The Jonas Brothers are heading to Australia.

While the continent doubles as the title of a track from the trio’s 2007 sophomore album, the NFL announced on Wednesday (Aug. 12) that the JoBros will headline the halftime show at the NFL Melbourne Game on Sept. 10.

The NFC West clash between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers will serve as the first-ever regular season NFL game to take place in Australia. Kick-off is set for 8:35 p.m. ET (10:35 a.m. AEST, Sept. 11) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the match-up will broadcast exclusively on Netflix.

“We couldn’t be more excited to perform at halftime during the NFL’s first-ever regular season game in Australia,” the Jonas Brothers said in a statement. “Playing at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of such passionate Australian fans is an incredible honor. We can’t wait to be part of this historic moment and celebrate with everyone in the stadium and watching around the world.”

In addition to Netflix, the entire halftime show performance will be broadcast live in Australia on Seven Network.

Australian fans can celebrate the league’s return with the NFL Kickoff Festival slated for Sept. 10 through Sept. 12 at Melbourne Park, where a watch party will be hosted for the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots Super Bowl rematch.

“Bringing the first-ever NFL regular season game to Australia is a landmark moment for the league, and we are committed to creating an entertainment experience that reflects the scale and significance of the occasion,” said Tim Tubito, who serves as the senior director of global game presentation and entertainment at the NFL. “The Jonas Brothers are global entertainers whose music connects across generations, making them the ideal artists to help us celebrate this historic game in Melbourne. We look forward to delivering a memorable halftime performance for our fans in Australia and those watching around the world.”

It’s not the first NFL halftime show from the Jonas Brothers: The New Jersey natives previously performed on Thanksgiving in 2022 in Dallas when the Cowboys defeated the New York Giants. The Grammy-nominated siblings also performed during the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City.

Next week, the Jonas Brothers will wrap up their Jonas20: Greetings From Your Hometown Tour with three concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden, on Aug. 20, 21 and 22. They’re also bringing their Hey Jonas! podcast to Hulu and Disney+ starting Friday.

The NFL’s global expansion will continue this season with games in London, Madrid, Mexico City, Munich, Paris and Rio De Janeiro.

Find more details about the Jonas Brothers’ NFL halftime show performance below.

Rod Stewart has called off upcoming dates on his North American One Last Time farewell tour after undergoing a routine coronary stent procedure.

The 81-year-old singer was scheduled to perform at Ohio’s Riverbend Music Center last Sunday (Aug. 9), but cancelled the show at the last minute, citing an “unforeseen but minor medical procedure,” as per a press statement.

Stewart went on to cancel his remaining tour dates after the procedure. He was set to perform at Morton Amphitheater in Kansas City, Missouri this weekend (Aug. 15), heading to Las Vegas on Aug. 18 for a performance at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, followed by gigs in Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado, plus a run of shows in Mexico (Sept. 9-13).

In a separate statement issued to Rolling Stone, his representatives said the singer was “doing well.” It continued: “On the advice of his doctors, he will take the next four weeks to recuperate and regain full fitness before returning to the stage. Unfortunately, this means he will be unable to continue his current tour dates.”

In his own message posted to Instagram on Tuesday (Aug. 11), Stewart assured fans that he was “already feeling better and very much on the mend”. He said that while he was “deeply disappointed to miss these shows,” he looked forward to returning to playing live in the future. 

Speaking to TalkSport earlier in the year, Stewart alluded to wrapping up touring duties and “that’ll probably be it” on the road for him after he completes a to-be-announced U.K. tour in 2027. “Then I’m touring the U.K. next year, doing The O2, and that’ll probably be it, I think,” he continued. “I’ll have to do something new, come on your show more often, maybe.”

Stewart has been touring for over 60 years as both a solo act and as a member of British rock band the Faces, alongside the Jeff Beck Group. He has been on the road with his One Last Time trek since 2024, which has encompassed a Legends slot on the Pyramid Stage that same summer, for which he was joined by Ronnie Wood, Mick Hucknall and Lulu.

His catalogue has also produced multiple hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four chart-toppers throughout the 1970s: “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright),” “Maggie May,” “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” and “All for Love,” his 1994 collaboration with Sting and Bryan Adams.

Australia, despite its reputation as a nation obsessed with rough-and-tumble sports, has produced its share of inventions and leading-edge initiatives in the digital age.  

Wi-fi technology, the electronic pacemaker, and the black box flight recorder were all developed in the Great Southern Land. Boxed wine — colloquially known in these parts as “goon” — is one of ours, too. In December 2025, Australia became the world’s first country to ban social media for children, implementing groundbreaking laws that block under-16 from such platforms as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Other countries have followed suit.

And just last month, Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese committed to strict copyright protections in the AI age, and gave the strongest of assurances that tech companies would not have the right to copyright-protected content, including music, to train AI “without the artist’s control.”

With that announcement, the PM also unveiled a new Office of AI, which would design the new Australian standards — essentially a functioning licensing framework built on consent and payment.

Those high-level pledges weren’t lost on Sam Duboff, Spotify’s global head of artists, marketing & policy, the executive who leads the streaming giant’s work on artist policy, streaming transparency and responsible AI, making him one of the business’ most senior voices on the intersection of music, technology and public policy.

Duboff recently visited Australia to talk with artists and partners in the domestic industry about its own AI protections and initiatives.

Albanese’s comments feel to be “very aligned with our approach,” he tells Billboard. “From what I’ve seen,” Duboff notes, “it feels like the (Australian) government positions are really similar to our approach, which is respect for copyright, and making sure this AI age is helping existing IP holders.”

One of the messages carried during those meetings down under were on Spotify’s AI music products that “we’ve announced and are planning to build with the industry,” Duboff explains. “The history of Spotify is all about respect for copyright. Spotify was born 20 years ago out of the plate of piracy and we were able to build a license experience that was, you know, making fans want to pay for music. We see a similar opportunity today where a lot of emerging AI tech platforms are, their focus on music products are competing with artists, or trying to replace artists.”

Duboff continues, “we think we could build products that respect copyright in partnership with the industry, that power existing artist careers.”

As Spotify works to increase transparency around AI usage in songs and on artist profiles, it recently announced partnerships with Universal Music Group (UMG) and Merlin to allow for AI remixing of songs, effectively allowing users to create AI remixes and covers of songs by participating artists signed to labels under the UMG and Merlin umbrellas. Remixing capabilities will be made available as a paid add-on for premium subscribers.

Earlier this week, the tech business announced the creation of a new label that will be applied to AI-generated artists and begin rolling out in mid-September. Music from artists bearing the label, called “AI Persona,” will not be included in personalized recommendations on the platform.

Duboff points to Spotify’s four core “artist-first” AI principles, coming soon off the back of an announcement that it was strengthening its policies on negative use cases of AI-generated music.

“We’re trying to bet big on human artistry. Our belief is, in the AI era, the platform that’s gonna win is the one where listeners can trust what they’re listening to the most. And so, in the same breath that we’re fighting spam and (AI) slop, we’re building these new tools that let artists get verified for being authentic, upload video, share their song DNA, and everything else.”

Based in New York, Duboff also leads the teams responsible for many of the music streaming leader’s biggest initiatives for artists, including Spotify for Artists, Loud & Clear, Wrapped for Artists, Countdown Pages, Clips, Campaign Kit and Spotify Charts.

One Australia-specific initiative that caught his eye was Spotify’s Turn Up Aus Live event series, presented in central Sydney. A throwback to the classic pub gig, the fan-first events are meant to celebrate Aussie artists — and “share that local flair” — at a time when so many are struggling to be seen and heard above the 100-million-plus songs available online at the touch of a screen.

During the southern winter, Hooligan Hefs and Genesis Owusu have performed under the Turn Up Aus Live banner at The Bat & Ball in Redfern. “The success of that is something we’d like to look at for different countries,” he explains. “Turn Up Aus is one of one.”

The live campaign is a phase of a so-called “local pride” stamp that began 12 months ago, explains Spotify’s Australian and New Zealand head of music, Ben Watts. During that time, the streamer has worked with 500 local artists; produced more than 1,000 billboards locally and abroad; including Times Square, and counted 2,000 fans engaging in the live events and activations.

In recent years, Australian recording artists have overpowered by North American and European artists in ARIA’s year-end charts and triple j’s Hottest 100 poll, a situation the domestic industry and its partners have been trying to rectify. It won’t be an easy fix.

As previously reported by Spotify, the Turn Up Aus program is making a difference by generating 223 million more streams of domestic music in Australia for 2024-25. “We’re really happy with that in real numbers,” Watts tells Billboard, “and we see this as only the beginning. It’s not just about the streams. It is really about helping the artist build that fandom and that will be ongoing.”

BMG and Suno have reached a licensing deal allowing BMG’s recorded and music publishing works to be used to create derivative works on the platform, the companies jointly announced on Tuesday (Aug. 11).

“Together, the companies will develop entirely new music experiences that reimagine how artists and fans can connect,” a press release announcing the deal reads. The agreement is part of Suno’s upcoming launch of a new AI music model it created in consultation with industry stakeholders.

Under the deal, BMG artists and songwriters must opt in before their music can be used for inputs (training) and outputs (derivative works created by Suno users). Artists and songwriters who opt in will be compensated under the deal, which also settles Suno’s prior use of BMG’s recordings and publishing works.

The agreement follows Suno’s release of a set of principles via a blog post on Thursday (Aug. 6) that reiterated the company’s plan to limit users’ downloads of AI songs from its platform — which would make good on a promise included in its settlement and licensing deal with Warner Music Group (WMG) in November.

The blog post, written by Suno co-founder and CEO Mikey Shulman, went on to detail Suno’s AI training strategies, including its contention that it does not use artists’ names in its training metadata — though that has not stopped it from facing lawsuits from all three major labels, German collection society GEMA (which prevailed in court last week) and the Danish rights organization Koda. Shulman also said Suno would attempt to regulate the flood of AI songs on music platforms by creating “new watermarking and fingerprinting techniques” that would be available “in the coming weeks.”

The Suno principles were released just one week after a German court found the company liable for illegally training its AI model on unlicensed songs administered by GEMA. A source told Billboard at the time that the announcement of the principles was already in the works before the court ruling.

In July, a coalition of music companies including the RIAA and IFPI released a proposal that suggested adding labels to AI-generated and AI-assisted recordings, though disclosures of AI use would be voluntary under the plan. Later that month, a different coalition, including the three major labels, proposed a set of rules governing the chart eligibility of AI-generated songs.

“We believe the future of music will be more participatory, creating entirely new ways for artists and fans to connect,” said Shulman in a statement on the BMG deal. “Building that future responsibly means working directly with the people who make music and the companies that represent them. Together with BMG, we can develop new experiences that give artists and songwriters real choice, generate new revenue, and make music a bigger part of people’s lives.”

Added Celine Joshua, executive vp of global marketing and streaming at BMG: “The future of AI in music will be defined by whether artists and songwriters remain at the center of the opportunity and share in the value it creates. Choice is the guiding principle. This agreement establishes strong protections, clear economics, and new creative possibilities for artists and their fans. As we enter the era of creation, we look forward to shaping that future together with our creators and Suno.”

Billboard U.K.’s inaugural 40 Under 40 list is set to arrive this autumn in conjunction with an exclusive launch event at the Beyond The Music conference in Salford, Greater Manchester.

An extension of Billboard’s 40 Under 40 franchise, the list and event will celebrate the young executives and difference-makers across the sector, including labels and distributors, management, publishing, streaming companies, the live business, rights associations and more.

Set to be published in early October, the 40 Under 40 list will be nominated by executives’ peers and companies, and selected in full by Billboard U.K. editors. Nominations are now open here, and close on Aug. 19 at 11:59 p.m. (BST). Eligible executives must be under the age of 40 on Oct. 7, 2026 and based in the U.K.

The list will be celebrated with an exclusive event at the Beyond The Music on Oct. 7 as part of the conference’s official programming.

“The U.K.’s music industry remains a world-leading sector where ambition meets expertise. Billboard UK’s inaugural 40 Under 40 List will honour rising and established executives whose innovative thinking and limitless vision are shaping the future of the market,” Mo Ghoneim, president, Billboard U.K, said in a statement.

“We look forward to recognising this year’s honourees at Beyond The Music 2026, where this shared ethos is fiercely championed.” 

Beyond The Music returns to MediaCity in Salford, Greater Manchester between Oct. 6-9. The music and creative industry conference will open with a 24th anniversary premiere of 24 Hour Party People on Oct. 6. The screening will be accompanied by a keynote conversation with director Michael Winterbottom and actor Steve Coogan, who played the role of Factory Records co-founder Tony Wilson in the film.

Elsewhere, the event will encompass panel discussions across AI, regional investment in the arts, the creative wealth gap, the live sector and more. Closing the programme will be the All Content AI Summit, convened by the newly appointed prime minister and former mayor of Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham. According to a press release, the session will look at how the industry can “align on a shared, rights-based position for AI and ways to protect art and its creation, whilst ensuring commerce can grow and flourish alongside modern technology.” 

Confirmed speakers to appear at the conference so far include Tommas Arnby (manager, Yungblud), Stacey Tang (co-president, RCA U.K.), Dr. Jo Twist (CEO, BPI), Tom Gray (chair, The Ivors Academy) and more.