CMU | the music business explained (Page 46)

US industry groups raise “serious concerns” about EU royalty flow proposals, which many of their European counterparts support

Kneecap allowed to file defamation lawsuit in Ireland against Indigenous leader in Canada over antisemitism claims

BBC’s music boss Lorna Clarke outlines broadcaster’s AI transparency commitments - but can it actually meet them?

Spotify zaps half a million streams amid speculation Kalshi traders were behind boost for Malcolm Todd track ‘Earrings’

PRS defeats Rowntree black box class action at appeal - but is left £1.8m out of pocket

Live Nation boss Michael Rapino talked to Trump, hired Trump allies, reveals latest filing in antitrust case

StubHub fined £900,000 by UK regulator for illegal drip pricing

Google says any music uploaded to YouTube is fair game for AI training - and there’s nothing musicians can do

Suno really doesn’t want you to know how many audio files it copied when training its music AI model

Universal Music has found its backbone and told Bill Ackman to take a hike

BTS fans hate Live Nation over Aussie and Malaysian ticket pre-sales

Chance The Rapper and Pat The Manager back in court, over claims Pat improperly inserted himself into Chance’s deals

Gamma - which released Kanye’s comeback album - sues to unmask whoever is behind “coordinated and malicious” anonymous smear campaign

UK competition regulator should urgently investigate live music sector, MPs say, citing “climate of fear” around Live Nation’s dominance

Spotify’s transformation into an AI slop factory commences as it announces Universal “superfan” remix gimmick and Live Nation ticketing wheeze

Music industry welcomes revised NO FAKES Act, but Spotify says “still work to do”

Live Nation and Ticketmaster should still be split up, lawmakers told, as US government’s antitrust settlement criticised in Congress

Spotify increases subscription prices in Canada, but rolls back previous price increases in India

Op-ed: More than the Beatles: the quiet secrets behind Liverpool’s world-class music industry

BMG and Concord confirm merger

Universal and Sony must be allowed to see Warner’s deal with Suno, lawyers tell judge as AI legal battle continues

Music streaming services targeted as Texas Attorney General launches payola investigation

Live Nation pays $9.9 million to settle yet another investigation into dodgy ticketing practices

The European rule on whether samples need to be cleared moves to a “maybe” with latest Kraftwerk ruling

BTS lawyers go after album leaker and knock-off merch sellers

Eddie Dalton’s (actually quite modest) chart success sparks further debate about where AI music fits in

Grass needs more time to grow says AEG as it puts a pin in LIDO Festival

Universal CEO Lucian Grainge makes 764 times more than his employees - and female staff get 48% less than male counterparts

Major music publishers buy into termination rights lawsuit to take fight to Supreme Court

Spotify wants $300 million in damages from Anna’s Archive, and for court to go after piracy site’s service providers

Cox Communications celebrates as US Supreme Court overturns critical music piracy judgement

Claude’s AI lyrics cause market dilution, say music publishers calling for courts to reject fair use defence

Declare trademark claims bogus says FKA in Twigs vs Twigs

Chance The Rapper wins sunset clause dispute with former manager

American man pleads guilty to multi-million dollar streaming fraud, faces five years in jail

Cautious welcome for UK government’s latest AI copyright stance, as BMG files latest Anthropic lawsuit

DoJ’s Live Nation settlement “proof Trump Administration cannot be trusted to protect American consumers”, says new Senate report on Ticketmaster

StubHub to more clearly state prices and terms for touted tickets, and offer Taylor Swift fans refunds, but only in British Columbia

“Robbing them blind, baby - that’s how we do it”, boast Live Nation execs about “so stupid” ticket-buyers

New generation of British artists propel UK record industry to £1.5 billion high, says BPI

High Court sides with Kneecap, ending the Hezbollah flag criminal case against Mo Chara

Google had every opportunity to train its AI legally, but chose to do it on the cheap instead, say indie musicians in new lawsuit

Live Nation settles DoJ antitrust lawsuit - but state lawsuits may continue

Chance The Rapper and Pat The Manager bust-up heads to court over disputed sunset clause

Warner Music’s Robert Kyncl is betting the company on an AI future. Can he deliver?

Suno is a feral pig rampaging through a well-tended garden, say creator orgs

Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota said “independent music is not raw material for tech companies to exploit without consent” before quitting to join AI music scraper-in-chief Suno

Producer who accused Karol G of beat-theft dismisses his lawsuit, adding “we were wrong”

Anna’s Archive rolls out the red carpet for robots - and asks them to “persuade” their humans to make donations

After a Live Nation lobbyist boasted he got antitrust chief sacked, US Senators ask if company has hired a “bevy of cozy MAGA friends”

European Commission approves Universal’s $775 million Downtown acquisition - but did it ask the right questions?

Spotify is all in on AI, its best engineers haven't written a single line of code since December - and why that should worry the music industry

Adding “hot takes” to unlicensed music is not fair use, judge confirms in rockumentary copyright case

IMPALA report warns European music diversity will erode without intervention on ownership, market access and infrastructure

European Commission must tackle “coercive buy-out practices” when US video streamers commission music, says MEP

Charlie Puth got musician to provide vocals for ‘Furious 7’ track, then Warner cheated him out rights and royalties, says lawsuit

Music publishers file new Anthropic lawsuit, adding in piracy claims and $3 billion mega-damages

Meta dropped songs from Reels library to bully Wixen into accepting lower royalty rates, says lawsuit

Horizon Future Leaders: Four issues shaping the industry

Five key developments over the Christmas break

Music and AI: 2025’s developments that will shape 2026’s disputes

Artists from South East Europe at risk of “cultural erasure” as a result of Spotify’s 1000 stream threshold

As indie community calls again for Universal’s Downtown deal to be blocked, will UMG flog off Curve to get over regulators?

MIT study “marks a new anchor for meaningful actions” to make live music more environmentally sustainable

Indie publishers make demands of collecting societies as they start to negotiate AI deals

Bob Vylan sue RTÉ over claims they instigated “antisemitic chant” during Glastonbury set

After King Gizzard boycotted Spotify, tracks by an AI-clone of the band started streaming

Ador founder wants to develop alternative K-pop management model with new agency

Indie publisher trade body says members should reject AI deals that do not value songs properly

“Creators are collateral damage” in AI race says Jorja Smith’s label, after AI voice clone track goes viral

Kneecap sue MP who “lied to the world” about group’s Canada ban

Johnny Cash estate uses ELVIS Act to sue Coke over tribute act ad soundtrack

Suno picks up Songkick as part of AI licensing deal with Warner Music

Live Nation and AEG provide a “disgusting service”, says Olivia Dean, after for-profit touting of tickets

Fugee Pras Michel jailed for fourteen years after illegal lobbying

Ticket touting platforms start frantic lobbying campaign claiming new anti-tout laws will increase ticket fraud

StubHub share price craters as UK prepares to announce ticket touting ban

Regulators must consider UMG’s AI deals in Downtown case, says IAO President

North American songwriter groups join call for transparency and creator consent as music companies start signing AI deals

Starmer must “honour his pledge” to cap prices in “extortionate and pernicious” secondary ticketing market

Downtown accused of planning “calculated destruction” of a short-lived YouTube music client in bombastic new lawsuit

No “self-service buffet” for AI companies says GEMA CEO as OpenAI loses landmark lyrics lawsuit

Manchester Evening News pays damages after incorrectly labelling Bob Vylan’s “sun salutation” as a Nazi salute

Slipknot.com owner hires domain name specialist to fight back against band’s cybersquatting claims

“Misleading rhetoric and “deceitful buzzwords” not good enough, says Council Of Music Makers in call for creator consent, control and compensation in AI deals

Axing of controversial EBacc is a “step in the right direction” for music education says Ed Sheeran

Former Guns N Roses manager sues band over autobiography blocker clause

Judgement in Getty’s UK lawsuit against Stability “underscores growing gap” between copyright and tech, says leading lawyer

Spotify’s streaming fraud initiatives are “nothing more than window dressing” says rapper RBX as he files class action lawsuit

Streaming services don’t want French language quotas in Québec

Universal has settled its lawsuit with Udio, and signed AI deals with Udio and Stability

Spotify questions MLC’s “motivations” in pursuing audiobook bundling dispute lawsuit

Lizzo is being sued over an uncleared sample - on a track she never released

Viagogo is unfair, opaque and violates EU law, consumer group tells regulator

Bobby Vylan says he has no regrets about “death to the IDF” chant at Glastonbury

Ticketmaster says FTC allegations it colluded with touts “nonsensical”, but it is changing some of its rules and shutting down TradeDesk

New Udio lawsuit hones in on the “significant and unequal harm” inflicted on independent musicians by music AI

Majors tell US Supreme Court to ignore ISP’s doom and gloom predictions and uphold billion dollar piracy ruling

Drake vows to appeal after judge throws out defamation lawsuit against Universal

High profile songwriters express concern about PRS transparency, accuracy and admin costs

Paramore • 2 min read

Paramore’s Hayley Williams says she “doesn’t know” why tracks are available in Israel after joining No Music For Genocide pledge

Last week Paramore joined No Music For Genocide, pledging to remove their music from streaming services in Israel. That seemed to happen, but then the music returned. The band’s Hayley Williams says she doesn’t know why, but she hopes label Atlantic will ensure the music is geo-blocked again…

Chris Cooke • 30 Sep 2025

Spotify • 2 min read

Don’t say gruesome twosome: Ek steps sideways at Spotify to make way for not one but two new CEOs

Spotify is getting two new CEOs, with co-Presidents Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström being promoted to co-CEO roles as founder Daniel Ek steps aside to become Executive Chairman. Ek says the change in job titles more or less reflects the roles the three men are already performing at the company…

Chris Cooke • 30 Sep 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Westerman

Westerman, the project of Will Westerman, lives somewhere between folk and chamber pop; saint-like but playful in its textures. New single ‘About Leaving’ from upcoming album ‘A Jackal’s Wedding’ leans into all of that with a soft power…

Kaya Robertson • 30 Sep 2025

Spotify • 4 min read

The MLC can submit amended lawsuit in battle over Spotify’s bundling tricks

Earlier this year a judge dismissed with prejudice The MLC’s lawsuit over Spotify’s sneaky bundling tricks. However, the collecting society has other issues with how Spotify is using those tricks to reduce what it pays songwriters, and as a result the judge has said it can file an amended lawsuit…

Chris Cooke • 29 Sep 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 Florence + The Machine, Bricknasty and F3Miii, Magdalena Bay, Witch Fever + Geese…

Kaya Robertson • 29 Sep 2025

Labi Siffre • 3 min read

‘Something Inside’ songwriter goes legal over Tommy Robinson’s use of his anti-apartheid anthem

Right wing activist Tommy Robinson has been using the famous anti-apartheid anthem ‘(Something Inside) So Strong’ on his social media and at the recent ‘Unite The Kingdom’ political rally, which is ironic, but also copyright infringement, according to the writer of that song, Labi Siffre…

Chris Cooke • 29 Sep 2025

Ticketmaster • 3 min read

Ticketmaster heads off UK regulatory action with ‘voluntary’ transparency commitments after Oasis debacle

Ticketmaster has made a number of commitments to the Competition & Markets Authority following the regulator’s investigation into the sale of tickets for the Oasis reunion shows. It has pledged to better communicate when it uses ‘tier pricing’ and to explain how different ticket types compare…

Chris Cooke • 26 Sep 2025

Kneecap • 3 min read

Kneecap terror charge thrown out as judge says prosecutors “defied logic”

Kneecap’s Mo Chara was back in court earlier today over the terror charge prompted by allegations he displayed a Hezbollah flag at a London gig last year. The judge ruled prosecutors made errors when charging the rapper and on that basis the case against him was “unlawful and null”…

Chris Cooke • 26 Sep 2025

TikTok • 3 min read

Donald Trump signs executive order “saving TikTok”

Donald Trump has formally endorsed the plan to sell TikTok’s US operations to a new business majority owned by American investors. The President signed an executive order yesterday which says that plan complies with the sell-or-be-banned law passed by Congress last year over data security concerns…

Chris Cooke • 26 Sep 2025

Horizon Future Leaders • 4 min read

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders - Elliot Willcocks

As part of our Horizon Future Leaders series of interviews, we are connecting with the music industry’s next generation of leaders to gather candid advice and insights into their career journeys. This week we spoke with Elliot Willcocks, PR Assistant at Stay Golden PR.…

Horizon Music Jobs • 26 Sep 2025

Cox Communications • 2 min read

US government set to side with Cox in court to overturn billion dollar damages judgement

Not only is the US government backing Cox Communications as it tries to overturn the billion dollar ruling in its long-running copyright battle with the major labels, but US Solicitor General D John Sauer now wants ten minutes to tell Supreme Court judges directly why they should side with the ISP…

Chris Cooke • 25 Sep 2025

European Union • 2 min read

New €1.8 billion EU culture programme must include “strategic policy action”, say music industry groups

Earlier this year the EU announced AgoraEU, a new programme to support culture, media and civil society across Europe. Music industry organisations have welcomed the programme, but say it should be “viewed as a baseline, not a ceiling”, and must deliver “coherent policy strategy” as well as funding…

Chris Cooke • 25 Sep 2025

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