CMU | the music business explained (Page 29)

Budweiser boasts of “$0 spent on music rights” in “iconic songs” campaign, wins ad-land’s biggest prize

EU regulators formally launch investigation into Universal Music’s Downtown deal

Did Sony’s Rob Stringer just hand regulators the case to tank Universal’s Downtown dreams?

Ticketmaster offered touts meetings with Live Nation’s top lawyer

Don’t gaslight MPs warns Caroline Dinenage as she says ministers have got into a “terrible pickle” over AI

As another festival falls, AIF proposes new tax relief scheme

Major labels face setback as Trump’s pet DOJ legal beagle sides with Cox in piracy battle

We are just another victim in the shameful lineage of Apple intimidation and bullying, cries Musi

SoundCloud’s amended AI clause still “fundamentally terrible for artists” says Ed Newton-Rex

Guardrails aren’t proof of infringement says Anthropic as judge spanks AI company for “hallucinated” filin

Drake’s Super Bowl gripes in amended lawsuit show defamation action is really an attack on Kendrick Lamar’s success, says Universal

“I just don't understand how that can be fair use”, says judge in Meta AI trial

Pressure mounts for Universal Music Group’s $775 million Downtown acquisition as MEP highlights UMG’s “unprecedented control” of music ecosystem

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?

With the US record industry officially in recession can superpremium and superfans really save the major labels from streaming’s slowdown?

Record industry’s modest growth should make other industries jealous says IFPI boss, as labels weigh in on growth opportunities and AI threats

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

International Intellectual Property Alliance • 3 min read

Congress member proposes web blocking to protect copyright’s “$2 trillion” impact on US economy

US Congress member Zoe Lofgren has proposed a new law that would make web-blocking available as an anti-piracy tactic in the US for the first time, to better protect the American copyright industries, which a new report says now make a $2 trillion contribution to the US economy…

Chris Cooke • 04 Feb 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Attawalpa

Attawalpa, aka British-Peruvian artist Luis Felber, crafts esoteric, textural indie ballads steeped in self-exploration. His new single, ‘Always The Girls’, is an ode to feminine energy, blending psychedelia with grand, sweeping strings that add catharsis, steering it beyond ‘soft boy’ territory.…

Kaya Robertson • 04 Feb 2025

Bombshell copyright ruling could be “financially devastating” for music publishers

A ruling last week in a US termination rights dispute could have big ramifications for the music industry. Previously when songwriters exercised the termination right in US copyright law, it was assumed they only got their US rights back. A court has now said termination should apply worldwide…

Chris Cooke • 03 Feb 2025

Musi • 2 min read

Apple won’t be forced to let Musi back into its app store, rules judge

Apple kicked music app Musi out of its App Store last September. Musi has sued and wants a preliminary injunction forcing Apple to immediately reinstate its app. A judge has declined to issue that injunction, saying Apple’s terms clearly say it can remove any apps at any time “with or without cause”…

Chris Cooke • 03 Feb 2025

Ticketmaster • 2 min read

Ticketmaster to offer Canadian customers a $45 voucher after settling ‘drip pricing’ class action

Canadian concert-goers who bought tickets from Ticketmaster in 2018 may get a $45 voucher as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit against drip pricing. Although Canadian rules on drip pricing are now clearer, the class action argued the practice breached consumer rights law even in 2018…

Chris Cooke • 31 Jan 2025

Diddy • 3 min read

New allegations made in Diddy criminal case, while Jay-Z hits back again at the lawyer who pulled him into a Diddy lawsuit

More allegations have been made against Diddy by prosecutors in the criminal case that accuses the musician of racketeering and sex trafficking. Meanwhile Jay-Z is still in a back and forth with the lawyer who added him as a co-defendant on one of the lawsuits accusing Diddy of sexual assault…

Chris Cooke • 31 Jan 2025

Horizon Future Leaders • 6 min read

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders - Oscar Tremain Q&A

As part of our Horizon Future Leaders series of interviews, we are connecting with the music industry’s next generation of leaders to gather candid advice and insights into their career journeys. This week we caught up with Oscar Tremain, VP Of Product & Client Relations at rightsHUB.…

Horizon Music Jobs • 31 Jan 2025

US Copyright Office • 3 min read

Simply prompting an AI model doesn’t make you the author of a copyrighted work, according to the US Copyright Office

When people have tried to register AI-generated works with the US Copyright Office, it has always said that only AI-assisted works enjoy copyright protection. It reaffirms that position in a new report, but provides more information on how to distinguish between AI-generated and AI-assisted content…

Chris Cooke • 30 Jan 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: SASAMI

SASAMI, a classically trained musician known for blending genres, pushes boundaries with her new single, ‘In Love With A Memory’. A haunting duet with Clairo, their vocals are a delicate interplay that feels suspended between the living and the spectral…

Kaya Robertson • 30 Jan 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 5 min read

UK government is “giving away the property rights” of creators, warn Lords as they force AI copyright safeguards into Data Bill

Peers in the House of Lords have rallied together in a cross-party effort to force a number of amendments into the government’s Data (Use And Access) Bill. Those amendments - which still need to pass through the Commons - aim to provide safeguards for copyright owners in the context of AI…

Sam Taylor • 30 Jan 2025

MLC • 5 min read

Judge throws out MLC’s audiobooks bundle lawsuit, says Spotify can keep cutting songwriter royalties through its “cynical trick”

The MLC’s lawsuit targeting Spotify’s “cynical trick” to reduce royalties to songwriters through its US-subscriber audiobooks bundle has been thrown out by the court, with the judge saying there is “no set of facts” that the collecting society could use to support its position…

Sam Taylor • 30 Jan 2025

Sacha Lord • 5 min read

Sacha Lord quits as Night Time Advisor to Manchester Mayor as Arts Council confirms it is “seeking to recover” Culture Recovery Fund grant

A lengthy investigation by Arts Council England into a Culture Recovery Fund grant to Sacha Lord ends with a whimper rather than a bang, and raises more questions than it answers, with Manchester mayor Andy Burnham saying it is “not clear why the Arts Council” has come to its decision…

Sam Taylor • 29 Jan 2025