The music business explained: news, analysis, insights and jobs for music industry professionals

Live Nation says everyone should shut up and stop asking questions about its cosy deal with Trump’s DoJ

Only humans can be ‘authors’ say Canadian music publishers in test case on copyright status of AI-generated works

AI-generated tracks now account for more than 50% of Deezer’s uploads

UK government publishes ‘Our Plan For Music’ - and announces new funding and licensing reforms

US industry groups raise “serious concerns” about EU royalty flow proposals, which many of their European counterparts support

Kneecap allowed to file defamation lawsuit in Ireland against Indigenous leader in Canada over antisemitism claims

BBC’s music boss Lorna Clarke outlines broadcaster’s AI transparency commitments - but can it actually meet them?

Spotify zaps half a million streams amid speculation Kalshi traders were behind boost for Malcolm Todd track ‘Earrings’

PRS defeats Rowntree black box class action at appeal - but is left £1.8m out of pocket

Live Nation boss Michael Rapino talked to Trump, hired Trump allies, reveals latest filing in antitrust case

StubHub fined £900,000 by UK regulator for illegal drip pricing

Google says any music uploaded to YouTube is fair game for AI training - and there’s nothing musicians can do

Suno really doesn’t want you to know how many audio files it copied when training its music AI model

Universal Music has found its backbone and told Bill Ackman to take a hike

BTS fans hate Live Nation over Aussie and Malaysian ticket pre-sales

Chance The Rapper and Pat The Manager back in court, over claims Pat improperly inserted himself into Chance’s deals

Gamma - which released Kanye’s comeback album - sues to unmask whoever is behind “coordinated and malicious” anonymous smear campaign

UK competition regulator should urgently investigate live music sector, MPs say, citing “climate of fear” around Live Nation’s dominance

Spotify’s transformation into an AI slop factory commences as it announces Universal “superfan” remix gimmick and Live Nation ticketing wheeze

Music industry welcomes revised NO FAKES Act, but Spotify says “still work to do”

Live Nation and Ticketmaster should still be split up, lawmakers told, as US government’s antitrust settlement criticised in Congress

Spotify increases subscription prices in Canada, but rolls back previous price increases in India

Op-ed: More than the Beatles: the quiet secrets behind Liverpool’s world-class music industry

BMG and Concord confirm merger

Universal and Sony must be allowed to see Warner’s deal with Suno, lawyers tell judge as AI legal battle continues

Music streaming services targeted as Texas Attorney General launches payola investigation

Live Nation pays $9.9 million to settle yet another investigation into dodgy ticketing practices

The European rule on whether samples need to be cleared moves to a “maybe” with latest Kraftwerk ruling

BTS lawyers go after album leaker and knock-off merch sellers

Eddie Dalton’s (actually quite modest) chart success sparks further debate about where AI music fits in

Grass needs more time to grow says AEG as it puts a pin in LIDO Festival

Universal CEO Lucian Grainge makes 764 times more than his employees - and female staff get 48% less than male counterparts

Major music publishers buy into termination rights lawsuit to take fight to Supreme Court

Spotify wants $300 million in damages from Anna’s Archive, and for court to go after piracy site’s service providers

Cox Communications celebrates as US Supreme Court overturns critical music piracy judgement

Claude’s AI lyrics cause market dilution, say music publishers calling for courts to reject fair use defence

Declare trademark claims bogus says FKA in Twigs vs Twigs

Chance The Rapper wins sunset clause dispute with former manager

American man pleads guilty to multi-million dollar streaming fraud, faces five years in jail

Cautious welcome for UK government’s latest AI copyright stance, as BMG files latest Anthropic lawsuit

DoJ’s Live Nation settlement “proof Trump Administration cannot be trusted to protect American consumers”, says new Senate report on Ticketmaster

StubHub to more clearly state prices and terms for touted tickets, and offer Taylor Swift fans refunds, but only in British Columbia

“Robbing them blind, baby - that’s how we do it”, boast Live Nation execs about “so stupid” ticket-buyers

New generation of British artists propel UK record industry to £1.5 billion high, says BPI

High Court sides with Kneecap, ending the Hezbollah flag criminal case against Mo Chara

Google had every opportunity to train its AI legally, but chose to do it on the cheap instead, say indie musicians in new lawsuit

Live Nation settles DoJ antitrust lawsuit - but state lawsuits may continue

Chance The Rapper and Pat The Manager bust-up heads to court over disputed sunset clause

Warner Music’s Robert Kyncl is betting the company on an AI future. Can he deliver?

Suno is a feral pig rampaging through a well-tended garden, say creator orgs

Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota said “independent music is not raw material for tech companies to exploit without consent” before quitting to join AI music scraper-in-chief Suno

Producer who accused Karol G of beat-theft dismisses his lawsuit, adding “we were wrong”

Anna’s Archive rolls out the red carpet for robots - and asks them to “persuade” their humans to make donations

After a Live Nation lobbyist boasted he got antitrust chief sacked, US Senators ask if company has hired a “bevy of cozy MAGA friends”

European Commission approves Universal’s $775 million Downtown acquisition - but did it ask the right questions?

Spotify is all in on AI, its best engineers haven't written a single line of code since December - and why that should worry the music industry

Adding “hot takes” to unlicensed music is not fair use, judge confirms in rockumentary copyright case

IMPALA report warns European music diversity will erode without intervention on ownership, market access and infrastructure

European Commission must tackle “coercive buy-out practices” when US video streamers commission music, says MEP

Charlie Puth got musician to provide vocals for ‘Furious 7’ track, then Warner cheated him out rights and royalties, says lawsuit

Music publishers file new Anthropic lawsuit, adding in piracy claims and $3 billion mega-damages

Meta dropped songs from Reels library to bully Wixen into accepting lower royalty rates, says lawsuit

Horizon Future Leaders: Four issues shaping the industry

Five key developments over the Christmas break

Music and AI: 2025’s developments that will shape 2026’s disputes

Artists from South East Europe at risk of “cultural erasure” as a result of Spotify’s 1000 stream threshold

As indie community calls again for Universal’s Downtown deal to be blocked, will UMG flog off Curve to get over regulators?

MIT study “marks a new anchor for meaningful actions” to make live music more environmentally sustainable

Indie publishers make demands of collecting societies as they start to negotiate AI deals

Bob Vylan sue RTÉ over claims they instigated “antisemitic chant” during Glastonbury set

After King Gizzard boycotted Spotify, tracks by an AI-clone of the band started streaming

Ador founder wants to develop alternative K-pop management model with new agency

Indie publisher trade body says members should reject AI deals that do not value songs properly

“Creators are collateral damage” in AI race says Jorja Smith’s label, after AI voice clone track goes viral

Kneecap sue MP who “lied to the world” about group’s Canada ban

Johnny Cash estate uses ELVIS Act to sue Coke over tribute act ad soundtrack

Suno picks up Songkick as part of AI licensing deal with Warner Music

Live Nation and AEG provide a “disgusting service”, says Olivia Dean, after for-profit touting of tickets

Fugee Pras Michel jailed for fourteen years after illegal lobbying

Ticket touting platforms start frantic lobbying campaign claiming new anti-tout laws will increase ticket fraud

StubHub share price craters as UK prepares to announce ticket touting ban

Regulators must consider UMG’s AI deals in Downtown case, says IAO President

North American songwriter groups join call for transparency and creator consent as music companies start signing AI deals

Starmer must “honour his pledge” to cap prices in “extortionate and pernicious” secondary ticketing market

Downtown accused of planning “calculated destruction” of a short-lived YouTube music client in bombastic new lawsuit

No “self-service buffet” for AI companies says GEMA CEO as OpenAI loses landmark lyrics lawsuit

Manchester Evening News pays damages after incorrectly labelling Bob Vylan’s “sun salutation” as a Nazi salute

Slipknot.com owner hires domain name specialist to fight back against band’s cybersquatting claims

“Misleading rhetoric and “deceitful buzzwords” not good enough, says Council Of Music Makers in call for creator consent, control and compensation in AI deals

Axing of controversial EBacc is a “step in the right direction” for music education says Ed Sheeran

Former Guns N Roses manager sues band over autobiography blocker clause

Judgement in Getty’s UK lawsuit against Stability “underscores growing gap” between copyright and tech, says leading lawyer

Spotify’s streaming fraud initiatives are “nothing more than window dressing” says rapper RBX as he files class action lawsuit

Streaming services don’t want French language quotas in Québec

Universal has settled its lawsuit with Udio, and signed AI deals with Udio and Stability

Spotify questions MLC’s “motivations” in pursuing audiobook bundling dispute lawsuit

Lizzo is being sued over an uncleared sample - on a track she never released

Viagogo is unfair, opaque and violates EU law, consumer group tells regulator

Bobby Vylan says he has no regrets about “death to the IDF” chant at Glastonbury

Ticketmaster says FTC allegations it colluded with touts “nonsensical”, but it is changing some of its rules and shutting down TradeDesk

Grammy Awards • 2 min read

Grammy Awards defends its new ‘Best Asian Pop’ category after BTS boycott

Last month the Grammys announced a new category for Best Asian Pop Music Performance. But BTS seemingly don’t approve of music being “divided by region or language” and have bailed on the awards as a result. That’s prompted Grammy boss Harvey Mason Jr to come to the new category’s defence…

Chris Cooke • 30 Jul 2026

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: The Black Wizards

Porto trio The Black Wizards make garage rock with a political edge and a sharp sense of humour. New single ‘Wishing Well’ is frantic proto-punk, and their fourth album was recorded in five chaotic days after the original sessions fell through. Rough edges intact, the album will arrive on 4 Sep…

Kaya Robertson • 30 Jul 2026

SOCAN • 3 min read

Canada’s SOCAN buys CMRRA from SoundExchange, meaning Canadian performing and mechanical rights will now be licensed through one organisation

SOCAN, the performing rights society for Canadian songwriters, has bought CMRRA, Canada’s mechanical rights organisation. It means performing rights and mechanical rights will be licensed via one society in Canada, which makes sense given many users of music now exploit both sets of rights…

Chris Cooke • 30 Jul 2026

Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

Record labels come together to propose rules for when AI-generated tracks can get into the music charts

The major labels and an assortment of indies have proposed a set of rules for when AI-generated recordings should be eligible for the music charts. They say only AI-assisted tracks should be allowed to chart, that those tracks should only use legit AI tools, and the use of AI should be labelled…

Chris Cooke • 29 Jul 2026

Suno • 3 min read

Two class action lawsuits filed over Suno’s big data breach

Following the recent media reports that data connected to 55.3 million Suno users was accessed by hackers last November, two class action lawsuits have now been filed against the AI company over its failure to protect that data. Which makes a nice change from all the copyright infringement lawsuits…

Chris Cooke • 29 Jul 2026

RBX • 2 min read

RBX re-files and ramps up lawsuit accusing Spotify of “intentionally ignoring fraud committed by certain ‘a-list’ artists”

Rapper RBX is having another go at suing Spotify over allegations it turns a blind eye to streaming fraud when it benefits superstar artists like Drake. His original lawsuit was dismissed but he has filed an amended complaint expanding on his theory that Spotify has a two-tier streaming fraud policy…

Chris Cooke • 29 Jul 2026

Ariana Grande • 2 min read

Ariana Grande kicks off legal battle in bid to identify hackers who keep leaking her music

Ariana Grande is very annoyed that anonymous hackers keep hacking into the devices and accounts of photographers and producers she works with and then leaking pre-release music and other content. So much so she’s filed a lawsuit, though her lawyers first need to figure out who the hackers are…

Chris Cooke • 28 Jul 2026

Live Nation • 3 min read

Live Nation says everyone should shut up and stop asking questions about its cosy deal with Trump’s DoJ

The US states that successfully pursued an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation want the judge to force more information to be shared about the live giant’s deal to settle the US Department Of Justice’s separate antitrust claims. But Live Nation has told the judge there’s no need for any of that…

Chris Cooke • 28 Jul 2026

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Fat Dog

South London seven-piece Fat Dog make chaotic, euphoric electro-punk-art-rock with very few rules. New single ‘Shit Love’ is stabbing synths and manic vocals. Second album ‘Cancel Me (I'm Tired)’ is out 2 Oct. They headline Brixton in the same month…

Kaya Robertson • 28 Jul 2026

Open AI • 4 min read

ChatGPT training was legal and covered by ‘private research’ copyright exception says Indian judge

A judge in India has ruled that Open AI was fine to use content owned by news agency ANI when training ChatGPT, because AI training is covered by a ‘research’ exception in Indian copyright law. Although related to news content, it’s a key ruling on the copyright obligations of AI companies in India…

Chris Cooke • 27 Jul 2026

StubHub • 2 min read

Democrats in Congress ask whether StubHub boss Eric Baker’s ticket touting side hustle “manipulated markets”

The revelation that StubHub boss Eric Baker is also MD of a company involved in industrial-level ticket touting on the StubHub platform has already resulted in a lawsuit in the US courts and is now the subject of an investigation by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee in US Congress…

Chris Cooke • 27 Jul 2026