CMU | the music business explained (Page 75)

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”

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

Naxos • 2 min read

Naxos sues Chinese classical music platform Kuke

Chinese classical platform Kuke Music entered into an eight year deal with Naxos in 2018, giving it access to a large catalogue of classical recordings. However, Naxos says Kuke stopped making payments under that deal at the end of 2021 and, with nearly $2 million owing, it has now filed a lawsuit…

Chris Cooke • 08 Oct 2024

Ticketmaster • 2 min read

Ticketmaster pauses ticket transfers on Taylor Swift shows following disappearing tickets problem

There has been a flurry of reports in US media recently of concert-goers seeing digital tickets disappear from their Ticketmaster accounts as hackers use transfer tools to steal those tickets. Ticketmaster has now paused ticket transfers for Taylor Swift shows until three days before the concert…

Chris Cooke • 08 Oct 2024

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Konyikeh

Konyikeh first gained widespread attention at the 2022 BRIT Awards, where her bluesy voice stood out during a performance alongside Dave. Her latest single, ‘Lie To Me’, showcases that same vocal power - rich, textured and brimming with raw emotion…

Kaya Robertson • 08 Oct 2024

2 Live Crew • 3 min read

2 Live Crew termination rights dispute gets to court, puts work for hire argument to the test

Members of 2 Live Crew want to exercise the termination right under US law to reclaim the copyrights in their early albums. But the label that currently owns those rights, Lil Joe Records, says they don’t have a termination right because they were artists for hire. The dispute is now in court…

Chris Cooke • 08 Oct 2024

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