CMU | the music business explained (Page 114)

European Commission approves Universal’s $775 million Downtown acquisition - but did it ask the right questions?

Spotify is all in on AI, its best engineers haven't written a single line of code since December - and why that should worry the music industry

Adding “hot takes” to unlicensed music is not fair use, judge confirms in rockumentary copyright case

IMPALA report warns European music diversity will erode without intervention on ownership, market access and infrastructure

European Commission must tackle “coercive buy-out practices” when US video streamers commission music, says MEP

Charlie Puth got musician to provide vocals for ‘Furious 7’ track, then Warner cheated him out rights and royalties, says lawsuit

Music publishers file new Anthropic lawsuit, adding in piracy claims and $3 billion mega-damages

Meta dropped songs from Reels library to bully Wixen into accepting lower royalty rates, says lawsuit

Horizon Future Leaders: Four issues shaping the industry

Five key developments over the Christmas break

Music and AI: 2025’s developments that will shape 2026’s disputes

Artists from South East Europe at risk of “cultural erasure” as a result of Spotify’s 1000 stream threshold

As indie community calls again for Universal’s Downtown deal to be blocked, will UMG flog off Curve to get over regulators?

MIT study “marks a new anchor for meaningful actions” to make live music more environmentally sustainable

Indie publishers make demands of collecting societies as they start to negotiate AI deals

Bob Vylan sue RTÉ over claims they instigated “antisemitic chant” during Glastonbury set

After King Gizzard boycotted Spotify, tracks by an AI-clone of the band started streaming

Ador founder wants to develop alternative K-pop management model with new agency

Indie publisher trade body says members should reject AI deals that do not value songs properly

“Creators are collateral damage” in AI race says Jorja Smith’s label, after AI voice clone track goes viral

Kneecap sue MP who “lied to the world” about group’s Canada ban

Johnny Cash estate uses ELVIS Act to sue Coke over tribute act ad soundtrack

Suno picks up Songkick as part of AI licensing deal with Warner Music

Live Nation and AEG provide a “disgusting service”, says Olivia Dean, after for-profit touting of tickets

Fugee Pras Michel jailed for fourteen years after illegal lobbying

Ticket touting platforms start frantic lobbying campaign claiming new anti-tout laws will increase ticket fraud

StubHub share price craters as UK prepares to announce ticket touting ban

Regulators must consider UMG’s AI deals in Downtown case, says IAO President

North American songwriter groups join call for transparency and creator consent as music companies start signing AI deals

Starmer must “honour his pledge” to cap prices in “extortionate and pernicious” secondary ticketing market

Downtown accused of planning “calculated destruction” of a short-lived YouTube music client in bombastic new lawsuit

No “self-service buffet” for AI companies says GEMA CEO as OpenAI loses landmark lyrics lawsuit

Manchester Evening News pays damages after incorrectly labelling Bob Vylan’s “sun salutation” as a Nazi salute

Slipknot.com owner hires domain name specialist to fight back against band’s cybersquatting claims

“Misleading rhetoric and “deceitful buzzwords” not good enough, says Council Of Music Makers in call for creator consent, control and compensation in AI deals

Axing of controversial EBacc is a “step in the right direction” for music education says Ed Sheeran

Former Guns N Roses manager sues band over autobiography blocker clause

Judgement in Getty’s UK lawsuit against Stability “underscores growing gap” between copyright and tech, says leading lawyer

Spotify’s streaming fraud initiatives are “nothing more than window dressing” says rapper RBX as he files class action lawsuit

Streaming services don’t want French language quotas in Québec

Universal has settled its lawsuit with Udio, and signed AI deals with Udio and Stability

Spotify questions MLC’s “motivations” in pursuing audiobook bundling dispute lawsuit

Lizzo is being sued over an uncleared sample - on a track she never released

Viagogo is unfair, opaque and violates EU law, consumer group tells regulator

Bobby Vylan says he has no regrets about “death to the IDF” chant at Glastonbury

Ticketmaster says FTC allegations it colluded with touts “nonsensical”, but it is changing some of its rules and shutting down TradeDesk

New Udio lawsuit hones in on the “significant and unequal harm” inflicted on independent musicians by music AI

Majors tell US Supreme Court to ignore ISP’s doom and gloom predictions and uphold billion dollar piracy ruling

Drake vows to appeal after judge throws out defamation lawsuit against Universal

High profile songwriters express concern about PRS transparency, accuracy and admin costs

Anthropic’s own guardrails revive full copyright lawsuit from litigious music publishers

Suno tells court to reject stream-ripping “gambit” by major labels in AI legal battle

As indie labels ramp up campaign for EU to block the UMG x Downtown merger, a French music lawyer says concerns around data are “fantasy or paranoia”

As FT says major labels are close to “landmark” AI licensing deals, is a new battle royale going to kick off within the music industry?

No one seems to know if Kneecap are still banned from Canada - or whether they were ever actually banned at all

Don’t say gruesome twosome: Ek steps sideways at Spotify to make way for not one but two new CEOs

‘Something Inside’ songwriter goes legal over Tommy Robinson’s use of his anti-apartheid anthem

Donald Trump signs executive order “saving TikTok”

Tabloid claims that Dua Lipa sacked agent over Glasto Kneecap letter are “categorically false” and “deliberately inflammatory”

Major labels add piracy claims to Suno lawsuit after $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement

Live Nation colludes with ticket touts, says US government as it launches legal action

Cornwall Council will hold meeting about ‘safety risks’ of Bob Vylan’s August Boardmasters performance - even through there weren’t any

Spotify finally adds lossless audio to premium

Anthropic will pay authors $1.5 billion to settle AI copyright case

Universal’s Downtown deal must be blocked by regulators before “cultural diversity is weakened irreversibly” says Dutch indie label group president

As EU hits pause on UMG Downtown investigation after “parties fail to provide important info”, Downtown boss whines about “misinformation”

More upheaval at Warner Music as UK label chiefs will report directly to US execs

Yet another senior exec out at Warner Music as UK boss Tony Harlow quits

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

Court dismisses Dave Rowntree’s black box lawsuit against PRS

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

FTC sues ticket touting business that claims it is endorsed by Ticketmaster

Drake’s claims are “farcical” says Lucian Grainge as defamation battle rumbles on

Drake wants to trawl through Papa Grainge’s emails in ‘Not Like Us’ libel battle

Sony sues Napster over $9.2 million in unpaid royalties

Spotify age-checks could result in accounts being deleted, but only if you’re twelve

Increasing number of artists join Spotify boycott over CEO’s AI weapon investments

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

CMU Digest • 10 min read

📑 CMU Digest: Live Nation antitrust push back + sheet music wars in court

CMU Digest is a weekly round-up of the most interesting music business news stories from the last seven days.…

CMU • 22 Jul 2024

One Liners - quickfire news from the music business • 7 min read

🤝 One Liners: Deals, Digital & Appointments including Enter Shikari, The Weeknd x Apple Vision Pro, Distrokid, Timbaland’s Chinese beats deal, Key Production’s SMART formats, The Prodigy’s booze trademarks + more

Enter Shikari’s football strip, Warner Chappell and 300 Publishing team up, Armada x Deep Dish, Calvin Harris catalogue bought by Shamrock, Reservoir signs Wrabel. Plus: appointments at Splice, Activist Artist Management and Warner Music Nashville…

CMU • 19 Jul 2024

One Liners - quickfire news from the music business • 2 min read

📣 One Liners: Releases & Tours including Role Model, COBRAH x Amanda Lepore, Paris Paloma, Joe Jonas, Lil Yachty + more

Other releases include Porter Robinson, Alice Phoebe Lou, ArrDee, BLK ODYSSY, Denzel Curry, Lava La Rue, Morgan Wade, Tom Walker, Destroy Boys, The Script, Big Sean, Chase & Status + IRAH, Duran Duran, James Bay, Mal Not Bad, Kids In Glass Houses, Imogen And The Knife…

CMU • 19 Jul 2024

One Liners - quickfire news from the music business • 7 min read

👀 One Liners: Legal, Live & Industry news - Serato x Pioneer deal stalls, Kerry Katona’s accountant admits fraud, Epic v Apple escalates, The Loop launches online training, global IT outage impacts production tools, War Child’s BRITS Week raises £430k

Serato x Pioneer, Priscilla Presley lawsuit, former Atomic Kitten’s accountant admits fraud, DJ Ron Trent accuses booking agent, Moonbug asks for more damages in Cocomelon trial victory, R Kelly live shows lawsuit settled + more…

CMU • 19 Jul 2024

Live Nation • 3 min read

Live Nation fights back in antitrust battle with US government

Live Nation has launched its first salvo to counter the US government’s antitrust lawsuit presenting technical defences, disputing DoJ claims over a ‘tying arrangement’ and arguing that claims made under state law are “threadbare and conclusory”…

Chris Cooke • 19 Jul 2024

Michael Jackson • 2 min read

Sony Music’s $600 million Michael Jackson deal set to progress after court rejects his mother’s objections

Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson has been working hard to block Sony Music’s proposed deal to buy half of the late pop star’s music catalogue. However, a US appeals court has tentatively sided with executors of the Jackson estate, ruling they have the power to close that deal…

Chris Cooke • 19 Jul 2024

And Finally • 3 min read

And Finally… NASA sends Missy Elliott to Venus, Blur’s Graham Coxon mouths off about Coachella audiences, JCB’s monster deal with Eagle Joe Walsh, Britney v The Osbournes and Soulja Boy’s Tasha K lawsuit

This week’s funniest and strangest music stories…

Chris Cooke • 19 Jul 2024

Kanye • 2 min read

Kanye West and Snoop Dogg sued over uncleared samples and beats

Both Kanye West and Snoop Dogg are facing new lawsuits over uncleared samples and beats. West is accused of using a sample on two ‘Donda’ tracks after a licence request was rejected. Snoop’s accuser says he did provide the rapper with two instrumentals, but only for use in the studio…

Chris Cooke • 18 Jul 2024

One Liners - quickfire news from the music business • 3 min read

⏩ One Liners: Artist News, gigs and releases including Westlife AI, Chief Keef cancellation, Fantasy Orchestra + more

Westlife’s Tencent Music Kugou AIK deal, Chief Keef medical emergency, why Donald Glover is ditching Childish Gambino moniker, Damon Albarn given honorary doctorate by Essex University, Fantasy Orchestra plays Union Chapel plus releases from Overmono, Palms Trax, Lava La Rue…

CMU • 18 Jul 2024

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Dutch Mustard

Dutch Mustard, aka Sarah-Jayne Riedel, blends dream-pop, 90s alt-rock and shoegaze in ‘Loser’, her powerful new single co-produced by indie icon Bill Ryder-Jones.…

Kaya Robertson • 18 Jul 2024

One Liners - quickfire news from the music business • 9 min read

🤝 One Liners: Deals, Appointments, Label, Digital, Legal + industry news including JCB x Joe Walsh, Warner Music’s move on Brazil, Discogs, Distiller, BAPAM and Miloco’s five-a-side frenzy

JCB x Joe Walsh, Warner Music goes big in Brazil, Finger Eleven x Better noise, Cooking Vinyl teams up with V2 to sign Razorlight, Mae Estes x Kobalt, ORCA think tank, European Commission v Elon Musk’s X, festival streaming deals, and yet another Young Thug judge recusal…

CMU • 18 Jul 2024