CMU | the music business explained (Page 209)

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

Don’t say gruesome twosome: Ek steps sideways at Spotify to make way for not one but two new CEOs

‘Something Inside’ songwriter goes legal over Tommy Robinson’s use of his anti-apartheid anthem

Donald Trump signs executive order “saving TikTok”

Tabloid claims that Dua Lipa sacked agent over Glasto Kneecap letter are “categorically false” and “deliberately inflammatory”

Major labels add piracy claims to Suno lawsuit after $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement

Live Nation colludes with ticket touts, says US government as it launches legal action

Cornwall Council will hold meeting about ‘safety risks’ of Bob Vylan’s August Boardmasters performance - even through there weren’t any

Spotify finally adds lossless audio to premium

Anthropic will pay authors $1.5 billion to settle AI copyright case

Universal’s Downtown deal must be blocked by regulators before “cultural diversity is weakened irreversibly” says Dutch indie label group president

As EU hits pause on UMG Downtown investigation after “parties fail to provide important info”, Downtown boss whines about “misinformation”

More upheaval at Warner Music as UK label chiefs will report directly to US execs

Yet another senior exec out at Warner Music as UK boss Tony Harlow quits

Billion dollar piracy win for majors “defies common law and common sense” says Cox

Court dismisses Dave Rowntree’s black box lawsuit against PRS

Supertramp songwriter must continue to share publishing royalties with bandmates, US appeals court concludes

FTC sues ticket touting business that claims it is endorsed by Ticketmaster

Drake’s claims are “farcical” says Lucian Grainge as defamation battle rumbles on

Drake wants to trawl through Papa Grainge’s emails in ‘Not Like Us’ libel battle

Sony sues Napster over $9.2 million in unpaid royalties

Spotify age-checks could result in accounts being deleted, but only if you’re twelve

Increasing number of artists join Spotify boycott over CEO’s AI weapon investments

If China blocks TikTok deal app will “go dark” says US Commerce Secretary, but hints deal “coming soon”

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

MTV EMAs • 1 min read

MTV EMAs cancelled due to Israel-Hamas war

Due to take place early next month, this year’s MTV EMAs have been cancelled. Production company Paramount said that it had made the decision in light of “the volatility of world events”…

Andy Malt • 23 Oct 2023

Fyre Festival • 2 min read

Fyre Festival founder facing legal action from financial backer of post-prison business venture

Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland is facing a lawsuit unless he pays back a $740,000 loan to a man he met in prison and who agreed to provide finances for a post-jail business venture…

Chris Cooke • 23 Oct 2023

Lil Yachty • 1 min read

Lil Yachty show cancelled after rapper urges seated fans to fill up the mosh pit

A Lil Yachty show in Vancouver was cut short this weekend after the rapper urged fans in seated areas to fill up the mosh pit, creating crowd control concerns for the venue’s management…

Chris Cooke • 23 Oct 2023

Universal Music • 1 min read

Universal Music open "concept store" in Tokyo

Universal Music last week opened a "concept retail store dedicated to supporting music super-fans" in Tokyo - complete with a Japanese spin-off of the Rolling Stones’ London shop RS No.9…

Chris Cooke • 23 Oct 2023

Artist & Manager Awards • 1 min read

More winners and nominees announced for the Artist & Manager Awards

FAC and MMF have announced more winners and nominees for this year’s Artist & Manager Awards, including the shortlist for the breakthrough artist and manager prizes…

Chris Cooke • 23 Oct 2023

James Blunt • 1 min read

James Blunt claims to have lost thousands in bid to grow hallucinogenic fruit

James Blunt claims to have lost thousands attempting to grow hallucinogenic figs in his Ibiza garden. Although he makes this claim in a new “non-memoir” that he admits may be entirely fictional…

Andy Malt • 23 Oct 2023

CMU Digest • 5 min read

CMU Digest: Anthropic, Pandora, Hipgnosis, Bandcamp, Megan Thee Stallion

Catch up on key events this week, including the music publishers suing AI company Anthropic for copyright infringement, criticism of Universal's new policy on Pandora royalties, the Hipgnosis Songs Fund strategic review, job losses at Bandcamp, and Megan Thee Stallion settling her label dispute…

Chris Cooke • 21 Oct 2023

Universal Music • 2 min read

Setlist Podcast: Managers criticise Universal's Pandora royalty switch

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke discuss criticism of a change to the way Universal Music pays out Pandora royalties and redundancies at Bandcamp…

Andy Malt & Chris Cooke • 20 Oct 2023

Universal Music • 6 min read

Universal Music criticised over unannounced change to Pandora payments

Universal Music has been criticised for a change it made last year to the way it pays Pandora royalties to artists, with payments now made directly by the major at contractural rates, rather than allowing 50% of income to flow to performers via collecting society SoundExchange…

Chris Cooke • 20 Oct 2023

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

One Liners: Sam Smith and Charli XCX, Becky Hill, 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne + more

BMG’s Martin Solveig deal; Creed Media appointment; Virgin and Ingrooves integration; MMF conference; new music from Sam Smith and Charli XCX, Paris Hilton and Steve Aoki, 2Chainz and Lil Wayne, Wale, Beabadoodee and Laufey, Ghetts, Nadine Shah, Scaler, and Jim Perkins; Becky Hill tour…

Andy Malt • 20 Oct 2023

Megan Thee Stallion • 2 min read

Megan Thee Stallion settles dispute with label, allowing them to “amicably part ways"

Megan Thee Stallion's former label 1501 Certified Entertainment has confirmed that a legal dispute has now been settled, meaning the rapper no longer needs to deliver any more music to the record company…

Chris Cooke • 20 Oct 2023

TikTok Music • 1 min read

TikTok Music goes properly live in Australia, Singapore and Mexico

TikTok Music has come out of beta in Australia, Singapore and Mexico meaning the social media firm’s standalone music service is now available in five markets…

Chris Cooke • 20 Oct 2023