About this episode

Ross Golan discusses the latest news in the music industry, including chart successes and the impact of AI.

Every week, And the Writer Is brings you the most important news moving through the music industry — straight, sharp, and no fluff. This week Ross Golan opens the weekly And The Writer Is… news update (week of April 20, 2026) by highlighting major chart wins: Swimf by BTS is #1 on the Global 200 for a fourth week Choose In Texas by Ella Langley holds #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a seventh week Her album Dandelion debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 He teases an upcoming Stagecoach interview and notes a strong country music moment. New music + industry highlights: Olivia Rodrigo dropped a new single Drop Dead, debuting at #1 on Spotify charts, co-written/produced by Dan Nigro The podcast re-released Dan Nigro’s episode to celebrate Business + industry news: Paul Epworth sold his catalog for a massive (undisclosed) amount Streaming platform Deezer is now receiving 75,000 AI-generated tracks per day (44% of uploads), raising concerns about “AI slop” Splice introduced a new AI tool that pays sample creators , which Ross praises Other updates: Massive Attack signed a new deal banning certain rules (brief mention) Miranda Lambert signed with MCA Nashville, signaling a major upcoming…

People in this episode

Host: Ross Golan

Topics covered

• music industry news
• chart updates
• AI in music
• new music releases
• country music

Keywords

• music industry
• charts
• AI
• new music
• country music

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Deezer, Splice, MCA Nashville

Books & works: Swimf, Choose In Texas, Dandelion, Drop Dead

Places: Texas

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