News – RCRD LBL

June 10, 2026

June 10, 2026June 10, 2026 amy771937

Cheerful Music Takes the Stage at the 2026 London AI Summit

Acclaimed record label Cheerful Music, which is invested in and backed by technology giant Tencent Music, is set to host a discussion on June 11 at the 2026 London AI Summit titled “Can AI Make Human Music More Valuable?” Founded by industry thought leader and professional singer-songwriter turned music entrepreneur Snow Jiang, who is recognised for her exceptional vision in connecting the Chinese market with the West, the panel will also feature Cheerful Music’s A&R manager Sergio Veloz and Producer He Zhu.

“Can AI Make Human Music More Valuable?” will explore the rising premium on human ingenuity, emphasising its indispensable position within the modern landscape. The session, set to take place between 3:00 PM and 3:25 PM BST on 11 June at the Tobacco Dock, will address how generative technology enables the mass production of content at an unprecedented scale, forcing the industry to face a fundamental inquiry into the essence of musical worth. Cheerful Music’s Snow Jiang, Sergio Veloz, and He Zhu will share examples showing a new approach where AI improves efficiency, but human artistic insight, emotion, and cultural understanding are what truly drive success. Discussing everything from viral AI-supported song launches to new distribution methods, the presentation will argue that success depends not on creating content but on genuine connections and cultural impact.

Based between London and Shenzhen, Cheerful Music is known for its viral hits like ‘Yi Xiao Jiang Hu’, which amassed over 50 billion hits on TikTok, while the label has made a series of pivotal strategic moves, including partnering with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) and appointing UMPG as the exclusive overseas agent for Cheerful Music’s copyrights. Additionally, in July last year, a partnership was established with Sony Music to facilitate distribution and catalogue management. Established in 2019, Cheerful Music boasts a roster of global hitmakers, including Snow. J, Silk Ye, Daven Wu and Michaelachel.

Under the leadership of Snow Jiang, Cheerful Music has firmly positioned itself as a multinational powerhouse, gaining momentum since the opening of its London branch. The label combines strong infrastructure with a focus on discovering and developing emerging talent, providing innovative promotion, marketing, and artist support.

As the visionary Founder and CEO of Cheerful Music, Snow Jiang balances her roles as a professional singer-songwriter and the central figure of a celebrated Harvard Business School case study. This academic recognition led to multiple invitations to the institution, where she engaged with students from over 80 nations to share the strategic evolution and hit-making logic of Cheerful Music.

Over the past year, Snow Jiang has presented her industry-leading expertise at prestigious global platforms, including Harvard Business School in Boston, Harvard Business School China, the Amsterdam Dance Event, and The Great Escape in the UK. Her recent participation at SXSW in Texas featured a compelling session titled “East x West: Cross Cultural AI Trends In Music Production,” where she examined the intersection of generative technology and label strategies within the Chinese market.

Cheerful Music founder Snow Jiang shared, “The faster AI evolves, the more valuable human music becomes. AI can generate melodies, but it cannot replace human emotion, cultural identity, and genuine connection. The future of music belongs to creators who know how to combine both.”

A&R Manager at Cheerful Music, Sergio Veloz, shared, “At Cheerful Music, we see AI as a tool that expands creative opportunity rather than replaces artistic value. As technology lowers the barriers to music production, the conversation is shifting from who can create to who can truly connect. Music in the AI era is not competing on volume alone but on emotional resonance, cultural relevance and audience understanding. Human creativity remains the driving force behind great music because people connect with stories, experiences and identity.”

Follow Cheerful Music:

Website – Instagram – Facebook – TikTok

June 8, 2026

June 8, 2026June 8, 2026 amy771937

Weezer Launches The Gold Album with a Duet-Driven Lead Single

Weezer / Image Credit: Brendan Walter

Weezer extends their reverse-chronological color album series with the release of ‘We Might as Well Be Strangers ft. Wednesday,’ the lead single from their forthcoming self-titled The Gold Album, out August 21 via Reprise/Warner. Marking their first full-length since 2021’s Van Weezer and OK Human, as well as the Sznz EPs, The Gold Album also sees Rivers Cuomo and drummer Pat Wilson collaborating as co-writers for the first time since the band’s seminal debut.

In terms of the track, ”We Might as Well Be Strangers ft. Wednesday” presents itself as a duet that pairs Rivers Cuomo with Karly Hartzman of Wednesday; the Jasper Graham video for it is out now, giving an instant visual tie-in to the song that has landed as the album’s lead offering.

Produced by Klas Åhlund and Kenneth Blume (known as Kenny Beats), The Gold Album arrives as Weezer finds renewed momentum. The inclusion of ‘Buddy Holly‘ as a playable jam track in Fortnite has introduced the band’s foundational sound to a vast new audience, many of whom are encountering Weezer for the first time. Since 2020, when Travis Scott’s Astronomical concert drew millions and generated significant in-game revenue, Fortnite has evolved into a continuous music ecosystem, positioning songs as interactive experiences rather than passive background music. By 2026, Epic Games had woven music into every facet of Fortnite, transforming the platform into a hybrid rhythm game, social space, and promotional engine that connects with tens of millions daily.

Stream ‘We Might as Well Be Strangers ft. Wednesday‘:

June 3, 2026

June 3, 2026June 3, 2026 amy771937

Threads Rewoven: Virak’s Final Album Shines in the Wake of Loss

Virak’s debut album Threads was reissued on May 29 via Forward Backwards Recordings, available digitally and on vinyl. The release is now posthumous for frontman, guitarist, and songwriter Martin Ejlertsen, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2022 and died on May 23, 2026, at 49. Threads was his final musical project. Ejlertsen lived in Lund, Sweden, and is survived by his wife and two children.

He founded Black Light White Light in 2009 and released four studio albums between 2011 and 2022. The band toured the UK and US, received coverage in CLASH Magazine, Louder Than War, Drowned in Sound, Guitar World, and Artrocker, and had airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music with Lauren Laverne, Absolute Radio, and DR.DK. On their latest album The Admirer, the track ‘Epilepsy’ stands out as Ejlertsen wrote it for his daughter, who has the condition, and it is supported by a powerful music video. The album was mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Kennie Takahashi (The Black Keys, Gnarls Barkley, Broken Bells), mastered by Matt Colton (Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Thom Yorke), and features composer Davide Rossi (Coldplay, The Verve).

Between 2002 and 2009, Virak’s original lineup featured Martin Ejlertsen on vocals, guitar, and keys, Christian Kühne on bass and keys, and Peter Dyring Olsen on drums. Influenced by Mogwai, Spiritualized, Low, Elbow, and Sophia, the trio developed a sound that merged instrumental post-rock, slowcore, progressive rock, and seventies acid rock.

Beneath the surface, ‘Where It All Begins,’ pulses with a quiet, hard-won resilience, channeling a profound personal intensity that turns every jagged guitar line and soaring vocal into a testament to creativity forged in the midst of overwhelming darkness. The music carries an undercurrent of finality and catharsis, as if each note is an act of defiance and reclamation, making the most of fleeting time by pouring light into what could easily have remained unresolved. Those unconventional guitars twist and fracture like fragmented memories, while the haunting vocals rise with a fragile beauty that speaks to the ache of confronting life’s limits, transforming private struggles into something universally moving and luminous.

Critics have praised how Threads (and its companion EP) captures Virak at their most emotionally naked, blending alt-rock introspection with cinematic swells that feel both nostalgic and urgently alive. The result is a stirring, deeply human message: music that doesn’t just echo influences but transcends them, offering listeners a shared sense of solace.

Martin Ejlertsen had this to say: “I have been very private about my illness… it has been like a long waking nightmare. But now I probably only have a few months left to live, so it’s about making the best of the last. Having this album project has given me some light in an otherwise completely dark and very depressing time.”

Stream Threads:

Threads Album Tracklist:

1. Little Creeps
2. Souls
3. Who I Am = You
4. Something Strange Happened As We Stood By The Lake
5. Arms Raised
6. Desert Storm
7. Butterfly
8. Violence
9. Melancholia
10. Song Of Everything
11. Where It All Begins

Follow Virak:

Bandcamp – Facebook – Soundcloud

May 29, 2026

May 29, 2026May 29, 2026 amy771937

Chloe Star Releases ‘fairytale,’ a Captivating New Single Reflecting on Love’s Realities

(Chloe Star / Image credit: Kai Dickson)

Today, May 29 2026, Chloe Star released her new single ‘fairytale‘ via Chloe Star Records. The 28-year-old Persian and Indigenous singer-songwriter, visual artist and tribal advocate grew up moving between her family’s reservation in San Bernardino and Los Angeles. She began writing and making art as a pre-teen to process her emotions, drawing heavily from the musical traditions of her Persian and Indigenous roots. Just three years after breaking through in 2023, the artist has built a fast-growing career rooted in raw honesty and emotional directness. Tastemakers have taken notice: Rolling Stone placed her track ‘Bad Habit‘ in its 2025 Best New Music feature, while CLASH Magazine, 1883 Magazine, EUPHORIA and EARMILK have all championed her work. On stage she has already commanded main-stage headliners at London Pride, New York Pride Festival, Back Lot Bash in Chicago, Out & Abt in New York and The Dinah in California.

On ‘fairytale‘ her voice carries the song’s emotional range, moving from quiet, velvety verses into a full-throated, impassioned peak without forcing the drama. The production keeps the alternative spirit alive through its arrangements, anchored by warm distorted guitars and a strong piano melody that gives the track its distinct sound

Chloe Star had this to say: “My song ‘fairytale‘ is about longing for a kind of love that feels whimsical and almost unreal. But it also reflects the realization that, in chasing that kind of love, I sometimes become the monster—sabotaging the very things I care about most. It raises questions too: does fairytale love really last the way movies say it does? Do stories like Beauty and the Beast actually end in lasting happiness, or do we just stop watching before things get complicated? I guess we’ll never really know.”

Chloe Star’s Upcoming Shows:

May 30 – London, UK @ The Grace
June 5 – Viper Room LA (headlining)
June 6 – LA Pride, She Ent @ the Andaz Hotel on Sunset (Key live performance)
June 18 -Toronto @ The Horseshoe Tavern

Stream ‘fairytale’: