Random music news for Saturday, July 4, 2026

The hottest online trend is the “dopamine website.” We can thank South Korea for that. As for music news for July 4, 2026.

1. Flo Rida played Trump’s Great American State Fair flop. He’s trying to distance himself from the whole thing.
2. Google believes that AI training is “fair use.” This is bad for anyone who has ever uploaded anything to YouTube.
3. Here’s a new thing: Humans are being trained to spot AI deepfakes.
4. Chris Brown’s housekeeper was mauled by his dog. He now has to pay her US$13 million.
5. Who really listens to podcasts? Let’s dive into that question.
6. Country music has taken over from hip-hop on American charts. How did that happen? Let’s examine it.
7. Meanwhile, British music is no longer doing so well on American charts.
8. What else has streaming done to music? For one, it’s “taken the music industry away from the youth market.” Wait–what? Yes. “Young people no longer feel the need to overthrow the past. Nor does the music industry.”
9. This is rare in the ear of streaming. “Bring Me to Life” from Evanescence has now officially sold 11 million copies in the US.
10. Meanwhile, Finger Eleven’s Paralyzer has gone six times platinum in the US.
11. LEGO is getting deeper into the music business with Olivia Rodrigo.
12. The Abbey Road Institute plans to open an LA campus at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood.
13. The Backstreet Boys are the latest artists to protect themselves from AI by trademarking their voices.
14. The biggest nightclub market in Europe right now just might be Warsaw.
15. Bob Dylan’s NYC townhouse just sold for US$2.8 million.

More music news? Go here.

BONUS: Science proves it. Losing feels worse than it feels good when you win.