CMU | the music business explained (Page 184)

Live Nation boss Michael Rapino talked to Trump, hired Trump allies, reveals latest filing in antitrust case

StubHub fined £900,000 by UK regulator for illegal drip pricing

Google says any music uploaded to YouTube is fair game for AI training - and there’s nothing musicians can do

Suno really doesn’t want you to know how many audio files it copied when training its music AI model

Universal Music has found its backbone and told Bill Ackman to take a hike

BTS fans hate Live Nation over Aussie and Malaysian ticket pre-sales

Chance The Rapper and Pat The Manager back in court, over claims Pat improperly inserted himself into Chance’s deals

Gamma - which released Kanye’s comeback album - sues to unmask whoever is behind “coordinated and malicious” anonymous smear campaign

UK competition regulator should urgently investigate live music sector, MPs say, citing “climate of fear” around Live Nation’s dominance

Spotify’s transformation into an AI slop factory commences as it announces Universal “superfan” remix gimmick and Live Nation ticketing wheeze

Music industry welcomes revised NO FAKES Act, but Spotify says “still work to do”

Live Nation and Ticketmaster should still be split up, lawmakers told, as US government’s antitrust settlement criticised in Congress

Spotify increases subscription prices in Canada, but rolls back previous price increases in India

Op-ed: More than the Beatles: the quiet secrets behind Liverpool’s world-class music industry

BMG and Concord confirm merger

Universal and Sony must be allowed to see Warner’s deal with Suno, lawyers tell judge as AI legal battle continues

Music streaming services targeted as Texas Attorney General launches payola investigation

Live Nation pays $9.9 million to settle yet another investigation into dodgy ticketing practices

The European rule on whether samples need to be cleared moves to a “maybe” with latest Kraftwerk ruling

BTS lawyers go after album leaker and knock-off merch sellers

Eddie Dalton’s (actually quite modest) chart success sparks further debate about where AI music fits in

Grass needs more time to grow says AEG as it puts a pin in LIDO Festival

Universal CEO Lucian Grainge makes 764 times more than his employees - and female staff get 48% less than male counterparts

Major music publishers buy into termination rights lawsuit to take fight to Supreme Court

Spotify wants $300 million in damages from Anna’s Archive, and for court to go after piracy site’s service providers

Cox Communications celebrates as US Supreme Court overturns critical music piracy judgement

Claude’s AI lyrics cause market dilution, say music publishers calling for courts to reject fair use defence

Declare trademark claims bogus says FKA in Twigs vs Twigs

Chance The Rapper wins sunset clause dispute with former manager

American man pleads guilty to multi-million dollar streaming fraud, faces five years in jail

Cautious welcome for UK government’s latest AI copyright stance, as BMG files latest Anthropic lawsuit

DoJ’s Live Nation settlement “proof Trump Administration cannot be trusted to protect American consumers”, says new Senate report on Ticketmaster

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

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

New generation of British artists propel UK record industry to £1.5 billion high, says BPI

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

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

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

Chance The Rapper and Pat The Manager bust-up heads to court over disputed sunset clause

Warner Music’s Robert Kyncl is betting the company on an AI future. Can he deliver?

Suno is a feral pig rampaging through a well-tended garden, say creator orgs

Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota said “independent music is not raw material for tech companies to exploit without consent” before quitting to join AI music scraper-in-chief Suno

Producer who accused Karol G of beat-theft dismisses his lawsuit, adding “we were wrong”

Anna’s Archive rolls out the red carpet for robots - and asks them to “persuade” their humans to make donations

After a Live Nation lobbyist boasted he got antitrust chief sacked, US Senators ask if company has hired a “bevy of cozy MAGA friends”

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

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

⏩ One Liners: Academy Music Group, Slipknot, Rina Sawayama + more

New Academy Music Group CEO; Satellite414 promotion; PRS Foundation launches UK music export hub; The Oscars; Rina Sawayama “can’t release another album under my current conditions”; Slipknot teases new drummer announcement; new music from Girls In Synthesis…

Andy Malt • 11 Mar 2024

Vince Power • 2 min read

Live industry veteran Vince Power dies, aged 76

Veteran music promoter Vince Power has died, aged 76, it was confirmed over the weekend. Opening his first venue, Mean Fiddler, in London in 1982, he built an empire than included numerous venues and festivals…

Andy Malt • 11 Mar 2024

Lizzo • 2 min read

US appeals court lets Lizzo keep $5 million from festival that never happened

Lizzo was paid $5 million after committing to play the LA Virgin Fest in 2020. COVID then caused the festival to be cancelled, but Lizzo’s agent said that amendments made to her contract meant she didn’t have to return the fee. A US appeals court has concluded that the agents are right…

Chris Cooke • 11 Mar 2024

Vinyl • 3 min read

Popcorn, rotisserie chickens and lattes are out; air fryers, women’s socks and vinyl are in say ONS boffins

Did you know that you can buy heated ponchos that you plug in and wear? Us neither. They are increasingly popular - though not as popular as air fryers, which saw 1175% YoY growth to September 2023. Meanwhile, the ONS has added vinyl music to the consumer price index for the first time in 32 years.…

Sam Taylor • 11 Mar 2024

Epic Games • 2 min read

Epic declares DMA victory after EU intervention forces speedy change in Apple policy position

The EU Digital Markets Act went properly into effect last week impacting Apple’s App Store rules. App developers have criticised how Apple plans to comply with the act, although Epic Games says that it has already seen the benefit thanks to an intervention by the European Commission…

Chris Cooke • 11 Mar 2024

CMU Digest • 9 min read

📑 CMU Digest: Spotify's French tantrum; WMG sets sights on Believe + more

That's "pique une colère" in the original French. Also: Apple's EU mega-fine even more mega.…

CMU • 10 Mar 2024

Setlist • 4 min read

Setlist Podcast: Apple blames Spotify for €1.8 billion fine

Apple's €1.8 billion over its App Store rules, Live Nation's insistence that it's not to blame for rising ticket prices, and more…

Andy Malt & Chris Cooke • 08 Mar 2024

Spotify • 6 min read

CNM statement shows that Spotify’s rage about new French streaming levy misrepresents key facts

Spotify seems to be angry with the world right now. After threatening to pull out of Uruguay over ER, it said that the new French streaming levy meant it would have to “disinvest” from the country. What’s wrong, and why is it lashing out quite so hard at France’s Centre national de la musique?…

Sam Taylor • 08 Mar 2024

Centre National De La Musique • 3 min read

The Centre national de la musique reacts to Spotify's open letter to its French subscribers

The Centre national de la musique has issued a statement responding to Spotify's open letter to French subscribers warning of an upcoming subscription increase…

CMU • 08 Mar 2024

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

⏩ One Liners: Kings Of Leon, ReBalance relaunch, Lauren Mayberry + more

Kings Of Leon and NIKA deals; Interscope Capitol Labels Group appointments; Women In Trade Associations Powerlist; new label from Alan McGee and Youth; Festival Republic relaunches ReBalance; UK Country Radio Chart launches; new music from Lauren Mayberry, Girl In Red, Twin Atlantic and Yaya Bey.…

Chris Cooke • 08 Mar 2024

FKA Twigs • 2 min read

Advertising regulator changes its mind about FKA Twigs ad for Calvin Klein

When the UK advertising regulator said a Calvin Klein ad featuring FKA Twigs was “likely to cause serious offence”, the musician hit back on social media. Now the Advertising Standards Authority has changed its mind, though still says that the ad shouldn’t have been displayed in the street…

Chris Cooke • 08 Mar 2024

AI • 3 min read

US Copyright Office sets out why AI-generated works should not enjoy copyright protection

The US Copyright Office is of the opinion that AI-generated works do not enjoy copyright protection, but the developer of an image-generating AI disagrees. His dispute with the Copyright Office is now with the appeal courts in Washington DC.…

Chris Cooke • 08 Mar 2024

Explore topics

View all

Music industry legal news coverage

Live industry news including ticketing, venues, festivals and more

Digital services and platforms news

CMU Approved