Billboard Canada is celebrating the next generation of music industry leaders.
Billboard’s prestigious 40 Under 40 has long recognized the young executives and innovators shaping the global music business. Now, for the first time, Billboard Canada is bringing this recognition north of the border — highlighting the next wave of leaders driving the country’s evolving music industry.
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Billboard’s 40 Under 40 list is coming to Canada. The inaugural edition will be unveiled in a special editorial package and exclusive launch event on November 20, 2025 at Soho House Toronto.
This evening will gather honourees, artists and key figures from across the industry for an evening dedicated to honouring achievements and fostering connection throughout Canada’s music ecosystem.
40 Under 40 will spotlight a cross-section of young executives, visionaries and leaders making an impact across the Canadian music industry — across labels, management, live music, streaming, radio and other sectors.
Nominations are open now. The deadline to submit is Friday, October 24, 2025.
Read more and submit a nomination here. – Billboard Canada
Vancouver Eras Tour Audience Featured on Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’
Vancouver makes an unexpected cameo on Taylor Swift‘s new album.
Last December, the mega pop star wrapped up The Eras Tour, after performing 149 shows over the course of 20 months — including Canadian stops in Toronto and Vancouver, where the tour concluded.
Now, those fans can hear themselves on her new album, The Life of a Showgirl.
The title track of Swift’s latest blockbuster project ends with her final address to the cheering crowd at the sold-out B.C. Place show.
In an introduction to the track on streaming services, Swift says she gets emotional hearing the crowd roar back, because being on the Eras Tour stage for the last time is a core memory for her.
“That always chokes me up because it transports me right back to that actual memory of standing on that stage for the last time on that tour that was so important to me and the tour that really inspired the album,” she shares.
The Sabrina Carpenter-featuring song tells the story of a fictional showgirl named Kitty, portrayed by Carpenter, who offers Swift’s inspired character the harsh truth of being a woman in the entertainment industry.
Swift performed three sold-out shows at the downtown Vancouver stadium after selling out Toronto’s Rogers Centre for six nights in November.
“Tonight, we get to play one last show … and we’re gonna make it count,” Swift told the Vancouver audience, marking the city as the last to witness Swift’s global Eras Tour.
Read more here. – Heather Taylor-Singh
Daniel Caesar Re-Enters the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart Following Surprise Pop-Up Concerts
Daniel Caesar is building momentum ahead of his next album.
The Oshawa-raised R&B star is back on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart this week with two re-entries after a series of viral, short-notice pop-up concerts over the past two weeks.
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On the chart dated Oct. 11, 2025, his most recent release, 2023’s Never Enough re-enters at No. 80, while his fan-favourite debut Freudian (2017) lands at No. 99. Both albums initially peaked in the top 20, with Never Enough notching a top 10 position at No. 8.
Caesar has been making waves online with a handful of spontaneous outdoor concerts in promotion of his next album Son of Spergy, which releases Oct. 24.
The first concert was held at a packed Trinity Bellwoods park in his hometown of Toronto on Sept. 27, where Caesar played new songs like “Baby Blue,” “Root of All Evil,” “Who Knows,” and “Moon.” The singer played in other Canadian cities throughout the following week, with sets at Parc des Hirondelles in Montreal (Sept. 28) and John Hendry Park in Vancouver (Oct. 2), before heading south of the border to Montana and California.
Fellow Toronto artist and Son of Spergy’s executive producer Mustafa has been joining Caesar for the unconventional tour. Caesar spoke about playing pop-up shows with Mustafa in a recent Billboard cover story.
“It’s really not even for the fans. It’s for us on the stage,” Caesar revealed. “But this way we get to talk and figure out our ideas in public. It contributes to figuring out who we are and what we want to write about.”
In the same interview, he credits Mustafa as being one of the people who pushed him to collaborate with other artists, leading to a diverse and impressive list of collaborators on Son of Spergy that includes Sampha, Clairo, Dev Hynes (Blood Orange), Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Rex Orange County, Yebba and more.
Read more on the chart achievement here. – Stefano Rebuli
