CMU | the music business explained (Page 4)

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

Secondary Ticketing • 2 min read

FTC sues ticket touting business that claims it is endorsed by Ticketmaster

The FTC has sued a ticket touting company that uses dubious tactics to access tickets, including using 49 Ticketmaster accounts to buy 273 tickets for one Taylor Swift show that had a six-tickets-per-person limit. However, the accused business says its tactics are authorised by Ticketmaster…

Chris Cooke • 19 Aug 2025

CMU Approved • 2 min read

🎧 Approved: kissin' teef

kissin’ teef is the sonic expression of Kai Isaiah-Jamal, a South London creative whose world spans poetry, fashion and now music. Debut EP ‘impatiently waiting’ offers something slick yet deep-rooted; channeling early 2000s grime, rap and funky house, as a love letter to multicultural Britain…

Kaya Robertson • 19 Aug 2025

Spotify • 1 min read

Spotify launches new tool to add customised transitions to playlists

Spotify is adding new functionality to allow users to add customised track transitions to playlists they create on the platform. It’s not clear if this is in any way connected to the remixing tools Spotify was rumoured to be developing as part of its long awaited higher priced super premium product…

Chris Cooke • 19 Aug 2025

Drake • 4 min read

Drake’s claims are “farcical” says Lucian Grainge as defamation battle rumbles on

Lucian Grainge made his own declaration to the court last week as part of Drake’s defamation legal battle with Universal Music. The major’s CEO calls Drake’s claims about his role in releasing Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ “farcical”. The rapper is currently trying to get access to Grainge’s emails…

Chris Cooke • 18 Aug 2025

Digital services and platforms news • 2 min read

Boycotts agogo as Godspeed You! Black Emperor pull music from streaming platforms, and Neil Young cuts off Meta

Following a flurry of bands boycotting Spotify over Daniel Ek’s investments in the defence sector, Godspeed You! Black Emperor have pulled their music from the platform. However, they also seem to be boycotting other streaming services too. Meanwhile Neil Young is now officially boycotting Facebook…

Chris Cooke • 18 Aug 2025

CMU Selects • 1 min read

CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases

Our selection of five releases that cut through the noise last week, from Radiohead, Everything Is Recorded, Sampha, Florence Welch and Danielle Ponder, to Jah Wobble, Leon Vynehall, TYSON, BXKS and John Glacier.…

Kaya Robertson • 18 Aug 2025

Spotify • 3 min read

King Gizzard frontman on Spotify boycott: “I don’t really want our music to be there, at least right now”

After Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s investments in the arms sector were back in the news recently a number of artists announced they were boycotting the platform in protest. That included King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard who have now discussed their decision in a new interview with the LA Times…

Chris Cooke • 15 Aug 2025

The Leadmill • 3 min read

Outgoing Leadmill team left building “vandalised” and in a “wrecked state”, says landlord, who still hopes to reopen in February

The team who ran Sheffield’s The Leadmill venue have vacated the building after being evicted by their landlord, The Electric Group, which will now run the space. The outgoing team pledged to gut the building before they left, which they have. The results are “devastating” according to the landlord…

Chris Cooke • 15 Aug 2025

Horizon Future Leaders • 5 min read

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders - Tabeah Berler

This week we caught up with Tabeah Berler, artist manager and founder of Pon’t Danic Music, where she looks after three artists and two writer/producers, all while building a new publishing company in Manchester.…

Horizon Music Jobs • 15 Aug 2025

Kobalt • 3 min read

Kobalt strikes US direct licensing deal with Spotify

Kobalt has signed a direct deal with Spotify in the US. It means Kobalt will be paid mechanical royalties on bespoke terms rather than at rates set by the US compulsory licence. Universal and Warner have also done direct deals since Spotify started applying the compulsory licence’s bundling discount…

Chris Cooke • 14 Aug 2025

Music industry legal news coverage • 2 min read

South Korea’s top court says viral hit ‘Baby Shark’ didn’t infringe copyright

A legal battle over the copyright in ‘Baby Shark’ is over. Although the annoying viral hit is based on a US folk song, an American musician said Pinkfong, the company behind the hit, had used his adaptation of it, which should be protected by copyright. But South Korea’s Supreme Court says it isn’t…

Chris Cooke • 14 Aug 2025