CMU | the music business explained (Page 21)

Live Nation hired Trump’s personal lawyer as it sought to persuade US Department Of Justice to settle antitrust litigation

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

Spoiler Room • 2 min read

Danish grassroots collective Spoiler Room forced to rebrand after Boiler Room trademark claim

A Copenhagen collective that allows artists to share works in progress has called itself Spoiler Room ever since it launched in 2022, but is now changing its name after receiving a cease and desist letter from the lawyers at dance music streamer Boiler Room, which was bought by Superstruct last year…

Chris Cooke • 14 Apr 2026

Eddie Dalton • 6 min read

Eddie Dalton’s (actually quite modest) chart success sparks further debate about where AI music fits in

An AI-generated artist called Eddie Dalton got a lot of press coverage this weekend after reaching number two in the UK charts. Though it was the sales chart that excludes streaming data, which isn’t so impressive. But it still prompted more debate in the music community about where AI music fits in…

Chris Cooke & Sam Taylor • 13 Apr 2026

Stream Manipulation • 1 min read

Record industry welcomes latest Brazilian ruling against stream manipulation platform

The courts in Brazil have ruled against another company that provides stream manipulation services, this time Boom de Seguidores. Welcoming the ruling, IFPI says the Brazilian courts have been “consistent” in concluding that “services that enable streaming fraud mislead consumers and are unlawful”…

Chris Cooke • 13 Apr 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, Big Softy, Newdad, Laufey + IZCO…

Kaya Robertson • 10 Apr 2026

AEG • 4 min read

Grass needs more time to grow says AEG as it puts a pin in LIDO Festival

AEG’s UK CEO and turf-whisperer in chief has said that East London’s LIDO Festival needs to move to a different date because the grass in Victoria Park isn’t ready for stampeding hordes of festival-goers. Or something along those lines. As a result, it will now take place over one day in August…

Chris Cooke • 10 Apr 2026

Bruce Springsteen • 2 min read

Bruce Springsteen wants police to seize any knock-off t-shirts being sold at upcoming home state show

Bruce Springsteen is following Dua Lipa and Benson Boone in seeking a crackdown on the sale of bootleg merch at his US shows. He has asked the courts in New Jersey to instruct local law enforcement to “seize and impound” any knock-off Springsteen t-shirts being sold around an upcoming Newark concert…

Chris Cooke • 10 Apr 2026

Salt N Pepa • 4 min read

Salt N Pepa termination rights ruling makes creator protections in US “illusory”, say artist advocacy groups

Salt N Pepa’s legal battle with Universal Music is set to become another crucial test case around the creator’s termination right in US copyright law. Entertainment lawyers and creator groups have now urged appeal judges to overturn a judgement in Universal’s favour to allow more scrutiny in court…

Chris Cooke • 09 Apr 2026

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Modern Woman

There's Kate Bush in the DNA, avant-garde tendencies, folk tradition, but Modern Woman have gone and folded post-punk into the whole thing, which works beautifully. New single ‘Johnny’s Dreamworld’, is feverishly brilliant…

Kaya Robertson • 09 Apr 2026

Cox Communications • 4 min read

As impacts of US Supreme Court’s Cox ruling kick in, the music industry may have a bigger problem as Yout, X and ISP Grande test the law

How big an impact will the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision in the majors v Cox case really have on the music industry? It makes it harder to force ISPs to police piracy, but could it affect the industry in other ways too? Cases involving Yout, X and Grande will now test the reach of the ruling…

Chris Cooke • 08 Apr 2026

Horizon Future Leaders • 6 min read

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders - Ailsa Harper

This week, we caught up with Ailsa Harper; founder of Brightest Light, mentor for Help Musicians UK and Tinderbox Music and co-founder of Not The DJ’s Girlfriend…

Horizon Music Jobs • 08 Apr 2026

Kanye West • 4 min read

Live Nation’s Wireless festival cancelled after British government withdraws Kanye West’s permission to travel to the UK

Live Nation has cancelled its Wireless festival after the government withdrew headliner Kanye West’s travel permit. Before the cancellation, with sponsors bailing, the company responded to the backlash over West headlining the event, with Melvin Benn putting out a statement defending the booking…

Chris Cooke • 07 Apr 2026

Universal Music • 7 min read

Bill Ackman wants to buy Universal Music and put “psychopath” Epstein associate Michael Ovitz in charge

Controversial hedge fund manager Bill Ackman wants to buy Universal Music. His plan: load UMG with debt, sell its Spotify stake, and put a man named in the Epstein files in as chair. Lucian Grainge could make tens of millions from the deal, but Universal’s superstar artists might have other ideas…

Sam Taylor • 07 Apr 2026

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