CMU | the music business explained (Page 2)

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

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

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Moses Boyd

Moses Boyd is back after five years away and ‘Say Yeah’ was worth the wait - gospel-rooted, dancefloor-ready jazz with a London accent and a hook so simple it works in any language. A video made with Woolwich Creative Club has exactly the communal feel the song is about…

Kaya Robertson • 09 Jul 2026

BAMP • 2 min read

Bulgaria’s copyright regime is broken because it didn’t properly implement EU rules that justify web-blocking, say labels

Bulgarian labels recently failed to secure anti-piracy web-blocks because the country’s lawmakers never implemented EU rules that justify such a thing. Trade group BAMP has now urged EU officials to ensure member states are complying with existing copyright rules before introducing any new ones…

Chris Cooke • 09 Jul 2026

Jermain Dupri • 3 min read

Jermaine Dupri sues Sony Music over “wilful deceitful actions” that resulted in $18 million in unpaid royalties

Jermaine Dupri has had a 34 year relationship with Sony Music after first partnering with the major back in 1992. But he now reckons that Sony has systematically underreported and underpaid royalties he is due on many of the records he was involved in, so he’s suing for more than $18 million…

Chris Cooke • 08 Jul 2026

NewJeans • 3 min read

Sacked Ador boss orchestrated NewJeans’ failed rebellion, claims K-pop agency in court

The legal dramas around HYBE’s Ador agency and NewJeans continue. Ador is suing axed band member Danielle Marsh and former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin. Last week it presented evidence that seemed to show Min - after being sacked by Ador - directing NewJeans as they sought new projects outside the agency…

Chris Cooke • 08 Jul 2026

Horizon Future Leaders • 9 min read

🌅 Horizon Leaders - Rupinder Virdee

This week, we caught up with Rupinder Virdee; strategic communications and PR consultant, and founder and MD of 8 Fold Communications…

Horizon Music Jobs • 08 Jul 2026

BBC • 3 min read

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

BBC Director Of Music Lorna Clarke has said the broadcaster wants to be transparent when artists it champions have used AI as part of their creative processes, though that will rely on the music industry at large deciding when and how it is going to be transparent about the use of AI in new releases…

Chris Cooke • 07 Jul 2026

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Kamal.

Kamal. had 250 million streams and a Dave collab before he’d even put out a debut album. That arrives 17 Jul and new single ‘Back Then’ - a voice note recorded in his childhood home turned into something genuinely hard to shake - suggests it's been worth the wait…

Kaya Robertson • 07 Jul 2026

Tickets.ie • 3 min read

Bad forecasting and the loss of two clients contributed to tickets.ie collapse, says director report

Directors of Irish ticketing company tickets.ie, which collapsed last month, have said that the loss of two key clients and bad forecasting caused insurmountable cash flow problems. The company’s founder, who left the business last year, also says he was “saddened and shocked” by the sudden collapse…

Chris Cooke • 07 Jul 2026

Suno • 3 min read

Judge should block major label attempts to expand track lists in AI litigation, says Suno

The majors have been trying to massively expand the list of named tracks in their lawsuits against Udio and Suno, in doing so increasing potential damages if they win. But the judge in the Udio case has said it’s too late to add more tracks. Suno says the judge in its case should now rule the same…

Chris Cooke • 06 Jul 2026

Bob Vylan • 3 min read

Bob Vylan confirm defamation action against the BBC for “placing labels upon us that did not, do not and never will fit”

Bob Vylan have commented on their defamation lawsuit against the BBC. They say the broadcaster placed inappropriate “labels” on the band after their Glastonbury set last year. They add that they hope the litigation will remind the BBC of “the power of the people that they are attempting to silence”…

Chris Cooke • 06 Jul 2026

Spotify • 2 min read

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

Spotify has removed 500,000 streams from Malcolm Todd’s ‘Earrings’, which suddenly topped the platform’s US chart this week. It’s thought the track may have been artificially boosted by traders on the Kalshi prediction market who had placed bets on what music would get the most Spotify plays…

Chris Cooke • 03 Jul 2026

dembow riddim • 3 min read

Judge says dispute over reggaeton’s defining ‘dembow riddim’ is now a “battle of the experts” that only a jury can resolve

The copyright status of the ‘dembow riddim’ that originates in a Steely & Clevie track and has been used in so many reggaeton records will be decided by a jury. Experts disagree over whether the beat is an “original and protectable work” and a judge has ruled that only a jury can decide who is right…

Chris Cooke • 03 Jul 2026

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