LATEST WME DRAMA: SMITH SUSPENSION Every week, it seems, another land mine goes off at WME... …Read more GRAMMY CHEW: COUNTRY AND THE BIG FOUR Which Nashville artists are most likely to have a shot at Grammy’s Big Four categories? We’re glad you asked. We think the recent ACM Awards have clarified the positions of several country acts. …Read more TOP 20: WILL TAY ROLL

A SEVEN? The top of the chart is still too close to call as Taylor Swift pulls ahead for a possible seventh non-consecutive week at #1. …Read more MAYBE, JUST MAYBE: "GO" TIME Lenny Beer on a "unicorn" event in radio promotion. …Read more HITS LIST AT

THE EQUINOX The planet doesn’t pause as it spins from summer into fall, and neither does the music biz. In this weekly snapshot, we see John Platt, Greg Marella and Mike Caren doing work, Casey Wasserman and Sam Kirby Yoh making moves, Mickey Guyton, Conan Gray and Rob Pascoe ascending—and us trying to survive in the office football pool. …Go to HITS List TIKTOK GLOBAL LACKS KEY TECH While Oracle and Walmart will get minority stakes in the new U.S. operations for TikTok, China’s ByteDance will not be transferring any of its algorithms or technologies to Oracle. …Read more GRAMMY CHEW:

PLAYING FAVORITES Who are the “locks” for the top Grammy categories? You say you don’t like “locks?” Fine, let’s say “favorites.” …Read more NEAR TRUTHS: TALMUDIC INTERPRETATIONS Branding, folklore, Grammy and much more in the latest missive from I.B. Bad. …Read more