CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases
Our selection of five releases that cut through the noise this week, from Lambrini Girls, Skepta, Bassvictim, Panchiko + Fine…
Claude’s lyrics are diluting real lyrics, say music publishers in latest Anthropic proceedings
The big debate over whether or not AI training is fair use under US copyright law was taking place in court again yesterday, this time in the context of music, specifically lyrics, with the copyright legal battle between AI company Anthropic and the Universal, Concord and ABKCO music publishers…
🎧 Approved: Internet Girl
Cape Town trio Internet Girl are a new kind of boy band - alt-rap with smatterings of hyperpop, punk and indie sleaze. New single ‘HIGH AS HEAVEN’ sounds like it samples Klaxons’ ‘It’s Not Over Yet’ before building into a rowdy, distorted rush. Debut album ‘YES’ is out in November…
Major labels are getting “massive corporate payouts” for AI licensing but “paying musicians zero”, says AFM’s ‘Human Made Human Paid’ campaign
US performer union AFM has launched a new campaign around AI calling on labels to ensure musician consent is secured before including their recordings in any AI deals. It’s not clear how labels plan to manage those deals and share AI income, but AFM wants to ensure all musicians are compensated…
🌅 Horizon Leaders - Alex Hehir
This week we caught up with Alex Hehir, Managing Director of Wixen Music UK, one of the most respected independent music publishers, known for its artist-first ethos.…
US Supreme Court can’t overturn landmark termination rights ruling, because too many judges have book deals with BMG sister company Penguin Random House
An attempt by the major music publishers and BMG to persuade the US Supreme Court to overturn a landmark songwriter-friendly termination rights ruling has failed, because of BMG’s involvement. Basically, too many Supreme Court judges have published books with BMG sister company Penguin Random House…
🎧 Approved: Rayland Baxter
Son of Bob Dylan’s pedal steel player, Tennessee’s Rayland Baxter makes dusty, unhurried alt-country. New single ‘Up And Down A Mountain’ is glorious - toe-tapping and loose - about the chaos of falling in and out of love. New album ‘True Violet’ is also out this Friday…
The three big debates around music and generative AI
This Friday, CMU’s Chris Cooke will join a panel discussion at Un-Convention on music and AI. Generative AI models that output music pose lots of questions for the music industry, which can make such discussions complex. Here we organise all the questions and issues into three big debates…
As streaming services set out proposals for US songwriter payments post-2027, NMPA labels Amazon “the worst offender”
The US Copyright Royalty Board will next year decide what streaming services should pay songwriters and music publishers in the American market from 2028 to 2032. Most of the services want to keep the current rate, the publishers want an increase, but Amazon is controversially proposing a rate cut…
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CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases
Our selection of five releases that cut through the noise this week, from The Drums and Genesis Owusu, bed, Shygirk, Fontaines D.C. + Snoh Aalegra…
Polydor President among the senior execs to depart as Universal completes its two year €250 million saving corporate “redesign”
Back in 2024 Universal Music said it would find €250 million in annual savings via a “strategic organisational redesign” that would be complete by the end of 2026. With that deadline looming, yesterday the major announced a series of structural changes with a number of senior execs departing…
🎧 Approved: Radie Peat
Radie Peat of Lankum releases her debut solo album in November, fifteen years in the making. Opening single ‘Hares On The Mountain’ is a beautifully wry and subversive folk song. If The Stranglers had been a folk outfit, this is how they might have done it…
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