HITS HIGH FIVE: CHEERS!

Good thing we dumped our Facebook stock in time so we wouldn’t have to cut down on our visits to Urasawa or stop chugging Domaine Tempier Bandol rosé by the pool. While we get out the corkscrew, feel free to peruse the highlights of the week in the HITS High 5.

Live Nation produced more than 9,000 shows between April and June, leading to double-digit growth in operating income across its multiple divisions in the second quarter of 2018.

Spotify’s number of premium subscribers hit 83m in June, a rise of 40%. The company also saw monthly active users on the ad-supported tier rise to 180m at the end of Q2, up 30% over the previous year.

The shortlist of 12 British albums up for 2018's Hyundai Mercury Music Prize includes two entries each from XL Records and Universal, one from Sony and another from Warner one apiece. Who’s the bookies’ favourite?

Nashville A&R aces shared their secrets with our Holly Gleason. Things like this thought from Warner Nashville’s Cris Lacy: “To me, some of the best stuff is a mixture of authentic and commercial. If it makes you want to drive fast, cry, fight, hook up, drink or call your mom, those things are telling; they’re what a song needs to do.

For the first time in its 41-year history, the Kennedy Center Honors will salute an artistic work, the Broadway musical Hamilton. Also being honored are the musicians Reba McEntire, Cher, Philip Glass and Wayne Shorter.