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

Universal put “corporate greed” before Drake’s safety, says defamation lawsuit filed over Kendrick Lamar diss track

Beware the “wolf under the cape” in Universal’s Downtown land grab, warns Beggars boss as IMPALA calls for regulators to block the deal

EU AI Act can only provide a “temporary fix” to the “darker aspect” of AI’s “profound disruption” to creative industries says open letter

AI generated music will suck €4 billion a year away from music creators by 2028 says CISAC

Village People founder loves Trump using YMCA, but hates people calling it a gay anthem

Executives from BMG, Absolute Label Services, Mahogany Music, Punch Records and more to join award winning female entrepreneurs in Liverpool as first Sound City+ 2025 speakers unveiled

AIF makes desperate call for government to “step up, and step up now” to get festivals through “devastating period”, as MVT launches new Liveline fund

New AI transparency proposal in US Congress will “pave the way” for creator compensation says ASCAP boss

SXSW ditches weapons sponsors to burnish brand - so why won’t it ditch its ties to Saudi Arabia?

SXSW London could disrupt delicately balanced music ecosystem and should reconsider its date

Drake • 5 min read

Universal put “corporate greed” before Drake’s safety, says defamation lawsuit filed over Kendrick Lamar diss track

Drake has sued his own label, Universal Music, for defamation over the lyrics in Kendrick Lamar’s diss track ‘Not Like Us’, which the major also released. A lawsuit claims that the lyrics make defamatory allegations against Drake which have jeopardised the safety of the musician and his family…

Chris Cooke • 16 Jan 2025

TikTok • 3 min read

As TikTok prepares for US shutdown, it’s still not clear if anyone will step in to halt the ban

TikTok says it will basically stop operating in the US entirely if a ban due to kick in on Sunday goes ahead. There are still various ways that the law that instigates that ban could be paused at the very last minute, but no one seems to know whether that will actually happen…

Chris Cooke • 16 Jan 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Jeshi

Jeshi taps into grime’s DNA with his latest single ‘SCUMBAG’, linking up with JD. REID to flip Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Stand Up Tall’. He’s recharged the grime classic with a gritty, glitchy rework, proving that the genre’s evolution is in good hands…

Kaya Robertson • 16 Jan 2025

Deezer • 5 min read

Deezer is reworking the way it allocates royalties again as SACEM signs up to its ‘artist-centric’ model

French collecting society SACEM has signed up to Deezer’s ‘artist-centric’ approach to paying royalties, which disadvantages tracks released by artists who fail to meet certain thresholds. That system has only applied to recordings previously, but will now also apply to songs, albeit only in France…

Chris Cooke • 15 Jan 2025

Ticketing • 3 min read

FTC action against junk fees on tickets is good but might actually make junk fees harder to spot, say US talent agents

Last month the FTC in the US announced a new rule that says ticketing companies must declare the full price of a ticket upfront including any additional venue or ticket agent fees. The live sector has welcomed the rule, but agents point out those fees will remain and will now be easier to hide…

Chris Cooke • 15 Jan 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 2 min read

Copyright group says UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan stance on data mining reform is “deeply concerning”

Earlier this week the UK government launched its AI Opportunities Action Plan, basically stating that UK law should have an AI copyright exception like EU law, even though ministers are in the midst of a consultation supposedly scrutinising that proposal. The copyright industries are not impressed…

Chris Cooke • 15 Jan 2025

Suno • 8 min read

Suno CEO Mikey Shulman says making music sucks, skill doesn’t matter and everyone building AI products infringes copyright

In a wide ranging interview on the 20VC podcast, Suno.ai boss Mikey Shulman has outlined his vision for music in the age of AI, saying that AI generated music is an opportunity to drive greater engagement for both listeners and creators, and that artists he talks to “love and use” Suno…

Sam Taylor • 14 Jan 2025

Ador • 1 min read

Ador seeks injunction to stop NewJeans brand deals

As the legal dispute between HYBE subsidiary Ador and K-pop group NewJeans rumbles on, the label has asked the courts in South Korea to issue an injunction stopping the girl group from entering into new brand deals without its involvement…

Chris Cooke • 14 Jan 2025

Piracy • 2 min read

Record industry welcomes Notorious Markets Report putting spotlight on bulletproof ISPs

The US Trade Representative last week published its annual Notorious Markets Report, running through key piracy gripes of the American IP industries. Although counterfeit medicines are a particular focus this year, music industry concerns are also summarised, including those pesky bulletproof ISPs…

Chris Cooke • 14 Jan 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Brooke Combe

Brooke Combe’s vocals, with their old-soul depth, feel as though they pre-date her. Drawing on classic 70s grooves with a touch of Northern soul, it’s no wonder she won the Play Next Rising Award. Her latest single, ‘This Town’, is a defiant rejection of goldfish-bowl living in her hometown…

Kaya Robertson • 14 Jan 2025

TikTok • 4 min read

TikTok will be fine as soon as consummate dealmaker Trump gets stuck in, says Trump

TikTok is due to be banned in the US on 19 Jan. The US Supreme Court could block the ban, though at a hearing last week it seemed judges weren’t likely to go that route. Which means TikTok’s future in the US now rests with “consummate dealmaker” Donald Trump, who still reckons he can solve this one…

Chris Cooke • 13 Jan 2025

• 6 min read

Ten key developments over the Christmas break

CMU Daily returns after its Christmas break later today. In the meantime, here are ten music business developments since the last CMU Daily in December, including year-end stats, a ticketing consultation, music industry v Anthropic updates, alleged fraud at PPL and Universal’s new Amazon deal…

Chris Cooke • 13 Jan 2025