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

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”

Tabloid claims that Dua Lipa sacked agent over Glasto Kneecap letter are “categorically false” and “deliberately inflammatory”

Major labels add piracy claims to Suno lawsuit after $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement

Live Nation colludes with ticket touts, says US government as it launches legal action

Cornwall Council will hold meeting about ‘safety risks’ of Bob Vylan’s August Boardmasters performance - even through there weren’t any

Spotify finally adds lossless audio to premium

Anthropic will pay authors $1.5 billion to settle AI copyright case

Universal’s Downtown deal must be blocked by regulators before “cultural diversity is weakened irreversibly” says Dutch indie label group president

As EU hits pause on UMG Downtown investigation after “parties fail to provide important info”, Downtown boss whines about “misinformation”

More upheaval at Warner Music as UK label chiefs will report directly to US execs

Yet another senior exec out at Warner Music as UK boss Tony Harlow quits

Billion dollar piracy win for majors “defies common law and common sense” says Cox

Court dismisses Dave Rowntree’s black box lawsuit against PRS

Supertramp songwriter must continue to share publishing royalties with bandmates, US appeals court concludes

FTC sues ticket touting business that claims it is endorsed by Ticketmaster

Drake’s claims are “farcical” says Lucian Grainge as defamation battle rumbles on

Drake wants to trawl through Papa Grainge’s emails in ‘Not Like Us’ libel battle

Sony sues Napster over $9.2 million in unpaid royalties

Spotify age-checks could result in accounts being deleted, but only if you’re twelve

Increasing number of artists join Spotify boycott over CEO’s AI weapon investments

If China blocks TikTok deal app will “go dark” says US Commerce Secretary, but hints deal “coming soon”

Blackstone bails on consortium bidding to buy TikTok US - will a deal still be done by September deadline?

Anthropic’s ‘fair use’ win in AI copyright case could turn into a trillion dollar loss

No copyright exception for AI training in European law, says new report

Full scale anticompetition investigation on the cards after UMG’s Virgin Music fails to allay EU fears over Downtown merger

Suno AI’s faulty guardrails mean its ‘ReMi’ lyric model will spit out entire lyrical works with basic prompting

Did Ticketmaster’s UK boss Andrew Parsons mislead MPs at a select committee hearing?

Trump must “weigh in” on AI copyright debate and pressure “less innovative countries” on copyright rules, says OpenAI

Everyone’s making loads of money but don’t point the finger at us if you’re not, says Spotify’s updated Loud & Clear

Andrew Tate course on ‘pimping’ and exploiting women remains on Spotify as petition passes 25,000 signatures

Universal will spend billions to dominate emerging markets, says Grainge during Q4 earnings call as major sets out its “eat the world” strategies

Liverpool “new heart of music business” says Sound City as major label execs and industry heavyweights head north

Live Nation boss dismissive of streaming platforms’ superfan ambitions as company reports record year

Spotify wants to be “the best in the world at building AI products” and is focused on “accelerated execution”... but still no super-premium launch

Judge throws out MLC’s audiobooks bundle lawsuit, says Spotify can keep cutting songwriter royalties through its “cynical trick”

Universal Music’s new Spotify deal could be a knock-out blow for streaming platform’s audiobook bundling trick

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?

Wasserman Music • 2 min read

Chappell Roan fires Wasserman Music as her agent after CEO shows up in Epstein files

When the US government released further documents from the Epstein files last month they included emails between Wasserman Music’s CEO and Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. That has led to criticism of Wasserman by artists the company represents - with Chappell Roan firing the agency in protest…

Chris Cooke • 10 Feb 2026

Live Nation • 3 min read

Live Nation risks “subverting rule of law” by lobbying Trump allies to stop antitrust case, say indie venues

As the US government’s antitrust litigation against Live Nation heads to trial, the live giant has reportedly hired the services of Trump allies to try to force an out-of-court settlement. If that’s true, that means Live Nation is “subverting the rule of law”, according to indie venue group NIVA…

Chris Cooke • 10 Feb 2026

Spotify • 13 min read

Spotify made €17.2 billion last year, with profits of €2.2 billion - and paid just €12 million in tax. Here’s what else we learned from today’s earnings call

Spotify reported its Q4 2025 numbers today and held its first analyst call with its new co-CEO double-act of Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström. The company is calling 2026 its “Year Of Raising Ambition”. Whether that ambition includes the music industry is another story…

Sam Taylor • 10 Feb 2026

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Girl Scout

Girl Scout’s jazz school chops and a penchant for scrappier music gives their songs a loose, lived-in feel, where melody comes first and polish is optional. New single ‘Keeper’ pulls away from the scuzziness of last month’s ‘Operator’ and sinks into something foggier and more exposed…

Kaya Robertson • 10 Feb 2026

Spotify • 3 min read

Spotify sets out lobbing agenda on leaky pipes, transparency, streaming fraud and levies

Spotify has set out an agenda for how “governments in partnership with industry” could address some of the issues in streaming, including demands around metadata and leaky royalty pipes, as well as calls around AI and streaming fraud. It also once again sets out its opposition to streaming levies…

Chris Cooke • 09 Feb 2026

Pandora • 3 min read

Pandora accuses MLC of “abusing its position” as it pushes for summary judgement in royalties dispute

Pandora and The MLC have both submitted motions seeking summary judgements in their favour in an ongoing dispute over when the US streaming service should be paying mechanical royalties. Both submissions are forthright, with Pandora claiming that the MLC is “exploiting” and “abusing” its position…

Chris Cooke • 09 Feb 2026

TikTok • 1 min read

EU regulators tell TikTok to make changes to its “addictive design”

TikTok may be forced to make changes to its app in Europe after EU regulators said it had failed to “adequately assess” the negative impact of its “addictive design”. But TikTok says the European Commission has presented a “categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform”…

Chris Cooke • 09 Feb 2026

Secondary Ticketing • 3 min read

California considering ticket touting price cap, while campaigns call on New York to outlaw for-profit resale

Proposals have been made to cap the price of touted tickets in both California and New York. Californian Assembly member Matt Haney has proposed a 10% price cap on resale via his Fans First Act. And the Fix The Tix campaign has called on New York lawmakers to ban for-profit resale and cap admin fees…

Chris Cooke • 06 Feb 2026

EMMA • 2 min read

Managers at “forefront of an emerging artist-centric music business” need better access to finance and more transparency

The European Music Managers Alliance has published a new report based on a survey of 330 managers. The trade group says the study shows that “managers are at the forefront of an emerging artist-centric music business” but are often “holding the fort in the most challenging of circumstances”…

Chris Cooke • 06 Feb 2026

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Joseph Terrell

Joseph Terrell isn’t your typical strummy folk protagonist, he’s proof that American folk music still has teeth, and that sometimes the smile comes before the bite…

Kaya Robertson • 05 Feb 2026

Chris Brown • 2 min read

Chris Brown recorded ‘Sensational’ lyrics without paying the writer, claims lawsuit

A new lawsuit accuses Chris Brown of cutting a fellow artist who wrote lyrics for his tracks ‘Sensational’ and ‘Monalisa’ out of the rights and royalties stemming from those works. Steve Chokpelle wants the court to confirm his status as co-author and to order Brown to pay him millions in damages…

Chris Cooke • 05 Feb 2026

Universal Music • 2 min read

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

When British film-maker Robert Carruthers was sued for including uncleared music in documentaries he made about The Rolling Stones and Nirvana he employed the ‘fair use’ defence. But a US judge has ruled that adding a few ‘hot takes’ alongside the music doesn’t mean you can avoid getting licences…

Chris Cooke • 05 Feb 2026