Global Citizen is going west.

ARIA Award-winning folk-rock act The Teskey Brothers will headline Global Citizen Nights: Perth, a free, ticketed event set for Oct. 20.

South Summit and Ruby Rodgers will also perform at the show, which concludes the Global Citizen NOW: Perth action summit, a pow-wow that will gather leaders from government, business, philanthropy and more from Oct. 18-20, casting a spotlight on Western Australia’s potential as a renewable energy giant.

Riverside Theatre at Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre will host the concert, which marks Global Citizen’s return to Perth for the first time in 15 years. The organization was active on Australia’s west coast for the landmark End of Polio concert in 2011.

“It’s a real honor to be invited to play at Global Citizen Nights: Perth,” comments Josh Teskey, frontman of The Teskey Brothers. “What Global Citizen is doing is so much bigger than music, so it’s pretty special to be able to contribute in a small way. We’re really grateful to be part of it, and looking forward to getting up there and playing some tunes to close out this really special event.”

The Teskeys’ third and most recent studio album, 2023’s The Winding Way, debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart, for their second leader (2020’s Live At The Forum also topped the tally). Later in the year, The Winding Way collected best blues & roots album at the ARIA Awards.

Newly announced participants for the Global Citizen NOW: Perth action summit include retired Australian swimming champion Ian Thorpe; Mathias Cormann, secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation; and chart-topping WA-based musician and activist John Butler, who will deliver a keynote address.

“We couldn’t be more excited to return to Western Australia with Global Citizen Nights: Perth,” comments Michael Sheldrick, co-founder and chief policy, impact and government affairs officer at Global Citizen. “It’s going to be an unforgettable night of Aussie music closing out two important days of action spotlighting WA as a renewable energy powerhouse, and how we can help build a future where our neighbors across the Indo-Pacific have access to reliable, affordable electricity.”

Established in Australia in 2008, and spearhead by its co-founder and CEO Hugh Evans, Global Citizen is the world’s largest movement to end extreme poverty. Since launch, more than US$50 billion in commitments announced on Global Citizen platforms have been deployed, according to a statement.

Melbourne hosted the first international edition of the Global Citizen NOW action summit event in March 2024, which also wrapped up with a live music event, headlined by ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Crowded House.

Free tickets for Global Citizen Nights: Perth can be snapped up by taking action at globalcitizen.org/nights. Click here for more information.

BTS are getting back in the game — literally. The K-pop superstars are set to return with new episodes of their beloved variety series Run BTS!, and a new teaser gives fans a first look at the group’s ideas for games, challenges and friendly competition.

Filmed in Toronto, the preview shows the seven members enjoying a BTS-style picnic as they revisit games they used to play during picnics. The nostalgic setup takes a competitive turn when the members take on a quick game of “speed walk” before moving on to “red light, green light.”

“Why are you so fast?” we hear Jung Kook say as he’s running around the picnic, before taking a tumble while the other members laugh.

The real competition doesn’t arrive until the group begins their long-awaited pickleball tournament. The stakes are raised when the group learns that the loser will have to take on some sort of punishment. The teaser shows a glimpse of the chaotic match, with the members cheering, shouting and reacting to shots flying across the court. The tournament fades to black as a Run BTS 2.0 title card appears, teasing and anticipating a new chapter for the series.

The return of such a candid series is particularly exciting for fans as the group just wrapped the North American leg of their ARIRANG World Tour, and are set to continue onto the South American leg pretty soon. Their latest album, ARIRANG, gave the group their seventh No. 1 album atop the Billboard 200 upon its release in April, remaining on the chart for 27 weeks and counting.

The first episode of the new Run BTS! era is set to premiere at 8 p.m. KST on Oct. 6, with the second episode following at 8 p.m. KST on Oct. 11.

Watch the teaser for Run BTS! below.

Aubrey O’Day has some thoughts about Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ life behind bars — and she doesn’t think his time in prison is exactly accomplishing its intended purpose.

The former Danity Kane singer reacted Wednesday (Sept. 30) to a new NBC News investigation into Combs’ reported conditions at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey, where he is serving a 50-month sentence. Journalist Chloe Melas shared the investigation on X, writing, “My breaking exclusive on Sean Diddy Combs — we’ve obtained video of him using a cell phone in prison — and much more.”

O’Day quote-tweeted Melas’ post with a pointed response, saying, “Thank you, Chloe for doing this investigation. People should understand the difference between rehabilitation and a sh–ty vacation. The system is broken — this man will come back a worse criminal.”

NBC News’ report, which cited four men who spent time in the same unit as Combs, described what those sources characterized as an unusually privileged existence inside the low-security federal prison. According to the report, inmates have allegedly cooked and cleaned for Combs, handled his laundry and even given him Chinese-style massages.

The investigation also included photos and videos reviewed by NBC News that allegedly show Combs using a contraband cellphone. Sources told the outlet that he has also had access to alcohol and other prohibited items while incarcerated.

Combs’ spokesperson pushed back on the report, calling the continued attention to the details of his prison life excessive and saying the only significant news is that he “continues to serve his sentence” while awaiting the outcome of his appeal. A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson declined to comment specifically on Combs’ conditions, while acknowledging that contraband remains an ongoing challenge in federal facilities.

Combs arrived at Fort Dix in October 2025 after being sentenced to 50 months in prison following his conviction on two counts of transporting people across state lines for prostitution. He was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges.

O’Day, who was part of Danity Kane after the group formed through Combs’ reality series Making the Band, has remained outspoken about the music mogul throughout his legal proceedings.

Read the full statement from O’Day below.

Omar Courtz celebrates his first Billboard No. 1, as “KOKO” lifts 2-1 on the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart (dated Oct. 3). Released by Mr.305/Rimas, the song also logs its 17th week in the top 10 on Hot Latin Songs (moving 5-6) —the longest run in the upper tier among his three top 10s on the chart.

“Having ‘KOKO’ reach No. 1 means so much to me,” Courtz tells Billboard. “It’s a song that captures so much of Puerto Rico—our vibe, how we live, and how we enjoy music. Knowing that something so uniquely ours has connected with so many people around the world is incredible. Thank you to everyone who made it their own from the very beginning.”

“KOKO” lands at the summit with 6.6 million audience impressions, up 18%, earned during the Sept. 18-24 tracking week in the United States, according to Luminate. The new champion takes the lead from Jay Wheeler, whose “De Lejitos” has spent four weeks atop. It dips 1-3, with a 6% decline in impressions, to 5.4 million.

“KOKO” is from Courtz’s album POR SI MAÑANA NO ESTOY, released in February, which opened at No. 3 on both Top Latin Albums and Top Latin Rhythm Albums charts in March. It was preceded by the set’s “Si Estás Con Alguien,” also a top 10, peaking at No. 9 on Latin Rhythm Airplay in May.

Elsewhere, “KOKO” reached Nos. 75 and 58 on the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts in April.

Quavo and Offset have officially buried the hatchet. Quavo sat down with Complex’s Idea Generation and talked about how Takeoff’s untimely death helped mend his fractured relationship with their childhood friend and fellow Migos groupmate.

“I feel like it eased it a little bit,” he reflected after being asked how Takeoff’s death changed his relationship with Offset. “I felt like it it threw out all the things that I was upset about or that we had friction about. I don’t know on his end; I’m just talking for me. I feel like it was it was enough just for me to say, ‘All right, cool. Whatever.’ You know what I’m saying? ‘Whatever you going through, I go through it with you. And whatever I’m going through, I hope you understand what I’m going through.’ You feel me?’

He added: “And I think that, long as I understand whatever everybody be going through and that I can’t control or can’t be upset or emotional about that’s where I think that chrome outer layer come from. That part of me losing my brother and understanding that it can’t get no tougher than that. So, whatever that’s in front of me that I got to deal with to make my life more easier… and to give these fans what they want, I’m going to do it.”

He was also asked about the Migos album he and Offset have in the works and what would make them feel like they did right by their late brother Takeoff.

“Just to release it,” he said. “I want the fans to determine that, ’cause I’m going to put my all in everything and we going to always give it a thousand percent. You know, we’ve been in the studio cooking. We make sure we keeping everything just like it’s supposed to sound.”

Quavo’s solo album, QRÖMELIFE, will be fully produced by Pharrell and will feature a long-awaited reunion with Offset.

You can watch the full interview below.

A judge says it’ll take too long to review more than 7,000 pages of documents in litigation between Pandora and the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), so he’s having a jury decide the fight over streaming royalties.

The MLC, a group created by the Music Modernization Act to apportion mechanical royalties from streaming services, sued Pandora in 2024 for allegedly misclassifying its free tier to avoid paying the higher rates owed by “interactive” platforms like Spotify. The SiriusXM unit denies those claims, and both sides asked a judge earlier this year to enter judgment in their favor. But Judge Eli Richardson in Nashville federal court declined to even consider these requests in an unusual Wednesday (Sept. 30) court order, first obtained and reported by Billboard.

In a typical summary judgment order, a judge weighs all the evidence collected by both sides in discovery and decides whether there are genuine factual questions requiring a jury trial. Judge Richardson didn’t do that here, though, citing the “corpulent” collection of 263 documents totaling more than 7,000 pages cumulatively submitted by the MLC and Pandora.

“The court in its discretion finds that it would be more efficient to deal with all contested issues and examine the fulsome factual record at trial rather than expending the (very substantial) judicial resources necessary to dispose of the motions,” wrote the judge.

Judge Richardson also noted in his order that the “huge volume” of documents in the case suggests to him that a trial would be unavoidable no matter what. “If a summary judgment motion requires so many different pillars of support, there naturally is an increased mathematical likelihood that one of the essential pillars is unsteady,” he wrote. “Or to put it differently, if a party has to file thousands of pages and hundreds of documents to explain why there is nothing for a jury to decide — i.e., to explain that, in today’s parlance, ‘there’s nothing to see here’ — then the volume suggests that there is indeed something for the jury to see.”

A trial date is not currently scheduled. And there’s still the possibility that the MLC and Pandora could reach a settlement instead. In a statement to Billboard, Pandora emphasized that Wednesday’s ruling “was not a determination on the merits of the case.”

“Pandora is committed to compensating songwriters and publishers in accordance with the law, and we remain confident in our position,” added the company.

A spokesperson for the MLC said the group “welcomes” the ruling, adding that it “means our case continues.”

“The MLC will continue to pursue this action to enforce Pandora’s royalty payment obligations under the statutory license, supported by the substantial evidence that the MLC has compiled,” said the spokesperson. “Congress authorized The MLC to take legal action to enforce the payment obligations of digital services under the compulsory blanket license that The MLC administers, and we remain committed to fulfilling that statutory responsibility.”

The MLC’s lawsuit centers on the distinction between “interactive” streaming platforms like Spotify or Apple Music, which allow users to pick their songs on demand, and “noninteractive” platforms like Pandora that provide an experience more like radio. It’s a key dividing line, since interactive and noninteractive services pay very different royalty rates to songwriters and publishers.

Though Pandora pays interactive royalties for its premium tier with on-demand functionality, it has long treated Pandora Free — the core radio-like product that fueled the company’s rise in the late 2000s — as a noninteractive service, since it largely serves users a mix of songs based on their preferences.

But in its 2024 lawsuit, the MLC alleged that Pandora Free had crossed the line into “interactive” status by offering so-called “Sponsored Premium Access” sessions, which allow users to briefly play specific songs in return for watching ads. The organization sought to hold Pandora liable for what it characterized as an “unlawful underpayment of royalties.”

Pandora has called those claims “plainly and unmistakably wrong.” The company argued in its summary judgment motion that the MLC is “abusing” its powers to bring unconstitutional legal claims that far exceed its one simple job mandated by the law: to collect and distribute mechanical royalties.   

The case was filed just months after Pandora’s parent company, SiriusXM, was separately sued by SoundExchange for allegedly underpaying recorded royalties by manipulating how it bundles satellite and web streaming services. A judge threw out that lawsuit last summer after determining that SoundExchange does not have any power to initiate litigation. This finding, which could alter the music industry’s royalty enforcement landscape, is now on appeal.

The MLC, meanwhile, followed up its lawsuit against Pandora by launching another high-profile legal action in 2024 that accused Spotify of bundling music with audiobooks to unfairly slash mechanical royalties. The MLC’s core claims against Spotify were later dismissed, though some additional allegations are still being litigated. Bundling is also now a key issue in the Copyright Royalty Board’s ongoing Phono V rate-setting process.

Tinashe is having herself a moment.

The singer recently put out her eighth studio album, Popstar, to much critical acclaim and fanfare online, as her day one fans are taking a victory lap on social media. Tinashe took to X and Instagram and released a lengthy statement about often feeling like she’s been overlooked by the industry and some fans.

“This moment is a testament to never giving up on yourself,” he statement began. “For years I felt misunderstood, overlooked, the butt of the joke… but I just kept going. People would say, ‘She’s still making music? Why hasn’t she quit by now?’… but I never gave up on myself or my artistry. I just kept focusing on my passion and love of music and art and kept creating things I loved. I inevitably reached a place where I no longer craved the validation of accolades, awards, or even mainstream success because it was too painful to care anymore.”

She then added that she that her hard work over the years has paid off and that she finally feels validated.

“That’s why this means so much to me,” she continued. “Because after all of these years, to finally be here in this moment and seeing the praise for this project and finally feeling seeeeeen and heard is unbelievably touching. Like I really feel it’s healing a huge part of me in real time. (but lemme not cry rn) I am truly grateful for everyone who has been with me thru it all cuz babyyyy it has been a journeyyyyyyyy. Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Last week (Sept. 23), Tinashe sat down for a conversation with Call Her Daddy and gave fans a hint as to what Popstar was going to sound like. “I don’t subscribe to like one particular sound, one particular genre. I’ve made records on this project that feel like dance records, like hip-hop records, like pop records, like R&B records,” she said. “And I think they all, to me, fall under this umbrella of pop star. And I wanted to bring that question or like bring that conversation to the table of what does it mean to be a pop star?”

Singer/songwriter beabadoobee sees her new studio album Pylon debut in the top 10 on seven Billboard charts (dated Oct. 3), including a No. 2 start on Top Album Sales.

The set launches with 25,000 copies sold in the United States in the week ending Sept. 24, according to Luminate, marking her best sales week yet. First-week sales were aided by the album’s availability across 10 vinyl variants (including signed editions), three CD variants (including a signed edition), two cassettes and a download.

Pylon also launches at No. 7 on the overall Billboard 200 with 36,000 equivalent album units earned (inclusive of the 25,000 in album sales), marking beabadoobee’s first top 10 on the tally.

In total, the set nabs top 10 entries across seven charts: Top Album Sales, the Billboard 200, Vinyl Albums (No. 2 with 16,000 sold, her best week on vinyl), Indie Store Album Sales (No. 4), Top Rock & Alternative Albums (No. 3), Top Rock Albums (No. 2) and Top Alternative Albums (No. 3).

Pylon is among nine albums that debut in the top 10 on a very busy Top Album Sales chart, led by the chart-topping bow of Miley’s Bass Persuades. Also starting in the top 10: new releases from Riley Green, Anthrax, Carly Rae Jepsen, EVAN, Luke Bryan, Lizzy McAlpin and Noah Kahan.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on pure album sales. The Vinyl Albums and Indie Store Album Sales charts rank the week’s top-sellers on vinyl, and at indie and small chain record stores, respectively. The Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums and Billboard 200 charts rank the week’s most popular rock and alternative, rock, alternative, and overall albums, by equivalent album units earned, respectively. Equivalent album units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums [TEA] and streaming equivalent albums [SEA]. Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 2,500 ad-supported or 1,000 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

Dakota Johnson is returning to the Saturday Night Live set with Turnstile as the musical guest this weekend for her third time hosting. In a new teaser for the episode, Johnson runs through the usual introduction before things quickly spiral into increasingly strange territory alongside SNL cast member Ashley Padilla.

Johnson announces that she’ll be back hosting SNL, only for Padilla to reveal that she has never actually watched the show due to her mother believing the show was, in no uncertain terms, “too horny.” Johnson’s response is simply a declaration of her love for the long-running sketch series.

As the two-minute teaser rolls on, we get more bits of Padilla and Johnson’s humor, with one sequence following Padilla being hung up on Johnson’s initials. After establishing that “DJ” could stand for Dakota Johnson, Padilla starts throwing out other famous D.J.’s, including Derek Jeter, Dwayne Johnson and retired NFL star DeSean Jackson, and asking if Dakota is related to them. “I don’t think you understand how initials work,” Johnson says, before Padilla somehow lands on Davy Jones.

According to the teaser, Davy Jones is Johnson’s uncle. “I knew it!” Padilla responds.

The final exchange is honestly the strangest and teases what’s in store for this week’s SNL episode. When Padilla learns that this is Johnson’s third time hosting, she compares the two of them to twins because it’s Padilla’s third season on the cast. Johnson asks Padilla if she has ever skinned a goat with her bare hands and Padilla says no — prompting Johnson to conclude that the two are “nothing alike,” with an eerie facial expression.

Johnson previously hosted SNL in 2015 and again in 2020. Her third appearance comes as she promotes Verity, the film adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel. She also co-starred in Taylor Swift’s “Patient Zero” music video, alongside fellow actor Colin Farrell, which premiered on Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards. Turnstile will perform on the episode, marking their first time on the show.

Johnson and Turnstile’s episode airs this week on NBC and streams live on Peacock at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT.

Watch the full teaser below.