R&B News

• R&B and Pop Radio Are Sharing the Same Songs Again

  11-09-2026 05:09 via singersroom.com
  
  Radio programmers in several major markets say the boundary between pop and R&B playlists has thinned dramatically this quarter, with crossover spins climbing on both sides of the dial.Station music directors point to a run of mid-tempo singles that test equally well with both audiences, a trend that has not held this long since the late nineties.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yicmWFDHFE"The listeners do not hear formats anymore," one programmer told Singersroom. "They hear songs."Industr
  
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• Vinyl Pressing Plants Race to Keep Up With R&B Reissue Demand

  11-09-2026 04:52 via singersroom.com
  
  Vinyl pressing plants are reporting some of their longest order queues in years, and executives say deluxe reissues of classic soul and R&B albums are a major reason why.Anniversary editions with restored artwork and bonus tracks have become reliable sellers, particularly among younger collectors discovering catalog music through streaming first.One plant manager said R&B titles now account for a noticeably larger share of the production schedule than they did even two years ago.Retailer
  
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• Gospel Choirs Are Climbing Streaming Charts Faster Than Ever

  11-09-2026 04:52 via singersroom.com
  
  Live choir recordings have become one of the quiet streaming stories of the year, with several gospel titles crossing onto mainstream charts in recent weeks.Analysts credit short-form video clips of choir performances, which have introduced the sound to listeners far outside the traditional gospel audience.Choir directors say the attention has translated into sold-out live dates and new recording opportunities for ensembles that rarely left their home cities.Label scouts have taken notice, and s
  
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• Festival Promoters Bet Big on R&B-Heavy Lineups for Next Season

  11-09-2026 04:52 via singersroom.com
  
  Three major festivals have announced R&B-heavy headline bills for next season, marking one of the strongest showings for soul music on the big-stage circuit in years.Promoters say the bookings reflect ticket demand data rather than nostalgia, noting that R&B sets consistently drew some of the largest crowds at this year's events.Agents for several headliners report that festival offers have grown more competitive, with multiple events bidding on the same artists.Full lineups are expected
  
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• The one-take video is the new proof of vocal ability

  11-09-2026 01:30 via singersroom.com
  
  A wave of continuous-take performance videos has turned the format into an audition reel that cannot be faked in post.Directors say the appeal is trust. Audiences have learned to spot a stitched vocal, and one unbroken shot removes the argument.The tradeoff is brutal shoot days. One session ran twenty-two takes before the singer and the camera move landed together.
  
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• The duet is back, and it is doing something new

  11-09-2026 01:30 via singersroom.com
  
  For fifteen years, a duet mostly meant two artists emailing files. The new wave is doing it in one room, on one microphone, on purpose.Engineers say the shift is audible. Singers phrase differently when they can hear each other breathe, and the small collisions that used to be edited out are being kept.The economics help too. A shared bill sells more theater tickets than either name alone, and the recording doubles as promotion for the tour.
  
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• Slow songs are outperforming uptempo singles on repeat listens

  11-09-2026 01:30 via singersroom.com
  
  Uptempo singles still win the opening week. Over ninety days, ballads are being replayed roughly forty percent more per listener.That gap matters because catalog value is built on repeat listening, not launch spikes. Several labels have started paying advances against ninety-day curves instead of first-week counts.Radio is reacting faster than streaming editorial. Adult R&B panels have widened their slow-song rotations for three straight quarters.
  
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• Review: 'Velvet Hours' is the rare R&B album that trusts silence

  11-09-2026 01:30 via singersroom.com
  
  The first thing you notice about 'Velvet Hours' is what is missing. No stacked ad-libs, no eight-bar drop, no guest verse parachuted in for a playlist look.Instead there is a band playing slightly behind the beat, a Rhodes that never quite resolves, and a vocalist who lets phrases end early and leaves the space alone.It falters twice. A five-minute interlude in the back half stalls the sequence, and the closing track reaches for gospel scale the arrangement has not earned.Everywhere else, the re
  
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• Quiet storm formats are quietly winning the late-night dial again

  11-09-2026 01:30 via singersroom.com
  
  The format that was supposed to be dead is filling overnight hours in six major markets, and programmers say the numbers are not close.Late-night slow jam blocks are cheap to run, easy to sponsor, and hold listeners far longer per session than daytime rotations. One programmer described average quarter-hour figures he had not seen since the late nineties.The bigger question is what it feeds. Independent artists report that a single overnight spin can move a song onto editorial playlists within d
  
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• Nyla Monroe finishes 'Velvet Hours' after two years of scrapped sessions

  11-09-2026 01:30 via singersroom.com
  
  For most of two years, Nyla Monroe was making an album nobody will ever hear. Twenty-six songs, three cities, four producers, and a growing sense that none of it sounded like the person singing it.What survived is 'Velvet Hours,' an eleven-track record cut with a seven-piece band over three weeks. There is almost no programmed drum on it. Bass, keys, guitar and a horn section carry the arrangements, and Monroe's voice sits close and dry in the middle.The pivot was expensive. She paid to release
  
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• At the soul awards, veterans took the room from the newcomers

  11-09-2026 01:30 via singersroom.com
  
  The trophies went mostly to artists under thirty. The night belonged to three singers who have been working since before streaming existed.One of them performed with a nine-piece band and no click track, held a note for what felt like an unreasonable length of time, and walked off to a standing room.Producers of the telecast have already said next year's show will build more time around live band performances.
  
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• Andre Solaine on writing for other singers and finally keeping one

  11-09-2026 01:30 via singersroom.com
  
  Andre Solaine has written for more singers than he can name in one sitting, and until this year none of the records had his name on the front.He talks about songwriting like a service job: read the artist, find the phrase they would actually say, get out of the way. Keeping a song for himself broke that habit and, he admits, terrified him.The debut single is a mid-tempo ballad about a marriage that ends politely. He wrote it for a client who passed on it twice, then sang the demo himself and cou
  
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