Two executives who supported Taylor Swift’s early music have reunited to launch a new record label focused on developing cross-genre artists.
Big Machine Label Group on Monday (July 7) launched a new imprint called Ascend Music in partnership with music industry veteran Joel Klaiman, with its first signing expected to be announced later this week.
The venture reunites BMLG founder Scott Borchetta with Klaiman, who initially worked together in 2008 to promote Taylor Swift’s hit, Love Story, which went on to become the first song to top both the Country radio and Pop radio charts.
Klaiman has previously served as EVP/Promotion & Artist Development at Universal Music Group-owned Republic Records, where he worked with Borchetta and Big Machine on Swift’s albums Fearless, Speak Now, and Red.
He also held roles at Sony Music Entertainment, ColumbiaRecords (as Executive Vice President and General Manager), RepublicRecords (as EVP, Promotion and Artist Development), and EpicRecords (as EVP, Promotion and Artist Development).
“[Joel Klaiman is] bringing great artists to the partnership, and we will be wasting no time in getting out some game-changing music.”
Scott Borchetta, Big Machine Label Group
In August 2023, Klaiman launchedASCEND4M, described as a global music and entertainment marketing and consulting agency focused on comprehensive media strategies and practical artist and brand development.
Klaiman and Borchetta will now collaborate via AscendMusic in “breaking and amplifying cross-genre talent.”
Commenting on the partnership, Borchetta said: “Joel’s energy, vision, and passion are contagious, and he never leaves any stone unturned when he’s working with an artist.”
“He’s bringing great artists to the partnership, and we will be wasting no time in getting out some game-changing music.”
“This new venture will fuel the growth of our artists and expand Ascend Music’s global repertoire – aligned with both our companies’ shared vision and a strategy that unlocks exciting opportunities for all involved.”
Joel Klaiman, ASCEND4M
Klaiman added: “After witnessing first-hand Scott’s entrepreneurial vision and his deep commitment to fostering an artist-first, development-driven culture, it’s a dream come true to collaborate with him and the BMLG team again.”
“This new venture will fuel the growth of our artists and expand Ascend Music’s global repertoire – aligned with both our companies’ shared vision and a strategy that unlocks exciting opportunities for all involved.”
The launch of the new venture comes over a month after Borchetta joined the advisory board of Siebert Financial, parent company of Gebbia Media, after the latter acquired Big Machine Rock, the Nashville-based rock imprint of BMLG, from HYBE America.
BMLG was acquired by Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in 2019. The entirety of Ithaca, including BMLG and Braun’s SB Projects, was then acquired by South Korea’s HYBE in a $1.05 billion deal in 2021.
This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center.
Taichung City, Taiwan – Bernard keeps a low profile.
Heading to work on the streets of Taiwan, the 45-year-old Filipino migrant worker dodges glances and often checks his face mask to make sure his appearance is concealed.
To hide his accent, he often speaks in a near-whisper.
Often, he declines invitations to social occasions from his fellow countrymen, worried that a “Judas” among them might report him to the authorities.
Hired at one of Taiwan’s many electronics factories, Bernard came to the island legally in 2016.
But since June 2024, he has been among Taiwan’s growing population of undocumented workers. He blames his broker, a private employment agent to which migrants are usually assigned, for his current predicament.
Bernard’s broker tried to confiscate his passport, he said, then tried to convince him to resign and forgo severance payments from his employer.
He refused both times, he said, causing a rift between them.
“They [brokers] only speak to you when they come to collect payments or when they want to trick you,” Bernard, who asked to use a pseudonym out of fear of repercussions, told Al Jazeera.
Brokers in Taiwan take a cut of their clients’ wages and have significant influence over their conditions and job prospects, making their relationships prone to abuse.
When Bernard’s contract expired in 2022, he said, his broker blacklisted him among other employers.
Desperate to support his daughter’s education in the Philippines, Bernard ditched his broker and decided to overstay his visa to work odd construction jobs, he said.
These days, he said, he feels “like a bird in a cage”.
In public, Bernard would not even utter the word “undocumented” in any language, only gesturing with his hands that he ran away.
Joy Tajonera celebrates Sunday Mass at Taichung Catholic Church in Taichung, Taiwan, on February 23, 2025 [Michael Beltran/Al Jazeera]
Taiwan’s undocumented workforce is rising fast.
The number of unaccounted-for migrants on the island has doubled in the last four years, reaching 90,000 this January, according to the Ministry of Labor.
Despite Taiwan’s image as one of the region’s rare liberal democracies, a growing number of Southeast Asian migrant workers are living under the constant threat of deportation and without access to social services.
Taiwan institutionalised its broker system in 1992 in a bid to streamline labour recruitment.
Brokers influence almost every aspect of a migrant worker’s life, from where they live, to their meals, to the terms of their employment contracts, and even how they access public services.
Migrant rights advocates say it is precisely this level of control that is prompting large numbers of workers to flee their workplaces.
Over a third of all complaints made by migrants to the Ministry of Labor are broker-related, according to official data.
As of January 2025, Vietnamese made up the biggest share of the undocumented at 57,611, followed by Indonesians at 28,363, and Filipinos at 2,750.
Joy Tajonera, a Catholic priest who runs the Ugnayan Center, a migrant shelter in Taichung City, said the Taiwanese government has taken a lax approach to the issue.
“The system allows the brokers a power to be used to the disadvantage of migrants,” Tajonera told Al Jazeera.
“Meanwhile, employers play innocent.”
Brokers typically charge migrants a monthly service fee of $50 to $60, and also collect fees for job transfers, hospital insurance, leave, and most of the necessary documentation to work in Taiwan.
In some cases, they impose age limits for certain jobs.
Tajonera said many undocumented workers can actually earn more without a broker, “but then you lose all social protections and health insurance. It’s not that they want to run away. It’s their situation, they can’t take it any more.”
‘Shameless and stupid’
Taiwan’s Labor Ministry said in a statement that the increase in undocumented migrants was driven by pandemic-related disruption to deportations.
It said it has taken various steps to improve conditions for migrant works, including raising the minimum wage, conducting regular inspections of recruitment agencies, introducing a new suspension mechanism for agencies with high rates of absconding workers, and encouraging labour-sending countries to reduce agency fees.
“Through pre-employment orientation for industrial migrant workers and one-stop orientation sessions for household caregivers, the ministry aims to enhance workers’ awareness of legal requirements, inform them of the risks and consequences of going missing, and ensure employers fulfill their management responsibilities,” the ministry said.
However, since last year, the Taiwanese government has also increased the maximum fines for migrants caught overstaying their visas from $330 to $1,657.
Lennon Ying-Da Wang, director of the public migrant shelter Serve the People Association, called the government’s move to increase penalties “shameless and stupid”.
“Instead of addressing the reasons for running away, this will just prevent people from surrendering,” he told Al Jazeera.
Wang said a lack of protections, particularly for those working in childcare and fisheries, is the key reason why many migrants abscond from their workplaces.
Neither industry is subject to Taiwan’s monthly minimum wage of $944, according to Taiwan’s Labor Standards Act.
Wang said migrants in practice often receive half that amount minus deductions by brokers.
“Migrants just want a decent salary,” Wang said. “But there’s an unspoken rule among some brokers not to hire migrant workers who ask for help from shelters. That forces them to run away.”
Despite his sympathies, Wang, as the director of a state-funded facility, is not allowed to take in migrants who have absconded from their employers as they are subject to deportation.
Nicole Yang checks on infants at Harmony Home in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 7, 2025 [Michael Beltran/Al Jazeera]
On a quiet, nondescript road at the edge of Taipei lies Harmony Home, an NGO catering to undocumented young mothers and children.
While the women and children who stay at Harmony Home cannot be deported for humanitarian reasons, the state is not obligated to shoulder the costs of their care or medical needs.
Harmony Home, which has taken in more than 1,600 children over the past two decades, has recently seen a sharp uptick in minors coming through its doors, founder Nicole Yang said.
“Last year, we had about 110 new kids. By April this year, we’ve already got 140,” Yang told Al Jazeera.
“We also care for 300 others who live at home while their mother works.”
Li-Chuan Liuhuang, a labour expert at National Chung Cheng University, said that while the broker system will be difficult to “uproot immediately”, the government could improve oversight by “making the recruitment procedure and cost structure more transparent”.
In Lishan, a mountainous area of Taichung, hundreds of undocumented Southeast Asians pick peaches, pears and cabbages for local landowners. The presence of runaway migrants, many of whom fled fishing trawlers, is not only tolerated but relied upon for the harvest.
Liuhuang said she would like to see such migrants being allowed to work on farms with proper labour protections, but she believes this would not be easy for the public to accept.
“The government will have to commit more efforts for this kind of dialogue,” she told Al Jazeera.
Mary, who asked to use a pseudonym, said she absconded from her job as a childcare worker to work illegally at various mountain farms after becoming frustrated at earning less than half the minimum wage and having her grievances ignored by her broker.
Migrant worker Mary checks on crops in Lishan, Taichung City, on April 8, 2025 [ Michael Beltran/Al Jazeera]
Sitting beside a cabbage patch, Mary, 46, said she always felt anxious around the police in the city.
But in Lishan the rules are different, she said, as landowners have an unwritten agreement with the authorities about the runaways.
“There’s no way the boss doesn’t have connections with the police. He always knows when they come and tells us not to go out,” she told Al Jazeera.
Even so, there is no guarantee of avoiding mistreatment in the mountains.
After the harvest, employers sometimes withhold payments, threatening anyone who complains with deportation, Mary said.
“If I complain that the boss doesn’t give me the salary, I will get reported. Who will help me?” she said.
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President Donald Trump has said he plans to impose a raft of tariffs on goods entering the US from 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea.
The latest escalation on global trade by Trump came as the 90-day pause the White House placed on some of its most aggressive import taxes was set to expire.
The president announced plans for a 25% tax on products entering the country from Japan and South Korea and shared a batch of other letters to world leaders warning of levies commencing from 1 August.
Higher tariffs had been set to come into effect on 9 July, having previously been suspendedwith White House officials saying they would look to strike trade deals.
On Monday, Trump shared letters addressing leaders of 14 countries on social media, informing them of his latest tariff plans, while adding that the rates could be modified “upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your country”.
Most of the tariff rates outlined by Trump were broadly the same from what he had put forward in April,when he made his “Liberation Day” announcement, threatening a wave of new taxes on goods from various countries.
The president argues that introducing tariffs will protect American businesses from foreign competition and also boost domestic manufacturing and jobs.
But economists say the measures will raise prices in the US and reduce trade. The three main share indexes in the US slipped on Monday, with Toyota’s US-listed shares down 4%.
Japan sent more than $148bn in goods to the US last year, making it America’s fifth biggest supplier of imports, after the European Union (EU), Mexico, China and Canada, according to US trade data. South Korea was also in the top 10.
As well as South Korea and Japan, Trump on Monday set out plans for a 40% tariff on goods from Myanmar and Laos, a 36% tariff on goods from Thailand and Cambodia, a 35% tariff on goods from Serbia and Bangladesh, a 32% tariff on Indonesia, a 30% tariff on goods from South Africa and a 25% tariff on goods from Malaysia and Tunisia.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said more letters could follow in the days ahead.
She disputed the suggestion that the shifting tariff deadlines from 9 July to 1 August might reduce the power of Trump’s threats.
“The president’s phone, I can tell you, rings off the hook from world leaders all the time who are begging him to come to a deal,” she said.
When the president first announced a raft of steep tariffs in April, turmoil broke out on financial markets, leading to the president suspending some of the highest duties to allow for talks, while keeping in place a 10% levy.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected “a busy couple of days”.
“We’ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations. So my mailbox was full last night with a lot of new offers, a lot of new proposals,” he told US business broadcaster CNBC.
Trump had initially described his April tariffs as “reciprocal”, claiming they were required to fight back against other countries’ trade rules he saw as unfair to US exports.
He has separately announced tariffs for key sectors, such as steel and cars, citing national security concerns, and threatened raise levies on other items, such as pharmaceuticals and lumber.
The multi-layered policies have complicated trade talks, with car tariffs a key sticking point in negotiations with Japan and South Korea.
So far, the US has struck agreements with the UK and Vietnam, as well as a partial deal with China. In all three of those cases, the agreements have raised tariffs compared with levels before Trump returned to the White House, while key issues remain unresolved.
The US has said a deal with India is close.
The EU is also engaged in talks, with reports suggesting officials in the bloc were not expecting to receive a tariff letter. A spokesperson for the EU also said the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen had a “good exchange” with Trump.
Just a few weeks ago, the US president had threatened the EU with a 50% tax unless it reached an agreement.
Last week, Trump said Japan could face a “30% or 35%” tariff if the country failed to reach a deal with the US by Wednesday.
As the adoption of renewable energy accelerates globally, focus is increasingly on enhancing efficiency and developing robust energy storage solutions to ensure a dependable supply. Existing technologies include water reservoirs, compressed air storage, and large-scale batteries. However, Finland is pioneering an innovative underground thermal storage approach with significant potential for the energy transition. This system can store up to 90 GWh of energy from renewable sources.
What will I read in this article?
Energy storage caverns
To grasp this initiative, one must first understand the nuances of Finland’s energy system. In cities like Vantaa, extensive networks of pipelines distribute hot water to household heat exchangers, heated by industrial waste heat and thermal power plants. The aim, however, is to shift towards storing heat derived from renewable sources, like summer solar energy, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
Slated to start construction in 2024, the project involves three vast underground caverns, each 300 meters long, 40 meters high, and 20 meters wide, capable of storing over one million cubic meters of water at depths reaching 140 meters. This depth maintains the water under sufficient pressure to heat up to 140°C without vaporizing.
During summer and periods of low electricity costs, these caverns will be filled with water heated by two 60 MW electric boilers powered by renewable sources. Once fully operational, the system can deliver up to 60 GWh, enough to sustain a medium-sized Finnish city for a year or to charge 1.3 million electric vehicles, according to the public company behind the project. All these factors will make it the largest storage facility of its kind in the world.
Moreover, the project will incorporate AI-controlled systems to manage the inflow and outflow of hot water year-round, optimizing resource use. The project developers note that, besides lowering emissions, the energy store will help stabilize consumer prices.
With an estimated investment of 200 million euros, the Vantaa thermal energy storage complex is expected to commence operations in 2028.
Megabatteries: The future of energy storage
Megabatteries represent today’s most versatile and scalable energy storage solution. Typically using lithium-ion technology, they store power generated by solar and wind facilities, ensuring availability anytime, regardless of weather conditions. For example, the Cunningham battery farm in Texas can store 380 MWh on a six-hectare site.
This technology offers numerous benefits, including consistent energy supply, capacity to meet peak demands, and reduced investment in energy infrastructure. For more insights into megabatteries as an energy storage solution, we recommend this article for a detailed analysis.
The era of waste heat
The Finnish endeavor is just one of many initiatives leveraging thermal energy in urban settings. Another significant area of focus is sewage systems, substantial energy consumers. Daily activities such as showering or using washing machines send hundreds of liters of hot water down the drain.
This energy is reclaimable through a method known as Sewage Heat Recovery (SHR), used either to generate electricity or provide heating, aiding the shift towards a fully renewable power system. The process involves passing hot wastewater through heat exchangers, which transfer the heat without direct contact with the secondary fluid, then redistributing the heated water to homes via a pipeline network. This method doesn’t store energy but maximizes the energy initially used to heat the water.
One notable example is a pilot project in Vancouver, Canada, where over 6,000 apartments are heated using recovered waste heat, saving up to 80% of the energy. Other cities like Chicago are also expected to adopt SHR technologies soon, not just for heating homes but also for public swimming pools, as seen in Raalte, Netherlands.
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Whether it’s reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, Times Video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world.
Whether it’s reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, Times Video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation exclusively told The Associated Press that Carla Hayden will join the humanities grantmaker Monday as a senior fellow whose duties will include advising on efforts to advance public knowledge through libraries and archives.
The year-long post places Hayden back at the center of the very debates over American culture that surrounded her dismissal. The White House ousted Hayden, the first woman and the first African American to hold the title, after she was accused of promoting “radical” literary material by a conservative advocacy group seeking to squash Trump opposition within the federal government.
Hayden acknowledged existing threats to “the free exchange of ideas” in a statement to the AP.
“For generations, libraries, archives, and cultural institutions have been the guardians of knowledge and the catalysts for human progress,” she said. “Together, we will work to strengthen the public knowledge ecosystem and ensure that the transformative power of information remains accessible to all.”
Mellon’s response to government funding cuts
Meanwhile, the Mellon Foundation has been working to fill fiscal holes for arts communities reeling from federal cuts. Its $15 million “emergency” fund aims to offset the $65 million that were supposed to go to the state humanities councils that organize book fairs, heritage festivals, theater productions and other programs fostering cultural engagement.
Mellon President Elizabeth Alexander said the foundation is thrilled to welcome Hayden, “a leader with an unshakable regard for the public good of the American people,” during such a “crucial time.” Public knowledge institutions are navigating “historic challenges and transformative advances,” according to Mellon, including artificial intelligence, digital technologies, federal funding withdrawals and censorship efforts.
Who is the Librarian of Congress and what is the job?
The acting librarian is Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who represented Trump during his 2024 criminal trial.
Responsibilities range from looking after collections to selecting the country’s poet laureate to awarding the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song and the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. The library also manages the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
Librarians serve 10-year terms, and Hayden’s was scheduled to end in 2026. Her tenure included modernizing its reservoir of the nation’s books and history. She oversaw new initiatives reaching out to rural and online audiences. Recent campaigns sought to improve accessibility for everyday visitors. And she arranged for Lizzo’s 2022 performance where the artist played a crystal flute owned by President James Madison — among the Library’s troves of artifacts.
Before her confirmation in 2016, Hayden spent more than two decades as CEO of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library system and was president of the American Library Association from 2003 to 2004. A graduate of Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago, she is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Hezbollah has rejected disarmament while Israel continues to attack Lebanon, after US calls for it to give up weapons in four months.
A senior United States envoy has praised the Lebanese government’s response to a US proposal aimed at disarming Hezbollah amid Israel’s continued military presence in the country.
Thomas Barrack, an adviser to US President Donald Trump who serves as Washington’s ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, returned to Beirut on Monday after delivering the US proposal during a June 19 visit.
The plan called for the Shia Lebanese group Hezbollah to fully disarm within four months in exchange for a halt to Israeli air strikes and the full withdrawal of Israel’s military from the five positions it continues to occupy in southern Lebanon.
“What the government gave us was something spectacular in a very short period of time,” Barrack told reporters on Monday after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. “I’m unbelievably satisfied with the response.”
While Barrack confirmed that he had received a seven-page reply from the Lebanese side, he offered no details on its contents.
Barrack said that he believed both Lebanon and Israel were seeking a path toward de-escalation. “Both countries are trying to give the same thing – the notion of a stand-down agreement, of the cessation of hostilities, and a road to peace.”
The remarks come as tensions remain high as Israel continues to bombard Lebanon despite agreeing to a ceasefire in November.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted in October 2023 after the Lebanese group attacked Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza. It spiralled into full-scale conflict by September the following year, killing more than 4,000 people – including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior officials – and displacing nearly 1.4 million people, according to Lebanese authorities.
Lebanon’s president and prime minister – both installed earlier this year – have promised to strengthen the state and the army, and said that Hezbollah, long viewed as the most powerful military force in Lebanon, must not be more powerful than the government.
However, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon, claiming its operations are aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rearming. Lebanese health officials say around 250 people have been killed and more than 600 wounded in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire.
Hezbollah has not issued a formal response to the US proposal. However, its leader, Naim Qassem, said on Sunday that the group would not disarm while Israel continued its aggression.
“We cannot be asked to soften our stance or lay down arms while [Israeli] aggression continues,” Qassem told thousands of supporters during Ashura commemorations in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Barrack acknowledged that Hezbollah would need guarantees that it could continue operating as a political force within Lebanon.
But signs of de-escalation were absent on the ground. Just hours before Barrack’s arrival, Israel launched a wave of air strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon and carried out a ground invasion into a border village.
Lebanese officials and diplomats said the latest military action appeared to be an attempt to increase pressure on Hezbollah ahead of diplomatic discussions.
On Saturday, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported that an “Israeli enemy drone attack on a vehicle” in the Saf al-Hawa area of southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil killed one person and injured two others.
Earlier that day, the ministry said a separate Israeli drone strike wounded one person in the town of Shebaa. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported the attack hit a house in the village, which lies along Lebanon’s border with Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The ministry said another Israeli drone strike targeted the town of Chaqra in Bint Jbeil, wounding two people, while on Thursday, an Israeli attack killed at least one person and injured three near the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Spotify says it’s cooperating with Turkey’s competition bureau in a probe into whether the streaming giant engaged in anti-competitive practices.
The competition bureau announced the probe the same day that a cabinet minister criticized Spotify on social media for what he described as content that disregards the country’s religious sensitivities and attacks Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s wife.
In a statement issued on Friday (July 4), the competition authority said it would examine whether Spotify had violated Turkish law “by engaging in practices that complicate the operations of its rivals in the online music streaming services market and/or affect the distribution of the royalties paid to various parties within the framework of its licensing relationships.”
It also said Spotify may be “discriminating between artists and content creators on the platform in various ways, including their visibility on the platform.”
The same day, Batuhan Mumcu, the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, launched a broadside against the streaming platform on X, accusing it of hosting “content that targets our religious and national values and insults the beliefs of our society.”
Mumcu said that “Spotify insists on not taking the necessary steps despite all the warnings we have made before” regarding content, and that “the discrimination and rights violations against our artists have been ignored.”
He specifically called out “insidious and provocative, immoral content that targets our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s precious wife Emine Erdoğan,” which he said is “incompatible with the cultural and moral values of our nation, and targets the unity and solidarity of our society.”
Mumcu’s X post included an embedded video showing searches on Spotify that brought up playlist titles like “Songs Prophet Muhammad listened to in the cave,” “Emine Ergodan hotgirl playlist,” and “Songs Emine Erdogan listened to when her golden faucet broke,” in apparent reference to claims that the Erdogans have gold-plated bathroom fixtures in the presidential palace.
“This irresponsibility and lack of control, which ignores the sensitivities of our society, has now become a legal issue,” Mumcu wrote. “For this reason, I personally think that a judicial process should be initiated and I call on our authorized institutions to take action.”
“We are cooperating with the investigation, are actively seeking to understand it, and will work toward a swift, constructive resolution with the Turkish Competition Authority.”
Spotify
In a statement to MBW, a Spotify spokesperson said the Sweden-headquartered streaming platform is aware of the actions taken by the competition bureau.
“We are cooperating with the investigation, are actively seeking to understand it, and will work toward a swift, constructive resolution with the Turkish Competition Authority. We comply with all applicable laws in all our operations, but we are unable to comment further as we lack details on the inspection’s scope or focus.”
The spokesperson said Spotify had paid out more than 2 billion Turkish lira to local artists in 2024, which equates to USD $60.9 million at the average exchange rate for that year.
Spotify entered the Turkish market in 2013, and in a recent Loud & Clear report on the country, the platform highlighted the rapidly increasing popularity of local artists.
The share of streams by local artists in Turkey rose from 11% in 2013 to 65% in 2025, while the number of Turkish artists in Spotify’s yearly top 100 grew from 11 in 2013 to 93 in 2024, Spotify said.Music Business Worldwide
