Random music news for Friday, August 22, 2025

“Virtual human” online salespeople in China are outselling their human competitors. Oh, dear. On to music news for August 22, 2025.

RIP co-founder Mastodon Brent Hinds. He was killed in a motorcycle accident in Atlanta.
Noel is lovin’ Liam. That’s not a typo.
“Kill Spotify. Kill Ticketmaster. Kill the majors. KILL THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!” Discuss.
Paul Weller is suing his former accountants–but not for reasons you might expect.
This is a cool way for a band to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Lollapalooza will return to India in January.
Why are people buying iPods again? It’s a real movement. (Via Gordie)
David Byrne just got engaged.
Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour is winding down, but they’re going to use their kiss cam until it’s over.
Chord Mini is a cool new app that transcribes songs.
The new DEVO documentary on Netflix is excellent! Highly recommended.
Even Madonna is caught up in the whole Labubu thing.
Here’s another person who believes that the world went to sh*t when Bowie died. Can’t say I disagree.
Are TV award shows dead? Apparently not.
Is another Beatles anthology on the way? Yes. In November.