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

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

New Udio lawsuit hones in on the “significant and unequal harm” inflicted on independent musicians by music AI

Majors tell US Supreme Court to ignore ISP’s doom and gloom predictions and uphold billion dollar piracy ruling

Drake vows to appeal after judge throws out defamation lawsuit against Universal

High profile songwriters express concern about PRS transparency, accuracy and admin costs

Anthropic’s own guardrails revive full copyright lawsuit from litigious music publishers

Suno tells court to reject stream-ripping “gambit” by major labels in AI legal battle

As indie labels ramp up campaign for EU to block the UMG x Downtown merger, a French music lawyer says concerns around data are “fantasy or paranoia”

As FT says major labels are close to “landmark” AI licensing deals, is a new battle royale going to kick off within the music industry?

No one seems to know if Kneecap are still banned from Canada - or whether they were ever actually banned at all

Don’t say gruesome twosome: Ek steps sideways at Spotify to make way for not one but two new CEOs

‘Something Inside’ songwriter goes legal over Tommy Robinson’s use of his anti-apartheid anthem

Donald Trump signs executive order “saving TikTok”

Kanya King • 2 min read

Music industry pays tribute to MOBO founder Kanya King

The founder and CEO of MOBO, Kanya King, died this week, it was announced earlier today. Tributes have been coming in for King from across the music industry, including YolanDa Brown, who says she’s one of countless artists whose journey was “encouraged, amplified and validated by Kanya’s vision”…

Chris Cooke • 05 Jun 2026

CMU Selects • 1 min read

CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases

Our selection of five releases that cut through the noise this week, from Venbee, LA Priest, Ledbyher, Steve Lacy + Tinashe…

Kaya Robertson • 05 Jun 2026

A Corps • 2 min read

Colorado creates new kind of limited company for artists and creators

A new kind of limited company has been created in Colorado that is specifically designed to suit and protect the interests of artists and creators. It’s based on a concept proposed last year by Kickstarter founder Yancey Strickler, who says other US states are considering following Colorado’s lead…

Chris Cooke • 05 Jun 2026

CISAC • 3 min read

CISAC sets out objectives for protecting human creativity amid “rapid advancements in AI”

CISAC used its General Assembly in Paris today to launch a new declaration - the Paris Commitment - via which creators call on policymakers and the industry to ensure “human creativity” is “protected, respected and sustained” as “rapid advancements in AI risk undermining the value of creative work”…

Chris Cooke • 04 Jun 2026

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Charlotte Dos Santos

You can tell Charlotte Dos Santos relishes following her own creative intuition, which is why she’s had comparisons to Solange. New single ‘Roses’ is a good place to start, richly textured lush, cinematic chamber soul, with a slightly psychedelic-jazz arrangement…

Kaya Robertson • 04 Jun 2026

Online Streaming Act • 3 min read

Streaming services celebrate as Canadian government scraps streaming levy plan and announces alternative $600 million cultural funding package

The Canadian government seems to have scrapped the controversial streaming levy which would have seen a 5% levy charged on music and video streaming services. Instead it is committing to introduce “federal investments” of $600 million a year to support Canada’s audio and audiovisual sectors…

Chris Cooke • 04 Jun 2026

Tickets.ie • 2 min read

Directors of DEAG subsidiary tickets.ie will appoint liquidators

Irish ticketing platform Tickets.ie is calling in the liquidators. DEAG became a majority shareholder in the company in 2022 after the ticket seller restructured to meet financial challenges caused by the COVID shutdown. It’s not clear how many promoters will be impacted by the company’s collapse…

Kaya Robertson • 04 Jun 2026

WOMAD • 1 min read

First Scottish edition of WOMAD cancelled due to low ticket sales

The first ever Scottish edition of WOMAD was due to take place in Glasgow next month via a partnership with Celtic Connections and Glasgow Life. However, organisers have cancelled the event because ticket sales “did not reach the level required” to “deliver” the festival “in its inaugural year”…

Chris Cooke • 03 Jun 2026

Horizon Future Leaders • 5 min read

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders - Lucius Yeo

This week, we caught up with Lucius Yeo; founder of Copacetic PR…

Horizon Music Jobs • 03 Jun 2026

2 Live Crew • 3 min read

US court overturns 2 Live Crew’s successful termination rights claim, but on a bankruptcy technicality

In 2024 members of 2 Live Crew successfully reclaimed rights in their 1980s recordings by exercising the termination right in US copyright law. However, an appeals court has stopped the rights reversion because one of those members, Mark Ross, lost his termination right when he went bankrupt in 2000…

Chris Cooke • 03 Jun 2026

Suno • 3 min read

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

Universal and Sony are still suing Suno, and have accessed lots of info about the AI company in the process. Suno is very keen for one bit of data, the total number of audio files it used when training its AI, to stay confidential, despite a New York journalist’s efforts to force full transparency…

Chris Cooke • 02 Jun 2026

IMPALA • 2 min read

IMPALA backs French indie sector’s CD and vinyl recycling programme as it expands to consumers

It’s EU Green Week, which has prompted pan-European indie label trade group IMPALA to put the spotlight on its French member’s CD and vinyl recycling programme. That scheme, called ReDisco, is being extended this month so that consumers as well as labels can recycle unwanted records…

Chris Cooke • 02 Jun 2026

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