CMU | the music business explained (Page 2)

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

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”

Google • 5 min read

Google says AI training is definitely fair use, while UK copyright law “puts a ceiling on the sophistication” of the British AI sector

Google’s President Of Global Affairs has written a white paper on AI regulation, insisting that AI training is fair use under US law and should stay that way. The white paper comes as Google’s UK lobbyists put more pressure on the government to rewrite copyright law to the advantage of AI companies…

Chris Cooke • 30 Jun 2026

Hybe • 2 min read

Korea’s Fair Trade Commission puts K-pop deals in the spotlight following complaint from sacked NewJeans member Danielle

The Fair Trade Commission in Korea is reviewing a complaint against K-pop powerhouse HYBE submitted by sacked NewJeans member Danielle. That complaint raises issues with artist deal terms that are pretty standard in K-pop, meaning the review could have an impact beyond this particular dispute…

Chris Cooke • 29 Jun 2026

Live Nation • 3 min read

Live Nation wants to push embarrassing legal spat with former employee into private arbitration

Live Nation has formally responded to the lawsuit filed a former employee who accuses the company of “financial misrepresentation and misleading disclosures”. It says those claims are without merit, but wants this dispute forced to private arbitration, keen to avoid the PR damage of a court case…

Chris Cooke • 29 Jun 2026

Pandora • 3 min read

Pandora claims that horse racing ruling in US courts means it should win its copyright dispute with collecting society The MLC

Pandora and The MLC are locked in a legal dispute over what mechanical royalties the streaming service should pay. Pandora has claimed that The MLC shouldn’t even be allowed to pursue this lawsuit. Now it says a recent judgement in a case over the regulation of horse racing backs up that claim…

Chris Cooke • 26 Jun 2026

Music Climate Pact • 2 min read

New Music Climate Pact guide explains how fans can play their part in making music consumption more environmentally sustainable

Two music industry sustainability projects have been in the spotlight this week. The UK’s Music Climate Pact has published a guide to how fans can reduce the environmental impact of their streaming. In the US, Warner Music is involved in a pilot scheme looking to facilitate more vinyl recycling…

Chris Cooke • 26 Jun 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 Kelela, A.K. Paul, La Roux, Ravyn Lenae, Phoebe Bridgers + Tyler, The Creator…

Kaya Robertson • 26 Jun 2026

Hipgnosis • 4 min read

Merck Mercuriadis wins legal battle over early Hipgnosis company

Merck Mercuriadis has won a legal battle with the liquidators of one of the original Hipgnosis companies. During the case, the spotlight fell on the investors in that company, who turned out to be fraudsters, one of whom allegedly tried to choke Mercuriadis during a particularly tense lunch meeting…

Chris Cooke • 25 Jun 2026

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Chloé Caillet

Chloé Caillet mixes in key, thinks in harmonics, and her music is bubbly and beautiful for it. New single ‘Bad Bara’ is warm, playful house; rolling bassline, shimmering synths, the kind of track that channels a dance festival daytime set in the sun, which is exactly where Caillet tends to be…

Kaya Robertson • 25 Jun 2026

Secondary Ticketing • 1 min read

As South Korea’s August ticket touting crackdown looms, government reports fifteen touts to the police

Ticket touting regulations in South Korea are due to be ramped up this August. But before that even happens, the government has reported fifteen touts to the police, because the quantity of tickets they are selling suggests they have been illegally employing bots to source their tickets…

Chris Cooke • 25 Jun 2026

Live Nation • 2 min read

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

Live Nation has filed a summary of its communications with the US government when it was trying to get the DoJ to settle its antitrust lawsuit, including a conversation between CEO Michael Rapino and Donald Trump. The settlement is controversial, which means this filing will get extra scrutiny…

Chris Cooke • 24 Jun 2026

Dynamic pricing • 3 min read

Live industry and consumer rights groups call on EU to ban dynamic pricing for events

The European Commission is currently drafting a new EU Digital Fairness Act, and live music and consumer rights groups reckon it should include a ban of dynamic pricing for live events. They say dynamic pricing in ticketing means “consumers increasingly face unpredictable price increases”…

Chris Cooke • 24 Jun 2026

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