CMU | the music business explained (Page 51)

Proper Music saved as Drew Hill and Artone conclude strategic acquisition deal to buy the assets of Proper Music Group

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 • 7 min read

⏩ One Liners: deals, appointments, legal and industry news round-up including Blackstone's SONG wrap, Wu-Tang legacy, Barbara Butch bullying + more

Blackstone's SONG deal is done; GEMA appoints new Digital Transformation honcho; Live Nation's competitors don't like how much access it has in DOJ lawsuit; Barbara Butch files legal complaint over online Olympics abuse, Hong Kong Customs arrests in Karaoke copyright infringement…

CMU • 30 Jul 2024

One Liners - quickfire news from the music business • 7 min read

⏩ One Liners: Deals, appointments, legal and industry news round-up including Sony’s Apollo deal, Prescription Songs, Britain’s Got Talent lawsuit plus releases + tours

Apollo provides “$700 million capital solution” to Sony, Big Machine and Prescription Songs appointments, Fremantle Media wins legal battle with ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ contestant, Apple Music adds radio data, new releases including from Halsey, Max Richter and Ray LaMontagne + more…

CMU • 29 Jul 2024

South Africa pushes back against US criticism of fair use copyright reforms

The US copyright industries recently criticised plans to introduce fair use into South Africa’s copyright laws. The South African government has hit back, arguing the reforms allow its copyright regime to “keep up with innovation”. It will also likely make the country more attractive to AI companies…

Chris Cooke • 29 Jul 2024

TikTok • 3 min read

TikTok’s plans to allay data security concerns were simply insufficient, US government insists in new court submission

The US Department Of Justice last week filed documents in response to TikTok’s lawsuit that is trying to block the sell-or-be-banned law passed by Congress earlier this year. The DoJ sets out various data security concerns and says TikTok’s proposals for overcoming them just weren’t good enough…

Chris Cooke • 29 Jul 2024

CMU Digest • 7 min read

📑 CMU Digest: Spotify hits back at MLC lawsuit + Q2 financial updates

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

CMU • 29 Jul 2024

Wu-Tang Clan • 2 min read

Martin Shkreli says his copies of single-copy Wu-Tang album are legit and he shouldn’t have to give them up

The ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ saga continues. The NFT collective that owns the single-copy Wu-Tang album recently went legal after previous owner Martin Shkreli admitted he still has copies of the record. In a new filing Shkreli says his copies are legit and he should be allowed to keep them…

Chris Cooke • 26 Jul 2024

One Liners - quickfire news from the music business • 9 min read

⏩ One Liners: Industry news in brief including deals, appointments and legal from Position Music, Downtown, Primary Wave, Deezer, CIISA + more

Primary Wave x Toto’s Steve Pocaro, Downtown x Lady Blackbird, new Deezer CEO, Italian PRO stats, Philip Glass battles pro-Putin ballet director, Stormzy’s tinted Lambo windows, plus releases & tours news from Aitch, Porter Robinson, Jorja Smith, BABii, Muni Long, Raleigh Ritchie + more…

CMU • 26 Jul 2024

web-blocking • 2 min read

French and Italian record industries secure new web-blocks

Web-blocking remains an anti-piracy tactic of choice for the music industry. This week the record industries of both Italy and France welcomed the issuing of a number of new web-blocking orders in their respective countries, the Italian ones all targeting stream-ripping…

Chris Cooke • 26 Jul 2024

Universal Music • 5 min read

Lucian Grainge is back on the win-win, but which DSP is off his christmas card list? It’s not hard to guess.

UMG’s Q2 earnings call was an unusually sombre affair, with good reason. With UMG’s market cap dropping by billions of dollars, the major’s CEO Lucian Grainge saw the prospect of his massive bonus turn from a near cert to a distant dream. And all because a couple of DSPs aren’t pulling their weight…

Sam Taylor • 26 Jul 2024

Music industry legal news coverage • 2 min read

Man jailed for nearly five years after defrauding $3 million from concert organisers eager to book Justin Bieber

Two men pleaded guilty earlier this year to scamming nearly $3 million out of a number of concert promoters by falsely claiming to have booked pop stars like Justin Bieber and Billie Eilish to perform at shows. One of those men has now been sentenced to nearly five years in jail…

Chris Cooke • 25 Jul 2024

One Liners - quickfire news from the music business • 8 min read

⏩ One Liners: Deals, Appointments, Industry News including Warner Chappell, Wise Music Group, Universal earnings + more

Lucian Grainge's massive bonus looks a lot less certain as UMG's share price falls off a cliff. Wise Music signs The Staves, Armada Music partners with Warner and Africori, Kobalt ups Bob Bruderman and Maximilian Kolb leaves BMG…

CMU • 25 Jul 2024

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Antony Szmierek

Mancunian poet-turned-artist Antony Szmierek shares stories of love, hope and ambition. His latest release, ‘Rafters’, blends spoken word with stuttering synths and UK garage beats.…

Kaya Robertson • 25 Jul 2024