Chris Cooke - CMU | the music business explained

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

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Cox Communications • 3 min read

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

The US Supreme Court has agreed to review the long-running legal battle between ISP Cox and the major labels. Cox wants the top court to reverse the billion dollar ruling in that litigation and, in a new court filing, again claims that failing to do so will result in mass internet disconnections…

Chris Cooke • 01 Sep 2025

Sony Music’s NYC HQ criticised over handling of corporate culture scandal at Aussie division

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Sony Music • 2 min read

Sony Music’s NYC HQ criticised over handling of corporate culture scandal at Aussie division

Australian tabloid the Daily Telegraph has published another report about employee grievances at Sony Music Australia and allegations that CEO Vanessa Picken has fostered a toxic workplace culture. Staff members are now specifically criticising how the major’s New York HQ is handling the crisis…

Chris Cooke • 01 Sep 2025

Court dismisses Dave Rowntree’s black box lawsuit against PRS

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PRS For Music • 5 min read

Court dismisses Dave Rowntree’s black box lawsuit against PRS

A UK court has dismissed a class action lawsuit filed by Blur drummer Dave Rowntree against PRS over the collecting society’s black box distribution rules. PRS raised various issues with Rowntree’s ‘collective competition proceedings’, with judges ultimately granting its bid to strike the action…

Chris Cooke • 29 Aug 2025

Sony’s merch division seeks court order banning sale of Benson Boone knock-offs

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Benson Boone • 2 min read

Sony’s merch division seeks court order banning sale of Benson Boone knock-offs

Benson Boone is on tour around the US and bootleggers are trying to sell knock off merch outside his shows. He works with Sony Music’s Ceremony Of Roses on his official merchandise, and it wants a court order banning the sale and ordering confiscation of all the knock offs…

Chris Cooke • 29 Aug 2025

Apple Music makes its radio stations available to everyone via radio streaming app TuneIn

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Apple Music • 3 min read

Apple Music makes its radio stations available to everyone via radio streaming app TuneIn

Apple has announced a tie up with TuneIn which will see its six Apple Music Radio stations made available via the radio aggregator app. It seems to be part of a plan by Apple to better utilise the free radio services to sell subscriptions to Apple Music, which is lagging being main rival Spotify…

Chris Cooke • 28 Aug 2025

Just three years after overhauling its top team, Sony Australia faces fresh accusations of a toxic workplace culture

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Sony Music • 2 min read

Just three years after overhauling its top team, Sony Australia faces fresh accusations of a toxic workplace culture

Sony Music has responded to a newspaper report about its Australian division, which said employees had complained about a toxic workplace under CEO Vanessa Picken, who was hired after a previous scandal about the division’s corporate culture. The major says “we take all concerns very seriously”…

Chris Cooke • 28 Aug 2025

Anthropic settles legal dispute with authors - in a deal that could be influential in other AI copyright disputes

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Anthropic • 3 min read

Anthropic settles legal dispute with authors - in a deal that could be influential in other AI copyright disputes

A settlement between Anthropic and a group of US authors could prove influential in the big debate over copyright and AI. A judge ruled that Anthropic’s use of books in its AI training was fair use unless it had pirated those books. Which it had. Which is why the AI company is now keen to settle…

Chris Cooke • 27 Aug 2025

Brace yourself: Spotify is convinced people want it to be a messaging app

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Spotify • 3 min read

Brace yourself: Spotify is convinced people want it to be a messaging app

Spotify is adding messaging to its app, functionality it previously removed in 2017. It means users will be able to recommend tracks, podcasts and audiobooks to friends within the platform. Spotify says its users have been asking for this functionality and “our goal is to give users what they want”…

Chris Cooke • 27 Aug 2025

Universal calls for Salt N Pepa lawsuit to be thrown out yet again

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Salt N Pepa • 3 min read

Universal calls for Salt N Pepa lawsuit to be thrown out yet again

The legal battle between Salt N Pepa and Universal Music over the US termination right continues. The rappers filed an amended lawsuit earlier this month as they try to reclaim ownership of their 1980s recordings. The major says their legal claims are still deficient and should be dismissed…

Chris Cooke • 26 Aug 2025

Another weekend of Gaza protests at music festivals plus Kneecap cancel US shows

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Kneecap • 5 min read

Another weekend of Gaza protests at music festivals plus Kneecap cancel US shows

Kneecap have announced that their October tour of the US is officially cancelled, following reports of visa issues. The announcement comes after another weekend of festival-related politics, with Kneecap’s set at Rock en Seine in France and events at the Victorious Festival in the UK…

Chris Cooke • 26 Aug 2025

Spotify’s ads business is “floundering”, according to Business Insider report

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Spotify • 4 min read

Spotify’s ads business is “floundering”, according to Business Insider report

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek recently admitted that the streaming service’s ad sales have been underperforming. Business Insider has spoken to advertising industry execs who say Spotify’s ad strategy to date has been “messy” and the value of its recent push into video ads is yet to be proven…

Chris Cooke • 22 Aug 2025

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

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Supertramp • 2 min read

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

Last year a US court ruled that Supertramp songwriter Roger Hodgson could cancel a 1977 agreement to share his publishing royalties with former bandmates. But an appeals court has overturned that ruling, stating that the agreement should stay in force until the Supertramp copyrights expire…

Chris Cooke • 22 Aug 2025