CMU | the music business explained (Page 57)

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

Anthropic’s own guardrails revive full copyright lawsuit from litigious music publishers

Suno tells court to reject stream-ripping “gambit” by major labels in AI legal battle

As indie labels ramp up campaign for EU to block the UMG x Downtown merger, a French music lawyer says concerns around data are “fantasy or paranoia”

As FT says major labels are close to “landmark” AI licensing deals, is a new battle royale going to kick off within the music industry?

No one seems to know if Kneecap are still banned from Canada - or whether they were ever actually banned at all

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

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

Donald Trump signs executive order “saving TikTok”

Tabloid claims that Dua Lipa sacked agent over Glasto Kneecap letter are “categorically false” and “deliberately inflammatory”

Major labels add piracy claims to Suno lawsuit after $1.5 billion Anthropic settlement

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”

Jay-Z • 3 min read

Jay-Z says defamation continues, Buzbee rewrote Wikipedia

The legal battle between Jay-Z, the woman who accused him of rape and her lawyer Tony Buzbee continues. In a new legal filing, the rapper says his accuser continues to defame him despite dropping her lawsuit - and that Buzbee is rewriting Wikipedia to his advantage…

Chris Cooke • 07 May 2025

Musi • 3 min read

Musi faked email from Universal exec in attempt to stop App Store ban says Apple lawyer

Music app Musi is suing Apple, which kicked it out of the App Store last year. In a new filing, Apple says an amended lawsuit filed by Musi contains false claims. It also alleges that Musi once faked an email from Universal Music to convince Apple that a complaint from the major had been addressed…

Chris Cooke • 07 May 2025

Jimmy Page • 2 min read

Jimmy Page sued by ‘Dazed And Confused’ songwriter over Led Zeppelin documentary

Following a 2010 lawsuit, it was agreed that Led Zeppelin’s track ‘Dazed And Confused’ was inspired by an earlier song of the same name by Jake Holmes. He now claims that a performance of the song by The Yardbirds in a recent Led Zeppelin documentary used his version, but it wasn’t licensed as such…

Chris Cooke • 06 May 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

“I just don't understand how that can be fair use”, says judge in Meta AI trial

Numerous lawsuits filed by copyright owners against AI companies centre on whether or not AI training is ‘fair use’ under US copyright law. A judge last week considered that question in the context of a lawsuit against Meta, at one point stating “I just don't understand how that can be fair use”…

Chris Cooke • 06 May 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

UK government veers away from AI copyright exception in latest response to controversial Data Bill

MPs will tomorrow try to put measures around copyright and AI, previously backed by the House Of Lords, into the Data Bill. Keen to stop that, ministers are hoping to placate MPs by saying they no longer favour the controversial proposal to introduce a new copyright exception to benefit AI companies…

Chris Cooke • 06 May 2025

Kneecap • 2 min read

Kneecap’s replacement for cancelled gig cancelled

Calls continue for UK festivals to pull Kneecap from their line-ups following the recent controversies, with MPs even discussing their planned Glastonbury set in Parliament. After an Eden Sessions show was cancelled the band booked a replacement gig in Plymouth, but that’s now also been axed…

Chris Cooke • 02 May 2025

Apple Music • 3 min read

Spotify welcomes Epic ruling ending the Apple Tax in the US

A US judge has ordered Apple to let developers link to alternative payment options from within their iOS apps without restrictions or fees. The ruling comes in the legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, but also benefits Spotify, which has welcomed the news…

Chris Cooke • 02 May 2025

Op-Eds • 4 min read

Op-ed: Becky Ayres on why Liverpool doesn’t just make music, it makes the people who make the music business

This Friday, Sound City+ in Liverpool unites top music execs. Read Becky Ayres’ op-ed on why it’s the place shaping the next generation of industry leaders.…

CMU Contributors • 02 May 2025

Horizon Future Leaders • 7 min read

🌅 Horizon Future Leaders - Mia Thornton

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.…

Horizon Music Jobs • 02 May 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Plato III

Plato III is the shape-shifting rap project of Ryan Silva - a former game show contestant, Dungeon studio pilgrim, and sharp-eyed chronicler of modern life. New single ‘I Want (Money) is a funk-laced bop paired with a vivid, surrealist video inspired by his own time on a game show…

Kaya Robertson • 01 May 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 2 min read

Seeking to keep copyright and AI out of the Data Bill, ministers promise an impact assessment of proposed copyright exception

When the UK House Of Lords considered a new Data Bill it added some lines about the copyright and transparency obligations of AI companies. The government got them removed, but some MPs are trying to get them reinserted. Ministers now hope to placate critics with the promise of an impact assessment…

Chris Cooke • 01 May 2025

Kneecap • 3 min read

Artists sign open letter supporting Kneecap and opposing “political repression of artistic freedom”

Politicians and pundits laying into Kneecap over controversial on-stage remarks is now resulting in shows being cancelled. Seeing that as an attack on free speech, a stack of artists have signed an open letter supporting the rap group and criticising a “concerted attempt to censor” the band…

Chris Cooke • 01 May 2025

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