CMU | the music business explained (Page 38)

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

Spotify • 5 min read

Andrew Tate course on ‘pimping’ and exploiting women remains on Spotify as petition passes 25,000 signatures

Spotify has removed two Andrew Tate courses that were published on its platform instructing men on how to exploit women, but a third, called ‘Andrew Tate PHD (Pimping Hoes Degree)’, remains. A petition calling for all three courses to be removed has now passed 25,000 signatures…

Chris Cooke • 10 Mar 2025

Ed Sheeran • 3 min read

Music rights investor wants Ed Sheeran’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ song theft dispute to go to USA’s highest court

The company that accused Ed Sheeran of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ when writing ‘Thinking Out Loud’ wants the US Supreme Court to consider the case after the Second Circuit appeals court sided with Sheeran. It all swings on a copyright law technicality…

Chris Cooke • 10 Mar 2025

Universal Music • 6 min read

Universal will spend billions to dominate emerging markets, says Grainge during Q4 earnings call as major sets out its “eat the world” strategies

On yesterday’s Universal Music earnings call CEO Lucian Grainge revealed plans to spend billions on global acquisitions, targeting emerging markets where “massive piracy” previously prevented investment, in an extension to UMG’s recent, continuing and aggressive acquisition and investment strategy…

Sam Taylor • 07 Mar 2025

Universal Music • 3 min read

Indie label groups slam Universal as Amazon deal and yet another acquisition raise more red flags

Indie label trade groups have again aired their concerns about Universal Music’s market dominance in the wake of yet another acquisition by the major. They add that Universal uses that dominance to force streaming services to change their payment policies in a way that disadvantages many indies…

Chris Cooke • 07 Mar 2025

StubHub • 3 min read

Arrests made in StubHub supplier fraud case that netted “extraordinary profit”

Earlier this week prosecutors in New York announced the arrest of two people involved in a $600,000 ticketing scam, one of whom exploited their position working for a supplier to StubHub. The ticket resale platform has since been keen to stress that it spotted and shut down the fraud…

Chris Cooke • 07 Mar 2025

Horizon Future Leaders • 4 min read

Lessons Learned: Key career advice from our Horizon Future Leaders

Having now published 22 editions of our Horizon Future Leaders series - and with plenty more interviews to come - we want to thank everyone who has shared their honest, practical advice on navigating a career in music. Here are some of the key lessons that have stood out…

Horizon Music Jobs • 07 Mar 2025

YouTube • 2 min read

YouTube expands Premium Lite pilot to the US - the premium package that excludes ad-free music

YouTube is expanding the pilot of its lower-priced Premium Lite tier. The expansion was announced as the total number of subscribers for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music passed 125 million, something YouTube Music boss Lyor Cohen says is “an incredible milestone"…

Chris Cooke • 06 Mar 2025

LyricFind • 4 min read

LyricFind accuses Musixmatch of using Warner Chappell exclusivity deal to freeze competitors out of the lyrics licensing business

LyricFind has filed an antitrust lawsuit against competitor Musixmatch, alleging it created an exclusive deal with Warner Chappell specifically to block LyricFind's potential partnership with Spotify and monopolise the lyrics licensing market…

Chris Cooke • 06 Mar 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: lullahush

Ivor Novello Rising nominee and Athens-based Dublin artist lullahush blends folk and electronica into a striking vision of modern Irish identity. His latest single, ‘Maggie na bhFlaitheas’, twists a Celtic reel into a beautifully unclassifiable hybrid…

Kaya Robertson • 06 Mar 2025

Google • 3 min read

Search engines like Google make it too easy for consumers to discover pirated content say BBC and Sky

The UK’s Competition & Markets Authority has new powers to force ‘conduct requirements’ on big internet companies as a result of last year’s Digital Markets, Competition And Consumers Act. The BBC and Sky have told the CMA it should use those powers to force Google to do more to combat online piracy…

Chris Cooke • 05 Mar 2025

Drake • 3 min read

Drake wins key ruling in attempt to expose Universal Music marketing practices in Kendrick Lamar track dispute

Drake continues to push his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music, which also alleges that the major employed dubious marketing tactics when promoting Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’. Universal’s attempt to delay the case has failed, and Drake wants to depose one of the major’s marketing execs…

Chris Cooke • 05 Mar 2025

The Leadmill • 3 min read

Leadmill landlord will offer staff new jobs when it takes over running the venue, but timeline for the change in management remains uncertain

The current operator of The Leadmill in Sheffield has until 12 Mar to appeal a court ruling in his eviction battle with landlord The Electric Group. It plans to offer jobs to current Leadmill employees when it takes over operating the venue, though it’s still not clear how quickly that will happen…

Chris Cooke • 04 Mar 2025