In our new weekly feature “THE WEEKLY,” music critic Seo Seongdeok takes stock of the biggest developments in the music industry each week. Catch up on the latest stories in music, from major artist moves to notable new releases, Billboard chart highlights, and more.
Stray Kids’ “This & That” debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200
Stray Kids’ “This & That” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated August 22, marking the group’s ninth chart-topper. That ties Stray Kids with the Rolling Stones for the second-most No. 1 albums in the chart’s history, behind only the Beatles’ 19. Even more remarkably, all nine debuted at No. 1. The streak began with “ODDINARY” in 2022. When “HOP” became the group’s sixth No. 1 in 2024, Stray Kids became the first act whose first six Billboard 200 entries had all opened at the top. With “This & That,” the streak now stands at nine.
“This & That” earned 369,000 equivalent album units in its opening week, Stray Kids’ best tally yet and the sixth-largest week for any album this year. Traditional album sales accounted for 357,000 copies, nearly all of that total. The figure was another group record and the year’s second-biggest sales week, behind only BTS’s “ARIRANG,” which sold 532,000 copies in its debut frame. “This & That” also debuted at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart. Its tracks generated 12.21 million streams, accounting for 11,000 units. Stray Kids reentered the Artist 100 at No. 1.
The album’s title track, “This & That,” entered the Hot 100 at No. 38, marking Stray Kids’ sixth entry on the chart, their highest-charting song to date, and their first Top 40 hit. It also debuted at No. 4 on Digital Song Sales and No. 25 on the Global 200.
Elsewhere, three K-pop albums sit in the top 10 on Top Album Sales chart: “This & That” at No. 1; CORTIS’s “GREENGREEN” at No. 6 in its 14th week; and BTS’s “ARIRANG” at No. 7 in its 21st. On the Hot 100, JENNIE and Tame Impala’s “Dracula” remains at No. 8 in its 46th week and also holds the No. 3 spot on Radio Songs. KATSEYE’s “Animal” rebounds to No. 30 in its third week and returns to No. 23 on Streaming Songs, heightening anticipation for the group’s new album, “WILD.”
Olivia Rodrigo to host a festival featuring women artists
Last June, Olivia Rodrigo announced Daisy Chain Fields, a festival set for August 29 at Great Park in Irvine, California. The bill is made up entirely of women and women-led acts, moving from contemporary rap to indie rock, with Rodrigo herself joining Chappell Roan, Doechii, and Mitski. Special guests Garbage, the Breeders, Karen O, and Sarah McLachlan bring generational depth. All net proceeds will go to nonprofits that support women. Tickets went on sale two days after the announcement; the festival sold out within 30 minutes.
The 30-minute sellout and the buzz surrounding Daisy Chain Fields could be read simply as another measure of Rodrigo’s reach. Sarah McLachlan’s presence on the bill tells a longer story. In 1997, she challenged the music industry’s unwritten rule that women could not be programmed back-to-back on radio playlists or festival bills. Her answer was Lilith Fair, which, like Daisy Chain Fields, featured a lineup made up entirely of women. In its first year, the festival grossed $16 million across 37 cities, making it the year’s highest-grossing touring festival. Across its three-year run, Lilith Fair earned $52 million, drew 1.5 million people, and donated $10 million to organizations focused on women’s health and safety. Rodrigo appears at the start of the 2025 documentary “Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery” to describe the festival’s influence on her. (The documentary is available to stream on Disney+.)
Daisy Chain Fields carries particular weight this year, arriving at a moment when the festival market is under structural strain. A narrow circle of headliners moves from one event to the next, eroding each festival’s individuality. The calendar is more crowded than audiences can reasonably sustain, while repeated ticket-price hikes have stretched consumer tolerance to its limit. The exceptions tend to have two things in common: a clear identity and a durable bond with their audience. The Newport Folk Festival sold out again this year before announcing a single act. Daisy Chain Fields belongs squarely in that company.
KATSEYE’s presence on the bill adds another dimension to that lineage. The multinational girl group appears alongside women artists working in clearly defined genres, from American indie rock and hip-hop. Its inclusion signals a shift: K-pop girl groups are beginning to enter the Western festival circuit not as novelty bookings, but as part of the broader landscape of women making pop now. Twenty-nine years ago, Lilith Fair proved that women artists could sell tickets. Daisy Chain Fields carries that proof beyond the boundaries of nationality and genre.
MTV announces nominees for the Video Music Awards
MTV has announced the nominees for this year’s Video Music Awards, set for September 25. Fittingly for a network built on music videos, Video of the Year remains the show’s signature prize. Madonna leads this year’s field, returning to the dance floor after two decades with 11 nominations, including Video of the Year and Artist of the Year. She is woven into the VMAs’ famously unruly history. At the inaugural VMAs in 1984, Madonna debuted the then-unreleased “Like a Virgin” in a performance that has long since passed into pop lore. Her 1990 performance of “Vogue” is now more famous than the music video itself; that year, she led all artists with nine nominations. “Ray of Light” earned her another nine in 1998. With “Confessions II,” the VMAs have welcomed Madonna back more emphatically than ever.
Taylor Swift, already the winner of 30 VMAs, ranks second this year with nine nominations. Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter follow with seven each; Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress, and Zara Larsson have five apiece. The Video of the Year field draws heavily from the same group, with Madonna, Swift, Grande, Carpenter, and Mars joined by Generation’s “Storm.” Given the scale of the video’s viral reach across social media this year, no contender more fully lives up to the category’s name.
The VMAs established Best K-Pop in 2019, with BTS and Lisa each winning the category three times since. The American Music Awards followed with a dedicated K-pop award in 2022, and the iHeartRadio Music Awards did the same in 2024. Among this year’s K-pop acts, Lisa leads with four nominations for “Dream,” including Best Pop. BTS’s “SWIM” has two, one of them for Song of the Year; CORTIS and KATSEYE also have two apiece. BLACKPINK, LE SSERAFIM, and Jisoo have one each. HUNTR/X’s “Golden” is also in the running for Song of the Year. The Best K-pop field consists of BTS’s “SWIM,” BLACKPINK’s “JUMP,” LE SSERAFIM’s “Spaghetti (feat. j-hope of BTS),” KATSEYE’s “PINKY UP,” CORTIS’s “REDRED,” and Lisa’s “Dream.” The ceremony takes place September 25.