Spotify jumped to $354.60 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, up 7% from Thursday.  Spotify’s value rose to roughly $66.1 billion. Why has the stock prices increased? Mainly because of podcasts and the launch of the controversial Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Spotify might raise prices, expanding its profitability.

Nate Ouellete releases the uptempo track Hold On.  Blending a feel good pop and soul, he’s influenced by Drake, Post Malone & Justin Bieber. It all began in his sophomore year when he began writing and connecting with local artists and producers and sharing song ideas. The NJ artist has 3 tracks on Spotify and is nearing 30k monthly listeners. Give it a stream on KOAR’s Indie Invaders Playlist.

Rising artist WRENN found herself on the US Spotify Viral Charts this week after Blake Shelton tweeted her song.

The Los Angeles based artist grew a rapid following on TikTok after writing a song about her ex. In fact, she had audio of her ex admitting he was cheating on her.
Blake shouted her out over on Twitter. “So the band leader at @NBCTheVoice is a guy named @paulmirk. He’s really talented blah blah blah… you get it. Anyway, his daughter just released a song that is EXPLODING!!! Get in the train y’all! Listen!!” he wrote.

The Grammys scheduled to air on January 31st in Lost Angeles have been postponed over covid concerns. A new possible date is 3/14.

Harvey Mason Jr., CBS Jack Sussman and Executive Producer Ben Winston released the following statement.

After thoughtful conversations with health experts, our network partner, CBS, our host, and artists scheduled to appear, we have made the decision to postpone the 63rd GRAMMY Awards to March 14, 2021. The deteriorating COVID situation in Los Angeles, where hospital services have been overwhelmed and ICUs have reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show.
We want to thank all of the talented artists, the staff, our vendors, and especially this year’s nominees for their understanding, patience, and willingness to work with us as we navigate these unprecedented times. The show will go on and we will unite and heal through music by celebrating excellence and saluting this year’s outstanding nominees.

In publishing news, Lindsey Buckingham sold his song catalog to Merck Mercuriadis’s Hipgnosis Songs for an unknown amount.

‘Go Your Own Way’ is the kingpin track of the song collection and Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hit. “Go Your Own Way” has been licensed in several commercials and is a timeless track that we will hear for the rest of our lives on earth. I’m sure Lindsey made a lot of money from the deal.
Selling your songs is like selling your soul, so why did Lindsey sell?
He was fired from Fleetwood Mac and could not make money from touring. Moreover, he’s 71, and looking out for his family. Instead of his family managing the affairs, many artists choose to take the cash.