CMU | the music business explained (Page 3)

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

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

Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

No copyright exception for AI training in European law, says new report

A recent report commissioned by the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee concludes that the much discussed text and data mining copyright exception added to EU law in 2019 wasn't intended for AI training. MEP Axel Voss says that specific EU copyright rules for AI are now needed…

Chris Cooke • 16 Jul 2025

Universal Music • 4 min read

Full scale anticompetition investigation on the cards after UMG’s Virgin Music fails to allay EU fears over Downtown merger

The European Commission is set to launch a full-scale ‘phase two’ merger investigation into Universal’s Downtown deal after it failed to convince regulators that the transaction should proceed unhindered. With the rhetoric from UMG surrogates already at fever pitch, will the war of words get worse?…

Sam Taylor • 16 Jul 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Maruja

Maruja fuse post-punk, free jazz and spoken word into something urgent and unflinching. New single ‘Saoirse’ builds from eerie flute and plaintive vocals into a chaotic swell of sax, strings and protest - a visceral plea for freedom in dark times…

Kaya Robertson • 15 Jul 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 2 min read

EU is watering down AI protections say musicians

The music industry remains concerned that transparency obligations in the EU AI Act - forcing AI firms to declare what content they used in their training data - are being watered down in implementation. 30+ European artists have now posted videos calling on lawmakers to ensure that doesn’t happen…

Chris Cooke • 15 Jul 2025

BBC • 3 min read

BBC Glasto team had authority to cut Bob Vylan stream says chief - but he keeps schtum about what was discussed

BBC boss Tim Davie has responded to questions from MPs over the broadcast of Bob Vylan’s controversial performance at Glastonbury last month. He says an internal investigation is ongoing, but confirms BBC staff on the ground did have the authority to cut the stream of the performance…

Chris Cooke • 15 Jul 2025