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

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?

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

Kneecap • 3 min read

Hungary Kneecap ban is “fucking outrageous” and has “no legal basis”, says band

Hungary has banned Kneecap from entering the country ahead of a planned performance at Sziget Festival next month. The festival says the move by the Hungarian government is “unnecessary and regrettable”, while Kneecap have dubbed it “fucking outrageous”, insisting there is no legal basis for the ban…

Chris Cooke • 25 Jul 2025

Pandora • 2 min read

‘Implied jokes licence’ no laughing matter says comedy lawyer in stand-up streaming stand off

A group of comedians sued Pandora for copyright infringement on the basis that, although it had permission to stream recordings of their performances, it never got licences covering their comedy material. But a judge who has reviewed the case says Pandora had an implied licence for all the jokes…

Chris Cooke • 25 Jul 2025

TikTok • 2 min read

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

TikTok’s future in the US remains uncertain. Although Donald Trump has now postponed three times the deadline for ByteDance to sell the app in order to avoid a ban, his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said the sale must happen, and if China blocks the deal “TikTok is going to go dark”…

Chris Cooke • 25 Jul 2025

Horizon Future Leaders • 5 min read

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders - Josh Daniel

This week, we caught up with Josh Daniel, Head of Interval Records and Chief Commercial Officer at Generator, the national talent development organisation based in Newcastle.…

Kaya Robertson • 25 Jul 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

Getting AI companies to agree to licensing deals with copyright owners is “not doable” and “China’s not doing it”, rambles Trump

Donald Trump yesterday launched his much anticipated ‘AI Action Plan’. It doesn’t say anything about the copyright obligations of AI companies. But during a rambling speech launching the plan, the President said that having AI companies get licences from copyright owners is just “not doable”…

Chris Cooke • 24 Jul 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧Approved: MCBAISE

MCBAISE is the sun-drenched alias of Cannes-born artist mcbess, blending yacht rock, woozy funk and surreal visuals. New single Cold Cuts (with Muthi) is a groove-soaked trip through playful nostalgia, with flickering guitars and velvet synths in tow…

Kaya Robertson • 24 Jul 2025

Apple • 3 min read

UK regulator sets roadmap for reviewing app store payment rules

Last year the UK’s competition regulator closed an investigation into the Apple App Store rules that Spotify hates, but only so it could figure out how to use new powers it had been granted by Parliament. Now it’s done that, it’s proposed a roadmap for reviewing the hated rules, starting this autumn…

Chris Cooke • 24 Jul 2025

Warner Music • 2 min read

Warner appoints new ADA boss

Warner Music’s distribution division ADA has a new boss, Alejandro Duque, who will do the job as well as being President of the major’s Latin America business. The change in ADA leadership comes as Warner looks to cut its costs by $300 million a year…

Chris Cooke • 23 Jul 2025

Ozzy Osbourne • 3 min read

Music industry pays tribute to Ozzy Osbourne

Artists, musicians and music companies have paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne following the announcement of his death yesterday. Among them Sony Music, which released Osbourne’s solo records, and Warner Music, which handled the US releases of all the early Black Sabbath albums…

Chris Cooke • 23 Jul 2025

Universal Music • 3 min read

“There comes a point when big is too big” says IMPALA boss as EU launches full UMG competition investigation

The European Commission yesterday announced it was launching a more in-depth ‘phase two’ investigation into Universal Music’s deal to buy Downtown Music. The indie sector has welcomed that development, with trade group IMPALA again calling for EU regulators to block the transaction…

Chris Cooke • 23 Jul 2025

Creator Remuneration Working Group • 5 min read

Songwriters to get per diems as part of creator remuneration package, though creator orgs say “much more still needs to be done”

UK minister Chris Bryant has announced a set of principles on creator remuneration agreed with record labels, plus two new initiatives including per diems for songwriters. However, music creator groups say “much more still needs to be done” to address issues around how streaming money is shared…

Chris Cooke • 22 Jul 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 2 min read

US Senators propose new law to ban AI companies "from stealing and training on copyright works"

Last week US Senator Josh Hawley said that AI companies were engaged in “the largest IP theft in American history”. Now he’s teamed up with fellow senator Richard Blumenthal to propose new laws on AI, copyright and data which would “bar AI companies from training on copyright works”…

Chris Cooke • 22 Jul 2025