The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek was found dead in his New York townhouse on Sunday. He was 75. The Cars turned out a string of radio hits making them MTV favorites. Ric Ocasek was an extra-ordinary creative professional that wrote many songs for The Cars but also worked with Weezer, No Doubt, The Cribs and others. He was even hired by Elektra as an SVP of A&R.

Artists with new single releases on Spotify’s New Music Friday include Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey with the single Don’t Call Me Angel. Halsey drops the new single Graveyard, and Julie Michael’s released If You Need Me. Others include Charlie XCX White Mercedes, Green Day’s Father Of All, Weezer’s The End Of Game, and Charlie Puth’s Mother.

Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy want to prove that rock acts can still pack out stadiums. All three acts have teamed up for a 2020 stadium tour. Here are the numbers. All three bands together have averaged 27,000 ticket sales per show. The average stadium holds 30,000. To promote the 2020 tour, each band will release new music. The idea of all 3 bands touring together was propelled by Crush Music who manages all three acts. Ironically, none of these bands have embarked on a stadium tour. If the tour is a success, then Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy can walk away boasting big numbers increasing their star power in todays over-saturated musical climate. “The world is super hip-hop- and Instagram-[oriented], and I think this is counterprogramming to all of that,” says Wentz. “This is the biggest rock’n’roll thing that’s going to happen that summer.”

The 21 year old Stockholm artist Orkid releases the high energy track Get To Know U via Artery/Believe Digital. She grew up listening to Nat King Cole and Sam Cooke and started performing small town gigs before venturing on the bigger stage.
Streams: 40 million+ streams on Spotify, Apple, YouTube
Playlists: Featured on 20 + Spotify New Music Friday playlists.
Press: Complex, The Line Of Best Fit

Lewis Capaldi is have a serious run with his hit single Someone You Loved. It’s a bonafide radio smash and it’s clocked 500 million Spotify streams. The Scottish singer had no idea that the song would be massive. He told Entertainment Weekly, “I couldn’t f—ing tell you. I don’t know. The thing is, I love the song, as well as the album, but, like, if I had to tell you why that one in particular struck a chord? I’ve got absolutely no f—ing clue what I’m doing. What I know is that I write songs that I enjoy writing, but in terms of what makes a f—ing quote-unquote hit? I don’t have a f—ing clue. I’m surprised that any of the songs have done well anywhere let alone that song being what it was globally. It’s one of those things. I don’t know how, but I’m not going to question it. I’m just going to keep the f—ing head down. I’m looking side to side thinking, “Is anyone else wondering what the f—’s happening?” I’m almost suspicious of myself. But I’ll tell you what, I’m f—ing happy, because maybe I can move out my parents’ house soon!”