CMU | the music business explained (Page 2)

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

New AI transparency proposal in US Congress will “pave the way” for creator compensation says ASCAP boss

SXSW ditches weapons sponsors to burnish brand - so why won’t it ditch its ties to Saudi Arabia?

SXSW London could disrupt delicately balanced music ecosystem and should reconsider its date

CMU Selects • 2 min read

CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases

Five releases - from Tyler, The Creator, Billie Marten, Just For Fun, TTSSFU and FKA twigs - that stood out to us over the last week. Add to your playlists, clear your schedule and don’t tap the glass!…

Kaya Robertson • 21 Jul 2025

Universal Music • 3 min read

Universal disputes Salt N Pepa’s termination rights claim - says the rappers never transferred any recording rights to their label

Earlier this year Salt N Pepa sued UMG claiming that the major was refusing to allow them to reclaim the rights in their 1980s recordings, even though copyright law allows them to terminate any transfer of rights after 35 years. The major now says there was never any transfer of rights to terminate…

Chris Cooke • 18 Jul 2025

Anthropic • 4 min read

Anthropic’s ‘fair use’ win in AI copyright case could turn into a trillion dollar loss

Anthropic had a big win in court last month when a US judge said AI training was fair use. But only when an AI company copies legitimately sourced works and Anthropic copied millions of pirated books. Now this lawsuit has become a class action, meaning authors of all those books could be due damages…

Chris Cooke • 18 Jul 2025

Horizon Future Leaders • 9 min read

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders - Grace Theokritoff

This week, we caught up with Grace Theokritoff, Label Manager at independent digital distribution company IDOL.…

Horizon Music Jobs • 18 Jul 2025

Jane’s Addiction • 4 min read

Are we about to see an epic alt-rock soap opera as Jane’s Addiction slug out their differences in the courts? Here’s hoping…

Last year the much anticipated tour reuniting the classic line-up of Jane’s Addiction was cut short - and plans for a new album dropped - after an on-stage bust-up between members Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro. Now both Farrell and his ex-bandmates have filed lawsuits over the whole sorry saga…

Chris Cooke • 17 Jul 2025

Hybe • 2 min read

South Korean regulator refers HYBE founder to prosecutors over IPO fraud allegations

The financial regulator in South Korea has referred its investigation into fraud allegations against HYBE founder Bang Si-hyuk to prosecutors. Meanwhile police have ended an investigation into complaints made by HYBE against Ador founder Min Hee-jin concluding there is no case for criminal charges…

Chris Cooke • 17 Jul 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Georgia

London producer, songwriter and drummer Georgia makes club music with a pop heart. After collabs with Gorillaz and Shygirl, she returns with ‘Wanna Play’; a spiky, elastic and playful synth-driven track inspired by The Knife and Depeche Mode.…

Kaya Robertson • 17 Jul 2025