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    Jennifer Lopez and Black Keys Tour Cancellations Raise Questions for Industry

    High-profile cancellations from Jennifer Lopez and the Black Keys have armchair analysts talking. But industry insiders say live music is still thriving.For the concert business, 2023 was a champagne-popping year. The worst of the pandemic comfortably in the rearview, shows big and small were selling out, with mega-tours by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Drake and Bruce Springsteen pushing the industry to record ticket sales.This year, as with much of the economy, success on the road seems more fragile. A string of high-profile cancellations, and slow sales for some major events, have raised questions about an overcrowded market and whether ticket prices have simply gotten too expensive.Most conspicuously, Jennifer Lopez and the Black Keys have canceled entire arena tours. In the case of the Black Keys — a standby of rock radio and a popular touring draw for nearly two decades — the fallout has been severe enough that the band has parted ways with its two managers, the industry giant Irving Azoff and Steve Moir. Through a representative, Azoff and Moir said they had “amicably parted” with the band.At Coachella, usually so buzzy that it sells out well before any performers are announced, tickets for the second of the California festival’s two weekends were still available by the time it opened in April.Those issues have stoked headlines about a concert business that may be in trouble. But the reality, many insiders say, is more complex, with no simple explanation for problems on a range of tours, and a business that may be leveling out after a couple of extraordinary years when fans rushed to shows after Covid-19 shutdowns.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Ariana Grande Beats Kacey Musgraves and Justin Timberlake on the Chart

    “Everything I Thought It Was,” Justin Timberlake’s first new album since “Man of the Woods” six years ago, opens in fourth place.Ariana Grande holds the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s album chart this week with “Eternal Sunshine,” beating out new releases by Kacey Musgraves and Justin Timberlake.“Eternal Sunshine,” Grande’s first new studio album in almost four years, stays at the top for a second time with the equivalent of just over 100,000 sales in the United States, including 115 million streams and 13,000 copies sold as a complete package, according to the tracking service Luminate.Grande’s total was down 56 percent from its opening week, giving it enough — by a thin margin — to succeed over Musgraves’s “Deeper Well,” which started with the equivalent of 97,000. “Deeper Well,” Musgraves’s second LP since winning album of the year at the Grammys in 2019 with “Golden Hour,” starts at No. 2 with 38 million streams and 66,000 copies sold. Those sales included 37,000 copies of the album’s nine vinyl editions — among them a picture disc showing cardinals in a tree and another featuring “scented sleeves.”“Everything I Thought It Was,” Timberlake’s first new album since “Man of the Woods” six years ago, opens in fourth place with the equivalent of 67,000 sales. It is Timberlake’s first solo studio album not to make it to No. 1 since “Justified,” which went to second place in 2002.Also this week, Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” is No. 3 and Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” is No. 5. More

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    Popcast (Deluxe): Pop Stars vs. the Attention Economy

    Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:The new Jennifer Lopez album “This Is Me … Now,” and an accompanying film, “This Is Me…Now: A Love Story,” that covers her romantic biography in intimate and sometimes unexpected and extravagant detailWhat belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Lopez’s careerConfusing rollouts for other pop stars including Dua Lipa, Justin Timberlake and Camila Cabello.The new album from the rapper Yeat, “2093”The up-from-the-bottom success of recent songs by Teddy Swims and Benson BooneNew songs from Lainey Wilson and John Summit feat. HaylaSnack of the weekConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. More

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    Cicada Quiz: 17 Years Since Brood X and Bennifer. Remember When?

    Billions of Brood X cicadas are emerging from their underground tunnels for the first time since 2004. You would think that, between noisy mating rituals and shedding their exoskeletons, they would have a lot to catch up on after 17 years. But imagine a curious Brood Xer scanning this year’s headlines: Another Super Bowl for Tom Brady. The Summer Olympics fast approaching. Two new NASA vehicles exploring Mars. And Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez reportedly dating again … all straight out of 2004 (when “Bennifer” broke up in January).
    OK, so news of politics and the pandemic would definitely raise some insect antennae — and maybe send them burrowing back underground. But to a pop-culture-obsessed nymph, would 2004 and 2021 really seem that different?
    Here’s a chance to see how much you recall about the last time the Bennicadas were buzzing. More