CMU | the music business explained (Page 2)

Songwriter AI victory in Europe as GEMA beats Suno in copyright lawsuit

Live Nation says everyone should shut up and stop asking questions about its cosy deal with Trump’s DoJ

Only humans can be ‘authors’ say Canadian music publishers in test case on copyright status of AI-generated works

AI-generated tracks now account for more than 50% of Deezer’s uploads

UK government publishes ‘Our Plan For Music’ - and announces new funding and licensing reforms

US industry groups raise “serious concerns” about EU royalty flow proposals, which many of their European counterparts support

Kneecap allowed to file defamation lawsuit in Ireland against Indigenous leader in Canada over antisemitism claims

BBC’s music boss Lorna Clarke outlines broadcaster’s AI transparency commitments - but can it actually meet them?

Spotify zaps half a million streams amid speculation Kalshi traders were behind boost for Malcolm Todd track ‘Earrings’

PRS defeats Rowntree black box class action at appeal - but is left £1.8m out of pocket

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

StubHub • 2 min read

Democrats in Congress ask whether StubHub boss Eric Baker’s ticket touting side hustle “manipulated markets”

The revelation that StubHub boss Eric Baker is also MD of a company involved in industrial-level ticket touting on the StubHub platform has already resulted in a lawsuit in the US courts and is now the subject of an investigation by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee in US Congress…

Chris Cooke • 27 Jul 2026

CMU Selects • 1 min read

CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases

Our selection of five releases that cut through the noise this week, from Love Spell, Charli xcx, Bricknasty, Greg Freeman + The Strokes…

Kaya Robertson • 24 Jul 2026

Music Publishers Canada • 3 min read

Only humans can be ‘authors’ say Canadian music publishers in test case on copyright status of AI-generated works

The debate over the copyright status of AI-generated works continues, and in Canada there’s a key court battle as part of that debate centered on an AI-generated artwork. The precedent set in that case could impact on music copyright too, so Canada’s music publishers have formally intervened…

Chris Cooke • 24 Jul 2026

Music Education • 2 min read

Revamped UK government needs to do more than “tinkering around the edges” to deliver on promises regarding arts and music education

With a new education secretary being appointed by newly installed UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, the Musicians’ Union, Equity and others have said it’s time for ministers to “fully restore the status of arts subjects” like music within English schools rather than just “tinkering around the edges”…

Chris Cooke • 24 Jul 2026

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Frankie Rose

Brooklyn’s Frankie Rose makes glacial post-punk and 80s synth-pop that sits alongside Cocteau Twins or early Cure. New single ‘Manifest’ is at the darker end of that: industrial, brooding and from an album about grief…

Kaya Robertson • 23 Jul 2026

BPI • 2 min read

UK recorded music exports top £800 million for the first time, but growth is slowing, says BPI

BPI has published its latest figures on UK recorded music exports, which topped £800 million last year, although growth is slowing amid increased competition. BPI CEO Jo Twist says this “highlights the need for continued international trade and export initiatives like the Music Export Growth Scheme”…

Chris Cooke • 23 Jul 2026

AFM • 3 min read

AFM insists ‘new use’ clause in its musicians agreement applies to AI - and that any other interpretation is “nonsensical”

US musicians’ union AFM reckons a ‘new use’ clause in its agreement with the labels means Warner and Universal should be sharing income for their Udio deals with its members. But there’s a disagreement over how that clause should be interpreted. AFM says the majors’ interpretation is “nonsensical”…

Chris Cooke • 22 Jul 2026

Ben Folds • 2 min read

Ben Folds tells Congress how the “partisan toxic environment” of a Trump run Kennedy Center forced him to quit artistic advisor role

When Donald Trump appointed himself Chair of the Kennedy Center in Washington DC last year, Ben Folds quit his role as artistic advisor to the US National Symphony Orchestra, which is based at the venue. Yesterday he told Congress about the “partisan toxic environment” Trump’s involvement caused…

Chris Cooke • 22 Jul 2026

Horizon Future Leaders • 7 min read

🌅 Horizon Leaders - Becca McLeish

This week we caught up with Becca McLeish, publicist and owner of Nightswim Agency.…

Horizon Music Jobs • 22 Jul 2026

Deezer • 3 min read

AI-generated tracks now account for more than 50% of Deezer’s uploads

Deezer has published more AI music stats, revealing that over 50% of new tracks uploaded to the streaming service are now AI-generated, on average 90,000 per day. That big stat will prompt more debate about how the streaming services and music industry deal with AI-generated music…

Chris Cooke • 21 Jul 2026

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: RenzNiro

Manchester’s RenzNiro blends vaporised grime, experimental electronics and world-building lyricism into something singular. Five projects in, ‘No Weapon Shall Prosper’ is the one that undeniably makes the case…

Kaya Robertson • 21 Jul 2026

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