On Tuesday (July 7), Primary Wave officially passed all relevant regulatory scrutiny and closed its acquisition of Kobalt, Billboard has confirmed. The deal is estimated to be worth more than $1.5 billion.

The possibility of the deal was first reported by Billboard in February. At the time, it was estimated that if Primary Wave and Kobalt were to go through with it, the combined companies would be worth $7 billion in assets. By March 23, a press release announced that Primary Wave’s acquisition was officially happening and would include Kobalt’s worldwide operations, its catalog of copyrights and digital collection society AMRA.

Under the new ownership of Primary Wave, the two companies will continue to operate as standalone firms. Kobalt will retain CEO Laurent Hubert as its leader.

Primary Wave and Kobalt are both indie music giants in their own right, but the two have different focuses. Primary Wave is focused on big-name catalog acquisitions, with a portfolio containing stakes in catalogs from Prince, Whitney Houston, James Brown, Stevie Nicks, Luther Vandross, Bob Marley, Britney Spears and Jackson Brown. Kobalt has a different approach, focusing on offering a large roster of current songwriting talent with publishing administration aid and help collecting royalties, among other services, for signees like Phoebe Bridgers, Panic! At the Disco, Childish Gambino, Bon Iver, Kali Uchis, Paul McCartney and more.

Kobalt often ranks on Billboard’s Publishers’ Quarterly list as the largest independent music publisher by market share. In 2022, it was acquired by a group of investors led by Francisco Partners (which held a controlling 90% interest) in a deal that valued the company at around $750 million. Since then, the company has continued to grow its roster and improve profits. In recent years, Kobalt launched KOSIGN, its solution for young songwriters looking for flexible deal terms, and launched a joint venture with Morgan Stanley’s Tactical Value group with $700 million to invest in music copyrights.

While Primary Wave has ownership in an enviable catalog of hit songs, it’s historically been dependent on other publishers — including but not limited to Kobalt — to handle publishing administration. Sometimes, when Primary Wave acquires a catalog, the songs will be tied up in other incomplete publishing deals. For those catalogs that are free to move publishers, Primary Wave often assigns their administration, with songwriter consent, to Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), sources say.

Now, Primary Wave has administration services at the ready in-house. It now also owns Kobalt’s AMRA, the global music collection organization that collects mechanical and performance royalties directly from digital services providers, which could help Primary Wave cut down on fees paid to local societies and subpublishers.

Ben Folds is giving fans a look at what might have been.

Folds, bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Ben Folds Five’s self-titled debut album with the release of Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary), a newly remastered edition set to be released on Sept. 4.

The project pairs the original 1995 record with an unreleased version of the album titled Shelved First Attempt. The recently unearthed project is being previewed with the fan-favorite track “Underground (Shelved First Attempt),” available to fans on Tuesday (June 7).

“Here’s my 59-year-old self’s take on the album we made when I was 28: Overall, it’s good!” Folds writes in the anniversary edition’s liner notes. “It’s NOT the kind of record you’d hear produced these days. It’s pretty rough and tumble, mostly in a good way. And it’s emphatically unique. It’s from an era when you could still identify a band by the instrumentalists, before you’d even hear the vocalist.”

The “Shelved First Attempt” comprises tracks that remained tucked away for more than 30 years before Folds decided to resurface them from his personal archives. The recordings feature earlier versions of tracks such as “Underground,” “Julianne” and “Philosophy,” as well as “Boxing” and “Evaporated,” which appeared on the band’s 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen. Other tracks within the collection include “Emaline,” “Dick Holster” and “Eddie Walker.”

Released in 1997, Whatever and Ever Amen’s release was the commercial breakthrough for Ben Folds Five, peaking at No. 42 on the Billboard 200 chart. “Brick,” one of the songs from the album, peaked at No. 6 on the Alternative Airplay chart, No. 11 on the Mainstream Top 40 and reached No. 19 on the mainstream Hot 100 Airplay chart.

Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) will be released via Capitol/UMe on CD and vinyl, while the remaster of the original album as well as the Shelved First Attempt will both be available to stream and download.

As the project’s reissue becomes available, the group is set to reunite for their first live performances together in more than 13 years next year.

Preview the Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) CD tracklist:

DISC 1 – BEN FOLDS FIVE (REMASTERED)

1. Jackson Cannery
2. Philosophy
3. Julianne
4. Where’s Summer B.?
5. Alice Childress
6. Underground
7. Sports & Wine
8. Uncle Walter
9. Best Imitation of Myself
10. Video
11. The Last Polka
12. Boxing

DISC 2 – BEN FOLDS FIVE (SHELVED FIRST ATTEMPT)

1. Underground
2. Julianne
3. Uncle Walter
4. Alice Childress
5. Evaporated
6. Dick Holster
7. Philosophy
8. Boxing
9. Emaline
10. The Last Polka
11. Eddie Walker

One thing about Jim Jones? He’s good for a quote.

The Harlem rapper popped by the No Funny Sh– podcast recently and was asked about the Verzuz challenge he made toward his fellow Diplomat Cam’ron back in May. And while he acknowledged that the challenge was just him trolling a little bit, Jimmy also said that he feels like he has one of the better discographies in New York rap history.

“I got a better catalog than over 90 percent of the rappers out of New York City in history,” he said confidently. “Not to be like…there’s been a lot of rappers in New York, but I got real gold records, more than one of them, like albums and sh– like that. You dig? I got real platinum singles and sh– like that.”

He added: “Some of your favorite rappers don’t have nothing platinum. That doesn’t make me better than anybody and sh– like that, but statistically I got a hell of a catalog. I mean, from every album that I put out, I got a dope a– single, especially in New York. In New York, hands down, I know I got 20 records.”

Jim made headlines this time last year when he defended himself after a podcast clip of a college student saying the Dipset member was more relevant than Nas went viral. However, during an interview with the legendary Angie Martinez, Jones admitted that he didn’t realize how many fans the Queens rapper still has after his comments received massive pushback from the hip-hop community.

You can watch Jim’s full conversation with No Funny Sh– below.

Record label GTS and Telemundo have entered a strategic alliance around Operación Triunfo Estados Unidos, the U.S. adaptation of the long-running Spanish music competition franchise, which premieres Tuesday (July 7) at 7 p.m. ET. Under the agreement, GTS will have a preferential right to sign artists emerging from the program and will also participate in the development of a potential concert tour.

“It is a source of pride — and a responsibility — for GTS to take part in the first edition of Operación Triunfo Estados Unidos alongside Telemundo,” Narcís Rebollo, CEO and president of GTS, said in a statement. “This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the format’s creation, whose development I had the opportunity to be part of from the very beginning, both in management and on the record label side, together with its creators, José María Mainat, Toni Cruz and Joan Ramon Mainat, achieving historic results for television, the recording industry and artist management from Spain.”

He continued, “I am convinced that we will discover great new talent in this first U.S. edition, and we will devote all our effort and professionalism to making that possible once again.”

Javier Pons, chief content officer and head of Telemundo Studios, added: “We are thrilled to join forces with GTS on the first edition of Operación Triunfo in the United States. This alliance allows us not only to discover and train a new generation of Latino talent in the country, representative of diverse nationalities, but also to help drive their careers beyond the program, giving them real opportunities for artistic development and visibility in the music industry.”

The deal further strengthens GTS’ position in discovery, development and international projection of Latin talent, while giving Telemundo an industry partner to help extend the show’s impact beyond the screen.

The arrival of Operación Triunfo in the U.S. marks a new chapter for one of Spanish-language entertainment’s most influential music franchises. Since launching in Spain in 2001, the format has helped introduce artists including David Bisbal, David Bustamante, Pablo López, Amaia, Aitana, Lola Índigo, Juanjo Bona and Chiara Oliver.

Peppa Pig is in the middle of some major beef — or should we say pork? — after seemingly shading Clairo in a new Pitchfork interview, which has motivated Charli xcx and PinkPantheress to mobilize on the “Bags” singer’s behalf.

The hilarious “drama” started Tuesday (July 7), when the cartoon character participated in the music publication’s “Over/Under” video series. When asked whether she thinks Clairo is over- or underrated, Peppa threw some bombastic side-eye at the camera and said pointedly, “I don’t know her.”

Of course, fans in the comments and online immediately clocked Peppa for the shady response, inciting Charli to join in and show her support for her fellow musician. “Let’s f— her up,” Charli wrote alongside a screenshot of Peppa’s comment in a text to Clairo, who shared the message on X.

PinkPantheress got involved after seeing that Peppa had also spoken about her in the Pitchfork video, declaring the “Stateside” artist “underrated.” “Does she like animals?” Peppa had added. “Maybe she would like me, because I’m pink too. And everyone likes me.”

But while the porcine protagonist’s comments about her were positive, Pink loyally responded on X, “ain’t sh– sweet until you put respect on clairo.”

If you’re wondering to yourself why Peppa Pig would diss Clairo, you may not have seen the singer/songwriter’s own “Over/Under” episode in 2019. At the time, Clairo was asked to rate Peppa, and she said: “Can I tell you something about Peppa Pig? She’s 7’1″ … she’s the tallest pig in the world. I’mma say underrated, just because I don’t know any taller pigs.”

“If she’s 7’1″, how tall is her mom?” Clairo had continued at the time. “How tall are all the other pigs? Who’s keeping track? What are the proportions of this whole show?”

Even though Clairo said she was underrated, it’s possible that Peppa interpreted her comment about her height as a jab and remembered it seven years later when it came time to make her own appearance on the Pitchfork series.

Or maybe Peppa was telling the truth and she actually doesn’t know Clairo — although she is a fan of a lot of other singers. “Pop stars make the best music,” Peppa added in her video. “I like Rihanna, P!nk, Kelly Clarkson, Sabrina Carpenter, Britney Spears, Olivia Rodrigo, Beyoncé, Cher, Dua Lipa — oh, and Shakira! One day, I’ll be the biggest pop star ever.”

Watch Peppa’s full episode of “Over/Under” below.