To those looking to debut new music during a concert set, Travis Scott has a solution: QR codes, delivered by a legion of gigantic overhead drones.
Scott, the music industry’s unofficial king of brand deals and promotional stunts, debuted upcoming single “Escape Plan” during his set at the Rolling Loud music festival this weekend, and to further hype the new track, he commissioned advertising platform MilkMoney for a too-big-to-miss QR code lining the festival sky, made possible by 250 flying drones. Concert-goers who scanned the code were taken to a pre-save link for the single, which doesn’t yet have an official release date. Scott’s reps tell Rolling Stone that the rapper is the first artist to tease new music through this type of technology, but did not share the cost of the project or the number of fans who actually scanned the QR code. The drones also came together to form a giant Cactus Jack logo during the set.
“Everyone knows Travis Scott is one of the best performers in the game, but on Saturday night he took it to another level. Dropping new music and giving fans direct access to the song through a drone installation is unheard of and MilkMoney and Travis made it happen,” Rolling Loud co-founder and co-CEO Tariq Cherif said in a statement.
The gimmick, to be clear, is just the latest in Scott’s ever-expanding empire of zany mad-lib track promotion. Last year, he debuted “Franchise” on the heels of his partnership with McDonald’s, which also saw the rapper selling merchandise including t-shirts and hoodies along with an immensely popular $90 McNugget body pillow. He also premiered “The Scotts” during his infamous Fortnite concert, Astronomical, slingshotting the single to a Number One debut and helping launch a trend of artists putting on concerts inside video games — a strategy that became paramount since touring revenue was sidelined for more than a year during the pandemic — and otherwise partnering with gaming companies on new initiatives.
Considering his own prior stunts, Scott’s “Escape Plan” promotion is comparably tame. It’s unclear how many artists will want to replicate such a spectacle in their own sets, but as the live music business comes roaring back, industry insiders expect more artists to try out more immersive experiences that can grab listeners’ attention in fresh ways. The best livestreams of the quarantine era found novel ways to rope audience members into the performances themselves, and more artists will be looking to bring that type of experimental tech to the in-person concert experience as well.
Metallica bassist Jason Newsted says he is now “free and clear” after facing throat cancer.
The 63 year old musician, who played with the Enter Sandman legends from 1986 through 2001, has shared details of his diagnosis publicly for the first time. He explained that doctors discovered it early, and on May 8, 2025 he “underwent a procedure” to treat the condition.
Speaking on the Let There Be Talk podcast, he said: “They took a bunch of s*** outta here and then they went in with lasers this way and took a bunch of s*** out.
“So the cavern inside my head is different than it was, but we got it early. And I got my ‘free and clear’ about three weeks ago. So I beat it.”
Jason contributed to several of Metallica’s most iconic releases, including 1988’s ...And Justice For All, their self titled 1991 album, 1996’s Load, the 1997 follow up Reload, and 1998’s Garage Inc.
After going through his cancer experience, the bassist made a point to slow down and actually give himself time to recover instead of constantly pushing forward.
He explained: “I promised myself I was going to rest, and that was the first time I’ve done that in my life.
"I’m usually just on or off. And so I promised myself I was gonna take the gravity off and lay down for the right amount of hours."
The health scare also led Jason to give up smoking weed and drinking alcohol, something he admits he likely would not have done otherwise.
He added: “The great spirit got my attention and said, ‘That’s not good right now, man.’ And so it pulled me off it.
"And so now I’m more clear-headed than I’ve been in my entire adult life. And so there’s blessings within everything. The lemonade I’m making this summer, bro — mm. Sweet. Ooh.”
Jason has previously said that his unexpected departure ultimately helped Metallica continue moving forward, while James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich later admitted they struggled to process his decision at the time.
Lars told Apple Music in 2021: “Jason is the only member of Metallica who has ever left willingly. And that in itself is a statistic.
"And the resentment from James and I was just so… 'You can’t do that. You can only leave if we want you to leave'.
"And then we weren’t equipped at the time to do a deep dive into why he was leaving. So of course, now you can see 20 years later, it makes complete sense.”
