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

Drake’s Super Bowl gripes in amended lawsuit show defamation action is really an attack on Kendrick Lamar’s success, says Universal

“I just don't understand how that can be fair use”, says judge in Meta AI trial

Pressure mounts for Universal Music Group’s $775 million Downtown acquisition as MEP highlights UMG’s “unprecedented control” of music ecosystem

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?

With the US record industry officially in recession can superpremium and superfans really save the major labels from streaming’s slowdown?

Record industry’s modest growth should make other industries jealous says IFPI boss, as labels weigh in on growth opportunities and AI threats

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?

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

US Copyright Office • 3 min read

US Copyright Office “raced to release” AI report ahead of Trump firing its boss

Donald Trump sacked the boss of the US Copyright Office shortly after it published its report on whether or not AI training is fair use. The two events are probably linked - though it’s more likely the Office rush-released the report knowing that chief Shira Perlmutter was about to be axed…

Chris Cooke • 12 May 2025

SoundCloud • 2 min read

SoundCloud says it’s not training AI with users’ content, despite its terms and conditions saying it can

Last week there was a flurry of debate online about a term on the SoundCloud website that says users agree that their content may be used to “inform, train or develop” AI. In response, SoundCloud insists that it isn’t using tracks uploaded to its platform to train music-making generative AI models…

Chris Cooke • 12 May 2025

CMU Selects • 1 min read

CMU Selects - the last fortnight’s standout releases

From pop provocations to sepia-tinted slow burns, this fortnight’s standout releases come steeped in confidence, craft and a sense of play.…

Kaya Robertson • 12 May 2025

Ed Sheeran • 3 min read

Ed Sheeran fans warned about “huge number of ticket scams” around his homecoming shows

Tickets went on sale for three Ed Sheeran homecoming shows this week. Shortly afterwards scammers were promoting tickets for sale on social media. Suffolk Trading Standards says it expects a high number of ticket scams in relation to the Sheeran gigs and urges fans to only buy from official channels…

Chris Cooke • 09 May 2025

Drake • 4 min read

Drake’s Super Bowl gripes in amended lawsuit show defamation action is really an attack on Kendrick Lamar’s success, says Universal

Universal Music this week responded to Drake’s amended lawsuit accusing it of defamation over its role in releasing Kendrick Lamar’s diss track ‘Not Like Us’. It says that claims added to the lawsuit, especially in relation to Lamar’s Super Bowl performance, are “astonishing” and “without merit”…

Chris Cooke • 09 May 2025

Horizon Future Leaders • 8 min read

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders - Heather Johnson

As part of our Horizon Future Leaders series of interviews, we are connecting with the music industry’s next generation of leaders to gather candid advice and insights into their career journeys. This week we spoke to Heather Johnson, Systems Director at Sub Pop Records.…

Horizon Music Jobs • 09 May 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

UK’s Data Bill passes without creative industries’ demands for copyright and AI safeguards

Opposition MPs yesterday tried but failed to get measures on copyright and AI added to the Data Bill. The government argues that rather than sneaking measures into data legislation, bespoke new laws should be developed to address copyright issues in the context of AI. But when will that happen?…

Chris Cooke • 08 May 2025

US Department Of Justice • 3 min read

US launches investigation into “unfair and anticompetitive practices” in ticketing

The US government has launched a public inquiry into the ticketing business following an executive order from Donald Trump targeting “unfair practices in the live entertainment market”. Ticket scalping will definitely be scrutinised, but the wider ticketing industry could also be in the spotlight…

Chris Cooke • 08 May 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Verraco

Verraco’s sound bubbles over with South American dembow rhythms, the maximalist basslines of UK soundsystem culture, meticulous IDM sound design, and the intensity and precision of techno. New single ‘Basic Maneuvers’ is a high-energy 4x4 club cut destined for large sound systems…

Kaya Robertson • 08 May 2025

Jay-Z • 3 min read

Jay-Z says defamation continues, Buzbee rewrote Wikipedia

The legal battle between Jay-Z, the woman who accused him of rape and her lawyer Tony Buzbee continues. In a new legal filing, the rapper says his accuser continues to defame him despite dropping her lawsuit - and that Buzbee is rewriting Wikipedia to his advantage…

Chris Cooke • 07 May 2025

Musi • 3 min read

Musi faked email from Universal exec in attempt to stop App Store ban says Apple lawyer

Music app Musi is suing Apple, which kicked it out of the App Store last year. In a new filing, Apple says an amended lawsuit filed by Musi contains false claims. It also alleges that Musi once faked an email from Universal Music to convince Apple that a complaint from the major had been addressed…

Chris Cooke • 07 May 2025

Jimmy Page • 2 min read

Jimmy Page sued by ‘Dazed And Confused’ songwriter over Led Zeppelin documentary

Following a 2010 lawsuit, it was agreed that Led Zeppelin’s track ‘Dazed And Confused’ was inspired by an earlier song of the same name by Jake Holmes. He now claims that a performance of the song by The Yardbirds in a recent Led Zeppelin documentary used his version, but it wasn’t licensed as such…

Chris Cooke • 06 May 2025