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The rapper has already been in jail for more than six years over accusations that he murdered two YNW associates after a recording studio session. Jamell Demons, better known as YNW Melly, looks out at friends and family walking into the courtroom during his double murder trial on June 20, 2023, at Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS/Getty Images YNW Melly’s double murder trial has been postponed yet again, this time until January 2027 — nearly eight years after he was first arrested. Melly has sat in jail for years awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges over accusations that he and another YNW rapper shot and killed Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams and Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr. in 2018. Now, the wait will go on even longer. A trial had been set to kick off Sept. 10, but on Friday (Aug. 8), Judge Martin S. Fein postponed it until January 2027, prosecutors confirmed to Billboard. That will be almost eight years after Melly was arrested in February 2019. Related The delay was sparked by ongoing appeals lodged by both sides over what evidence will be admitted in the trial. Last week, an appeals court granted a

Among listeners aged 13 to 34, spoken word audio now accounts for as much listening time as AM/FM radio — a dramatic shift from a decade ago. Soft focus of modern microphone placed on wooden table in recording studio during podcast Getty Images Earlier this year, young Americans’ listening habits reached a tipping point that doesn’t bode well for legacy media companies.   In the second quarter, AM/FM and podcasts both had a 14% share of time spent listening to audio in the 18- to 29-year-old age group. But just 11 years ago, AM/FM radio had a seemingly insurmountable lead: In 2014, Edison Research found that AM/FM listening held a seven-to-one margin over podcast listening in the same age group.  Related Edison noticed a surge in young consumers’ audio listening last year. Among all age demos, the biggest increase in time spent listening to spoken word audio was seen among listeners aged 13 to 34, who devoted 23% of listening time to spoken word audio, up from 11% in 2014. That compared with smaller jumps among adults 55 and over, who dedicated 28% of time spent listening to spoken word audio in 2024, up slightly from 26% a decade earlier. For

On July 28, Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams released a new hair dye color through her Good Dye Young brand, allowing 2,000 fans to snap up the limited run of new product. But when they did, they were met with something unexpected: a code, which they were encouraged to share, that unlocked 17 new singles uploaded to Williams’ website, scattered at random across the page. Two days later, the songs disappeared — only for them to then be uploaded to streaming services — not as a full collected album, but as 17 individual singles, all packaged separately with their own artwork. Related The collection of songs — which fans have been referring to as Ego, after the name of the hair dye color — represents Williams’ first solo work since 2021, and fans have been having fun with it, making their own playlists and mixing up the tracklists, creating their own artwork, and more, with Williams inviting those fans into the creative process alongside her. The somewhat confusing release strategy was fully intentional, driving fan, press and industry interest for Williams’ first release as an independent artist after leaving Atlantic Records — and it helps earn her co-manager Leah Hodgkiss the

Also this week in publishing news: Song Music Publishing MENA inks an admin deal with Cafe De Anatolia, 1916 and Dream Room sign Jack Samson, and more. Geese Mark Sommerfield Universal Music Publishing Group signed Geese to a worldwide publishing deal. The agreement with the New York City rock band, fronted by singer/songwriter Cameron Winter, was announced by the company via Instagram, just ahead of the release of its third album, Getting Killed, on Sept. 26. The deal was led by head of U.S. A&R Jennifer Knoepfle and director of A&R Deeba Abrishamchi. It also encompasses Winter’s acclaimed solo work. Related Concord Music Publishing signed British rapper J Hus to a global publishing deal covering all future works, following his sold-out Royal Albert Hall show and recent single “Gold” with Asake. Widely credited with creating the U.K.’s Afro-swing sound, J Hus has earned two UK Albums Chart No. 1s with Big Conspiracy (2020) and Beautiful and Brutal Yard (2023), featuring artists like Burna Boy and Drake. Concord will manage his future copyrights worldwide, with A&R manager Patrick Lubega overseeing the catalog. The deal reflects Concord’s commitment to culturally significant artists, with executive vp Kim Frankiewicz calling J Hus “a once-in-a-generation

Kelli Marchman McNeely is the owner of HorrorFuel.com. She is an Executive Producer of "13 Slays Till Christmas" which is out on Digital and DVD and now streaming on Tubi. She has several other films in the works. Kelli is an animal lover and a true horror addict since the age of 9 when she saw Friday the 13th. Email: horrorfuelinfo@gmail.com The second official trailer for the horror movie Traumatika has been released, following a previous trailer that was deemed too controversial to be shown. The story centers on a young boy who already suffers from terrifying night terrors. His worst fears come to life when his mother begins to show signs of demonic possession. However, this is more than just a bad dream; it’s a demonic presence that will haunt him for the rest of his life and claim countless lives across generations. The gritty new trailer shows the boy tormented by his mother, her face battered, bruised, and cut. She scurries across the floor like an animal as the demon inside her goes on the attack. The film is directed by Pierre Tsigaridis, who also co-wrote the script with Maxime Rançon. The cast includes Rebekah Kennedy, Emily Goss

Though concert revenue was down slightly, merch and licensing revenue grew 39.6% due to concert merch sales and pop-up events. RIIZE SM ENTERTAINMENT SM Entertainment’s consolidated revenue jumped 19.3% to 302.9 billion KRW ($216.5 million) in the second quarter, the company announced Wednesday (Aug. 6).  Driven by a 1.9 million-unit increase in new album sales, album and digital music revenue of 99.0 billion KRW ($70.8 million) was up 37.9% from the prior-year period. RIIZE’s Odyssey sold 1.93 million units, NCT WISH’s The 2nd Mini Album sold 1.34 million copies and aespa’s “Dirty Work” single sold 900,000 units. In total, SM Entertainment’s new release sales totaled 5.79 million units in the quarter.  Related Concert revenue of 33.6 billion KRW ($24.0 million) was down 1.9% year over year. The SMTOWN 30th anniversary concerts were held in London, Los Angeles and Mexico City. TVXQ! hosted three concerts at the Tokyo Dome. NCT 127 performed six times in Japan and Macau. Ten performed 15 concerts, NCT WISH had 10 performances and SHINee held three concerts.  Trending on Billboard Merchandise and licensing revenue rose 39.6% to 63.9 billion KRW ($45.7 million). The company attributed the increase to concert merchandise sales, an NCT WISH exhibition pop-up

IQ Magazine and Billboard partnered to dig into the last decade of growth of stadium concerts. Shakira performs during her 'Las Mujeres ya no Lloran' tour at the GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City on March 30, 2025. ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty I One year after another, more artists cater their touring schedules to outdoor stadiums, expanding their potential reach by as much as four or five times that of an arena tour. According to IQ Magazine‘s Global Stadium Report, based on figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, total grosses for global stadium shows have risen by more than 275% since 2016. In the same window, the rate of inflation pushed the U.S. dollar by 34%. Related After grossing between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion per year in 2016-19, total stadium earnings rose to $2.5 billion in 2022 and then to $4.6 billion in 2023 (and down less than 3% in 2024). Today (Aug. 6), IQ Magazine published its Global Stadium Report, including an in-depth analysis of the grosses, attendance and ever-increasing number of stadium concerts, courtesy of data provided by Billboard Boxscore. Concerts at venues with capacity of 35,000 or more from the last decade were included. Dating back almost

Beatport Connect Los Angeles will happen at the W Hollywood on Sept. 26. Beatport logo Courtesy Photo Beatport will host a one day conference, Beatport Connect, in Los Angeles on Sept. 26. Happening at the W Hotel in Hollywood, the conference will gather professionals from around the dance music industry. The phase one speaker lineup includes electronic duo Sofi Tukker and Detroit house music innovator DJ Minx, Dirtybird GM Moody Jones, A Club Called Rhonda co-founder Gregory Alexander, BUDDY social utility app CEO/founder Claire Wright and Reed Smith law firm partner Josh Love, who has significant experience representing buyers and sellers of recorded music and music publishing assets. (Full disclosure: the author of this story is also included on the phase one lineup.) Related Programming topics will include how AI is transforming production, working in the attention economy, burnout and more. Additional speakers and conversation topics will be announced in the coming months. The gathering will mark the Los Angeles debut of Beatport Connect, which has previously hosted editions in Mexico City and beyond. The event will include daytime programming and conversations along with a sunset networking gathering and a late-night Beatport Live event at the W’s rooftop space that

This is Citigroup's first foray into the world of music royalty invesments. beatBread Courtesy Photo Indie finance platform beatBread said on Tuesday it secured $124 million in loans and equity investment to expand its lending products for unsigned artists, writers and labels. Equity investors leading the funding round include global banking giant Citigroup and venture investors and long-time beatBread backers Deciens Capital and Mucker Capital. Other investors include Advantage Capital, while GMO provided additional credit funding. Related “At beatBread, we’re building a financial foundation for true artist and label independence,” beatBread CEO Peter Sinclair said in a statement. “By giving creators more choice, more access and more control, we’re helping them stay independent on their own terms … compare multiple funding options from multiple funding sources and make the choice that’s right for them.” Peter Sinclair, beatBread CEO Courtesy Photo The latest fundraise follows two earlier capital infusions in 2022 when beatBread raised $34 million from Deciens, Mucker and others, and separately $100 million secured through an institutional funding agreement with Variant Investments. Trending on Billboard Launched in 2020, beatBread’s offerings include providing artist advances, which can range from $1,000 to $10 million. Artists, songwriters and indie labels with over

Posted By: Larry Felton Johnson August 3, 2025 The National Weather Service posted the following statement about the flood watch in effect across much of Georgia until the evening of Monday, August 4: …FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING… * WHAT…Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible. * WHERE…Portions of central, north central, northwest, and west central Georgia, including the following areas, in central Georgia, Baldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Crawford, Crisp, Dodge, Dooly, Houston, Jasper, Jones, Laurens, Monroe, Peach, Pulaski, Putnam, Telfair, Twiggs, Wheeler, Wilcox and Wilkinson. In north central Georgia, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gwinnett, Henry, Morgan, Newton, North Fulton, Pickens, Rockdale, South Fulton and Walton. In northwest Georgia, Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Polk, Walker and Whitfield. In west central Georgia, Chattahoochee, Coweta, Harris, Heard, Lamar, Macon, Marion, Meriwether, Muscogee, Pike, Schley, Spalding, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, Troup, Upson and Webster. * WHEN…Through Monday evening. * IMPACTS…Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS… – A very moist airmass will remain in place across the region over