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Budweiser boasts of “$0 spent on music rights” in “iconic songs” campaign, wins ad-land’s biggest prize

EU regulators formally launch investigation into Universal Music’s Downtown deal

Did Sony’s Rob Stringer just hand regulators the case to tank Universal’s Downtown dreams?

Ticketmaster offered touts meetings with Live Nation’s top lawyer

Don’t gaslight MPs warns Caroline Dinenage as she says ministers have got into a “terrible pickle” over AI

As another festival falls, AIF proposes new tax relief scheme

Major labels face setback as Trump’s pet DOJ legal beagle sides with Cox in piracy battle

We are just another victim in the shameful lineage of Apple intimidation and bullying, cries Musi

SoundCloud’s amended AI clause still “fundamentally terrible for artists” says Ed Newton-Rex

Guardrails aren’t proof of infringement says Anthropic as judge spanks AI company for “hallucinated” filin

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

Downtown Music • 3 min read

WIN says EU regulators must consider “the structure of the music industry as a whole” when investigating UMG’s Downtown deal

With EU regulators currently investigating Universal’s bid to buy Downtown, WIN has urged officials to consider “the structure of the music industry as whole”, arguing that it’s not enough to analyse market share, the EU should assess Universal’s aim to exert control across the digital supply chain…

Chris Cooke • 01 Jul 2025

Bob Vylan • 4 min read

As ministers demand answers from Glastonbury and BBC, Bob Vylan say it’s all a “distraction” from the government’s “criminal inaction” on Gaza

Controversy continues to build over Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set. The duo are subject to a criminal investigation and have had US visas revoked, although the Jewish artist they were due to support there has backed his musical collaborators. Criticism of the BBC for broadcasting the set also continues…

Chris Cooke • 01 Jul 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Sylo

Rooted in alt-R&B, Toronto-born Korean-Canadian artist Sylo crafts music that edges into pop and electronic territory, always anchored in feeling. His new single, ‘Carve Me Out’, blends the spectral textures of The xx with the weight of a pop ballad…

Kaya Robertson • 01 Jul 2025

BBC • 5 min read

“Fair play” to Eavis family for standing up to political pressure say Kneecap, as BBC “regrets” not pulling plug on Bob Vylan

After the BBC decided not to broadcast Kneecap’s Glastonbury performance live, so it could edit out any controversial bits, it was Bob Vylan’s preceding set that prompted outrage. The BBC now says it should have pulled its live broadcast when Bobby Vylan started chanting “Death Death To The IDF”…

Chris Cooke • 30 Jun 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 2 min read

Denmark wants to stamp out deepfakes with new voice and likeness rights

Danish law-makers will soon consider new rights that would allow performers to stop their voice or likeness being exploited in AI-generated deepfakes. The Danish government will propose amendments to the country's copyright laws which could prove influential across the European Union…

Chris Cooke • 30 Jun 2025

CMU Selects • 2 min read

CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases

From Blood Orange and Mac DeMarco’s gentle returns to a club-wrecker from Skepta and Fred again.., here are the releases that stood out to us last week.…

Kaya Robertson • 30 Jun 2025

Diddy • 2 min read

“Money, power and influence” enabled Diddy’s criminal enterprise but “that stops now”, prosecutor tells jury

Summing up began in the Diddy trial yesterday, with the prosecution setting out for a final time why the jury should find the musician guilty of racketeering. Diddy relied on his music business and an inner circle of employees to commit at least eight different kinds of crime, the jury was told…

Chris Cooke • 27 Jun 2025

Kneecap • 4 min read

Kneecap respond to “dead Tory” and flag incidents ahead of Glastonbury performance, as TRNSMT boss says he’s “frustrated” the band had to be axed from his event

Kneecap have spoken to The Guardian about all their recent controversies ahead of tomorrow’s performance at Glastonbury, insisting critics have deliberately taken videos of past gigs out of context. Meanwhile the boss of TRNSMT has discussed why the band was axed from his festival’s line-up…

Chris Cooke • 27 Jun 2025

Horizon Future Leaders • 5 min read

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders - Sam White

This week, we caught up with Sam White - Day-To-Day Manager at SB3 Artist Management, where he works across the careers of Katie Melua, The Boxer Rebellion, PJ Harvey (in partnership with ATC) and songwriter Nathan Nicholson.…

Horizon Music Jobs • 27 Jun 2025

Meta • 4 min read

First Anthropic, now Meta: another judge accepts fair use defence in AI training - but there’s a sting

When it was sued by a group of authors for using their books in AI training without permission, Meta used the fair use defence. A judge has accepted that defence but says that in many cases AI training probably isn’t fair use and he provides some arguments rightsholders could employ in similar cases…

Chris Cooke • 26 Jun 2025

Helen Smith • 5 min read

European regulators won’t fall for UMG’s tricks a second time says IMPALA boss

In an op-ed published yesterday, IMPALA’s Helen Smith spells out why she believes European regulators will give an “outright no” to Universal’s Downtown deal. Having already taken regulatory action against Universal once before in 2012, the EC is unlikely to give the major a second bite of the cake…

Sam Taylor • 26 Jun 2025