Chris Cooke - CMU | the music business explained (Page 2)

StubHub to more clearly state prices and terms for touted tickets, and offer Taylor Swift fans refunds, but only in British Columbia

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StubHub • 3 min read

StubHub to more clearly state prices and terms for touted tickets, and offer Taylor Swift fans refunds, but only in British Columbia

StubHub has committed to make changes to its website in Canada after an investigation by a consumer rights regulator. It comes as ticket resale companies tell lawmakers they should focus scrutiny on Ticketmaster, following the embarrassing revelations coming out of the Live Nation antitrust trial…

Chris Cooke • 16 Mar 2026

“Robbing them blind, baby - that’s how we do it”, boast Live Nation execs about “so stupid” ticket-buyers

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Live Nation • 3 min read

“Robbing them blind, baby - that’s how we do it”, boast Live Nation execs about “so stupid” ticket-buyers

The Live Nation antitrust trial may be on hold after it reached a settlement with the US Department Of Justice, but that didn’t stop the release of court papers that include messages between Live Nation execs bragging and joking about randomly hiking up ancillary fees at amphitheater venues…

Chris Cooke • 13 Mar 2026

Concord has gobbled up Ninja Tune and the indie label community is celebrating

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Ninja Tune • 2 min read

Concord has gobbled up Ninja Tune and the indie label community is celebrating

Concord has bought indie label Ninja Tune, saying the deal will “vastly increase its UK and European footprint”. The deal has been welcomed by the wider independent label community, who much prefer indies buying indies than Universal Music buying up every label and distributor in the world…

Chris Cooke • 13 Mar 2026

Sombr dubs Brixton Academy “the most poorly managed venue I’ve ever performed at in my life”

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Brixton Academy • 2 min read

Sombr dubs Brixton Academy “the most poorly managed venue I’ve ever performed at in my life”

Sombr criticised staff at the Brixton Academy over their crowd safety procedures after pausing a show at the venue on Monday when an audience member passed out. It’s an isolated incident, but safety at the venue has been in the spotlight ever since the fatal crowd crush during an Asake show in 2022…

Chris Cooke • 12 Mar 2026

Royalty agency that “pilfered millions” from Dionne Warwick is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”, singer claims

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Dionne Warwick • 3 min read

Royalty agency that “pilfered millions” from Dionne Warwick is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”, singer claims

Last year Dionne Warwick was sued by a royalty management company which said the singer had unlawfully terminated a 25 year old agreement. Now Warwick has countersued claiming that agreement was unfair and has been incorrectly applied, resulting in her losing millions in royalties…

Chris Cooke • 12 Mar 2026

Spotify dubs itself the “the $11 billion+ growth engine” in latest Loud & Clear update

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Spotify • 4 min read

Spotify dubs itself the “the $11 billion+ growth engine” in latest Loud & Clear update

Spotify has updated its Loud & Clear website with 2025 stats, including that it paid more than $11 billion into the music industry last year, with more than 1500 artists now making more than a million a year on the platform. But will the big stats help placate Spotify critics in the music community?…

Chris Cooke • 11 Mar 2026

High Court sides with Kneecap, ending the Hezbollah flag criminal case against Mo Chara

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Kneecap • 3 min read

High Court sides with Kneecap, ending the Hezbollah flag criminal case against Mo Chara

The Hezbollah flag criminal case against Kneecap member Mo Chara is over. High Court judges have backed a ruling last year that said prosecutors missed a crucial deadline when charging the rapper with a terror offence after he allegedly displayed a Hezbollah flag during a London show in 2024…

Chris Cooke • 11 Mar 2026

Live Nation antitrust trial judge says individual US states should seek direct settlement with live music giant

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Live Nation • 3 min read

Live Nation antitrust trial judge says individual US states should seek direct settlement with live music giant

The US government settled its antitrust lawsuit with Live Nation yesterday, but 27 US states, which also accuse the live giant of anticompetitive behaviour, are not part of that deal. The judge has told the states to see if they can agree their own settlement. If not, the antitrust trial will resume…

Chris Cooke • 10 Mar 2026

Google had every opportunity to train its AI legally, but chose to do it on the cheap instead, say indie musicians in new lawsuit

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Google • 3 min read

Google had every opportunity to train its AI legally, but chose to do it on the cheap instead, say indie musicians in new lawsuit

Another AI copyright lawsuit, this time a group of indie artists are suing Google over its Lyria model. Like all AI companies, the lawsuit says, Google infringed copyright when training its model. But Google’s “conduct is different”, because it has the infrastructure in place to train AI legally…

Chris Cooke • 10 Mar 2026

Live Nation settles DoJ antitrust lawsuit - but state lawsuits may continue

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Live Nation • 3 min read

Live Nation settles DoJ antitrust lawsuit - but state lawsuits may continue

One week after the antitrust trial against Live Nation got underway, the live giant has secured an out-of-court settlement, agreeing to new restrictions on Ticketmaster and $280 million in damages. That will settle federal law claims, though some US states may continue the legal battle…

Chris Cooke • 09 Mar 2026

PRS sues gaming platform giant Steam for copyright infringement

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PRS For Music • 3 min read

PRS sues gaming platform giant Steam for copyright infringement

PRS is suing gaming platform Steam for copyright infringement. Although the publishers of games sold via Steam will have secured sync licences for any UK compositions they include, that doesn’t cover the subsequent making available of music when games are downloaded, which only PRS can license…

Chris Cooke • 09 Mar 2026

Subscriptions or ads would “mean a very different BBC”, broadcaster tells government in Royal Charter consultation

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BBC • 4 min read

Subscriptions or ads would “mean a very different BBC”, broadcaster tells government in Royal Charter consultation

The UK government is currently reviewing how the BBC is funded. The broadcaster itself says reform is needed, but subscriptions and ads are probably not the solution. Elsewhere, the Scottish music industry has raised more concerns about programming changes made last year at BBC Radio Scotland…

Chris Cooke • 06 Mar 2026