated April 24-30). In addition to its radio airplay, it drew 344,000 chart-eligible streams in the United States.
Reflections, the parent album of “Drag Me,” was released April 17. The band’s fifth studio set has earned 19,000 equivalent album units to date.
All Billboard charts dated May 16 will update Tuesday, May 12, on Billboard.com.
Conocida es por todos la admiración que los Beatles tenían por Bob Dylan. De hecho, el estadounidense siempre es señalado como uno de los responsables de que John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr y George Harrison dieran un gran salto en lo que respecta a su arte. Sin embargo, no todo eran sonrisas entre ellos. […]
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Si se habla de canciones icónicas de The Beatles, no quedan dudas que «Here Comes The Sun» es una de ellas. El tema fue escrito por George Harrison y publicado en 1969 como parte del álbum Abbey Road. Su historia está llena de matices que reflejan el crecimiento artístico de Harrison como compositor y letrista. […]
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Las mujeres en el rock parecen ser una especie de rara avis. Tanto el rock clásico como el alternativo han estado históricamente dominados por hombres y los grupos integrados por mujeres o las artistas solistas solían presentarse como excepciones, algo que en los últimos años comenzó a tomar otra dirección. En torno a esto, Billy […]
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