NICKELBACK, AND OTHER CORE COMPETENCIES

The Core Entertainment has inked rock stalwarts Nickelback for management. Core bosses Kevin “Chief” Zaruk and Simon Tikhman tell us that the band is now in the studio working on new music. Having spent a weekend with them in Vancouver, the team is enjoying some poutine and celebrating various developments related to other clients.

Nate Smith makes his official Opry debut on 4/9 with Keith Urban. His “I Don’t Want to Go to Heaven” has racked up 25m+ streams to date (the song’s current version is a duet with Tenille Townes). The singer/songwriter is wrapping up his debut EP for Sony Nashville now.

Band Valley, having concluded its first sold-out U.S. tour, has decamped to its hometown of Toronto to prep its next album. Look for the group at an array of summer festivals including Field Trip, Governors Ball, Life Is Beautiful, Wonderstruck and more. Valley's single “Champagne” drops 4/28 via Capitol. The Group of the Year Juno nominees earned 96m+ streams for 2021 EP Like 1999.

Nate Smith with Townes, Valley, Zimmerman

Amazon Artist to Watch Bailey Zimmerman’s new single, “Fall in Love,” is out and streaming. The song, which amassed 20m streams in a month, bowed at #1 on iTunes Country. The artist is now garnering more than 4m streams per week.

As you’ll recall, The Core was launched as a strategic partnership with Live Nation. Chief, Simon and company are naturally excited about all of the above—and understandably perturbed to be featured on this website.