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Lady Gaga has performed the biggest concert of her career.
The “Abracadrabra” singer held a free concert on Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Copacabana Beach, and drew a record-breaking crowd of 2.5 million people.

According to concert organizers, Gaga now holds the record for the highest-attended concert by a female artist in history – a record previously held by Madonna, who drew 1.6 million. During her performance, Gaga acknowledged the crowd and said, “Your spirit may be heard around the world tonight. Two and a half million people.”

The official Summerfest App fueled by Pepsi is now available for FREE download on the Apple or Google Play stores and is a must-have for all fans.

The first 15,000 fans who download the Summerfest App can claim a free one-day admission ticket to Summerfest presented by American Family Insurance valid for the first weekend of the festival on either June 19, June 20, or June 21, from 12:00 – 4:00 p.m., while supplies last, courtesy of Pepsi. (limit of one admission ticket per device, not valid for admission to American Family Insurance Amphitheater concerts).

From grassroots gigs to stadium shows, there’s no escaping the ticketing giant, making billions from hiking up prices (and whacking on fees)

January’s blazes in California have devastated the livelihoods of performers, technicians and other music industry pros. They reveal what they lost – and how they’re rebuilding

Within the ashes of what used to be Christopher Fudurich’s home in Los Angeles, some objects from his garage music studio were still identifiable. Microphones charred and blackened, a scorched keyboard and melted cables among the toxic debris. Not just objects; a life’s work, passion and creativity burned up. “Things I’d been collecting since I was a teenager,” says the songwriter, producer and sound technician. “Just gone.”

Benson Boone brought his dynamic stage presence and first-class showmanship to Saturday Night Live on May 3. Making his debut as the musical guest on the long-running NBC sketch comedy series, the 22-year-old pop sensation performed two tracks from his forthcoming sophomore album, American Heart.

Live music has returned to The Dome in Virginia Beach, with an all-new build resurrecting the famous concert venue of decades past with a soft opening tonight to be followed by a May 4 concert by rock veterans Three Dog Night, who played the final performance at the original Dome when it closed in 1993.

Event Safety Alliance (ESA) announced the hire of Rob Bergeron, CAE, as the organization’s new Executive Director. Bergeron brings decades of relevant experience to his new role at the head of the event safety advocacy organization, which he started officially on April 28th. His resume includes past roles at Oracle Developer Technology User Group (ODTUG) and the Society of Government Meeting Professionals (SGMP).

President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Thursday to end public funding of National Public Radio and PBS to stop what he called "biased and partisan news coverage." The order directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to "cease federal funding for NPR and PBS" to the extent allowed by law. The order could be challenged in court.

Just a week after previewing his conversation-stirring new single, “Lets Roll Again,” at the Autism Speaks Light Up The Blues 7 concert in Los Angeles, Neil Young is now gearing up to release a new record. The collection of songs, titled “Talkin’ to Trees,” is due out June 13, and will be Young’s first recorded set with new band Chrome Hearts.

Live Nation reported $3.3 billion in revenue for the first financial quarter of 2025, an 11 percent drop from the particularly strong first quarter the live music giant had posted a year ago.

Adjusted operating income fell 6 percent to $341 million from 362.5 million year over year. In the concerts division, revenue fell 14 percent to $2.84 billion, and ticketing revenue fell 4 percent to $694.7 million. Sponsorship and advertising, however, grew slightly, up 2 percent to $216.1 million.

While the year has started out slower, in its report, Live Nation points to $5.4 billion in deferred revenue for concerts and another $270 million in deferred revenue on tickets — a 24 percent and 13 percent bump for each category — which the company said suggests stronger figures in the months ahead as the concert season gets more into full swing.

In a major leadership reorganization at South by Southwest, Jenny Connelly, the executive vice president of product and technology at SXSW parent company PMC, was elected by the SXSW board to lead the long-running film, music and technology festival with the title director in charge. (PMC is also the parent company of Variety.) Connelly has overseen digital and technology strategy and execution at PMC since 2017, and previously spent seven years as an executive at Live Nation. Her new position at SXSW was announced during a town hall meeting on April 25. Connelly replaces SXSW president Hugh Forrest, who has departed the company.

The announcement follows a major court ruling blocking Apple from collecting fees on payments made outside of apps.

On Friday, Spotify said Apple approved the music streamer’s updated iOS app for the U.S., which among other things now lets you pay for a subscription without using Apple’s own in-app payment system. That’s significant because Apple charges up to a 30% fee on top of purchases made in the App Store. The Spotify update comes as Apple updated developer terms for the App Store, to comply with a U.S. federal judge’s ruling ordering Apple allow third-party payment options and to stop restricting developers’ ability to promote offers to their customers.

US satellite-radio firm SiriusXM published its Q1 financial results yesterday, revealing that its revenues were down 4% year-on-year to $2.07bn. This included some downbeat news on the company’s music-streaming service Pandora. The latter’s monthly active users continue their slow decline – down from 45 million a year ago to 42.4 million in Q1 2025. But whereas in past years the saving grace was that Pandora was growing its revenues, those have also tipped into decline.

Beyoncé was sent a cease-and-desist letter from James Dolan’s lawyers over a video at her new show depicting her picking up the Las Vegas Sphere. Madison Square Garden and Las Vegas Sphere boss James Dolan is not interested in sharing his toys. That was made clear when his lawyers hit Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment with a cease-and-desist letter over a video shown at her Cowboy Carter concert. The video depicts a giant Beyoncé striding through the Las Vegas skyline before leaning over and picking up the Sphere.

Backstage helps companies build customized developer portals, bringing order to their infrastructure by combining all their tooling.

Playing the song from or near certain laptops made around 2005 and later screwed with their hard drives.

After canceling the first show of its summer season yesterday (May 1), the Brooklyn Mirage has canceled all shows through its scheduled opening weekend, the venue announced on social media. Dates by Sara Landry (May 1 and May 2), City Fox (May 3) and Black Coffee (May 4) are affected. The Brooklyn Mirage is owned by New York City-based promotion company Avant Gardner.

The Music Fights Fraud Alliance has a new member: independent licensing agency Merlin. It has signed up to the organisation, which launched in 2023 as a “global task force aimed at eradicating streaming fraud”. Merlin joins existing members including Spotify, Amazon Music and SoundCloud as well as a number of distributors and services companies: Believe and TuneCore, Downtown Music, DistroKid, UnitedMasters and more.

R.E.M. disbanded back in 2011. But the seminal indie-rock group is back with new five-track EP “Radio Free Europe 2025,”containing previously unreleased tracks and a new remix of the song. Proceeds from the vinyl pressing will benefit the U.S. government’s Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, which are under attack from the Trump administration.

The streaming company has already submitted an update to its iOS app following the major ruling in Epic Games v. Apple.