CMU | the music business explained (Page 41)

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

One Liners - quickfire news from the music business • 23 min read

⏩ One Liners - music business news in brief: Professor Green x Carmoola, Warner x Meta, Peter André x Tories, WMG + UMG's seemingly endless round of executive shuffling + more

⚡Want your news to be included in the CMU One Liners round-up? Email [email protected] Deals Professor Green has…

CMU • 08 Oct 2024

Ticketmaster • 4 min read

StubHub and Ticketmaster bicker over Oasis tickets being touted prior to the official pre-sale

Last week’s controversy over the sale of tickets to the US Oasis reunion shows has sparked a war of words between StubHub and Ticketmaster. Tickets appeared on StubHub before they were on sale on Ticketmaster, which seemed like speculative listings from touts. But StubHub says that’s not the case…

Chris Cooke • 07 Oct 2024

Live Nation • 3 min read

Judge refuses to move Live Nation’s antitrust litigation to a Washington DC court

The US government filed its big antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation with the courts in New York. Live Nation wanted the legal battle to be fought in Washington DC and presented arguments as to why the litigation should be moved. A New York judge has now rejected those arguments…

Chris Cooke • 07 Oct 2024

Musi • 3 min read

Musi sues Apple over its App Store banishment

Last month the free music streaming app Musi - which pulls its content from YouTube - disappeared from Apple’s App Store. The music industry welcomed that development, but Musi has now sued Apple over its decision, criticising both Apple and YouTube…

Chris Cooke • 07 Oct 2024

CMU Digest • 7 min read

📑 CMU Digest: TikTok v the indies, plus CAA sues Range Media Partners

CMU Digest is our weekly round-up of the most interesting music business news stories from the last seven days.…

CMU • 07 Oct 2024

Garth Brooks • 2 min read

Garth Brooks responds to allegations of sexual assault

A new lawsuit accuses Garth Brooks of sexual assault though he denies the allegations and claims a former employee is trying to extort money from him. His accuser sets out various incidents of alleged sexual harassment and assault and accuses Brooks of filing his own lawsuit in a bid to silence her…

Chris Cooke • 04 Oct 2024

Oasis • 4 min read

Oasis shows in the US put the spotlight on another ticket controversy: speculative selling

Thousands of tickets for Oasis shows in the US appeared on secondary ticketing sites days before any tickets were actually sold on the primary sites. Campaigners have said this demonstrates that US Congress needs to pass new laws to stop speculative selling by ticket touts…

Chris Cooke • 04 Oct 2024

Releases & Tours • 1 min read

⏩ Releases & Tours News Friday 4 Oct

New music from: KAYTRANADA, Confidence Man, The Smile, The Horrors, Maverick Sabre, Michael Kiwanuka, Allie X, Aitch, Auntie Flo, Maribou State, THUS LOVE, The Smashing Times, GRACEY, KSI…

CMU • 04 Oct 2024

Kesha • 3 min read

Kesha reveals “ten year plan to upend the music industry”

Kesha finally fulfilled all the obligations on her 2005 record deal with Dr Luke’s Kemosabe Records last year allowing her to release recent single ‘Joyride’ on her own label. Now in control of her recordings, she has a plan to address issues in the music industry, including unfair record contracts…

Chris Cooke • 04 Oct 2024

TikTok • 4 min read

Indie community reacts to TikTok circumventing Merlin

Following the news that TikTok has walked away from licensing negotiations with Merlin, various representatives for the indie label community have issued statements. They dismiss TikTok’s claim that it wants direct deals with indies to combat streaming fraud, arguing it’s all about paying less…

Chris Cooke • 03 Oct 2024

One Liners - quickfire news from the music business • 18 min read

⏩ One Liners music business news in brief: Sony’s Pink Floyd deal, Heatwave Records, Tomorrow’s Warriors, yet more UMG country chiefs appointed, Black Lives in Music mentorship + more

⚡Want your news to be included in the CMU One Liners round-up? Email [email protected] Deals Cooking Vinyl Publishing…

CMU • 03 Oct 2024

Range Media Partners • 2 min read

CAA accuses Range Media of stealing confidential information and masquerading as a management company to avoid talent agency regulations

In 2020, five former CAA agents set up Range Media Partners. CAA has now sued the company accusing its founders of stealing confidential information about the talent agency before launching Range. They also say Range is basically a talent agency, but pretends it isn’t to avoid regulation…

Chris Cooke • 03 Oct 2024