CMU | the music business explained (Page 8)

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

Azealia Banks • 3 min read

Azealia Banks ditches Boomtown over ‘Fuck Palestine’ track

Azealia Banks has pulled out of the Boomtown and Maiden Voyage festivals claiming promoters were pressuring her to express public support for Palestine. Although they were actually asking her to walk back previous social media posts that said “fuck Palestine”. Legal action may now follow…

Chris Cooke • 26 Jun 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: For Nina

For Nina aren’t in the business of big statements. Not yet, anyway. But their new single ‘Swallow’ (released today) doesn’t ask for your attention so much as quietly consume it. Think Slowdive, but with an Irish lilt…

Kaya Robertson • 26 Jun 2025

Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

First major ruling on AI and fair use goes against the copyright industries, though with a silver lining relating to pirated training content

A judge has ruled in a legal battle between a group of authors and Anthropic concluding that AI training is fair use under US copyright law. It’s a big win for Anthropic and AI firms generally, although the judge criticised Anthropic’s use of pirated content, which is likely copyright infringement…

Chris Cooke • 25 Jun 2025

Association Of Independent Festivals • 2 min read

Live Nation has “enormous grip” on festival market but indies entertain more festival-goers, says new report

The Association Of Independent Festivals has published a report mapping the UK festival market. It highlights Live Nation’s dominant position, owning three of the four major festivals. However, independently owned events account for the majority of the combined capacity of the UK festival sector…

Chris Cooke • 25 Jun 2025

Spotify • 3 min read

“Regulating Spotify like radio is like regulating Uber like a horse and buggy” streaming giant tells Canadian regulators

Canada’s broadcasting regulator the CRTC is still figuring out how to implement the country’s Online Streaming Act, including how it should regulate streaming platforms. At a hearing last week, Spotify said it basically shouldn’t, because radio industry style regulation makes no sense online…

Chris Cooke • 24 Jun 2025

Diddy • 2 min read

Diddy defence team won’t call any witnesses, jurors shown more ‘freak offs’ footage

The Diddy trial is reaching its conclusion. Although the prosecution only finished presenting their case today, the defence say they won’t call any witnesses, so only need two days to argue their case. Among evidence shown so far was 40 minutes of footage from the ‘freak offs’ Diddy orchestrated…

Chris Cooke • 24 Jun 2025

CMU Approved • 1 min read

🎧 Approved: Shreea Kaul

Shreea Kaul slips past easy genre lines, sitting in the space between late-night honesty and sharp-eyed control. It's soft-edged R&B that doesn’t mind getting a little weird. New single ‘Crooked Salesman’ starts out hazy and alluring, then shifts under your feet…

Kaya Robertson • 24 Jun 2025

Spotify • 3 min read

Spotify customers forced into bundled plans says David Israelite as Senators urge FTC to intervene

US Senators have asked the FTC to investigate Spotify’s bundling trick, which saw it automatically opt premium subscribers into a music + audiobooks bundle that is more expensive and pays less to writers and publishers. The senators say they have “serious concerns” about this trick being employed…

Chris Cooke • 23 Jun 2025

Kneecap • 2 min read

Former Irish premier thought Keir Starmer’s Kneecap Glastonbury intervention must be a joke

Kneecap are due to play Glastonbury this weekend and that fact is causing some controversy. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told The Sun the group shouldn’t be playing. The former Irish Taoiseach has responded, bemused as to why Starmer would express an opinion on Glastonbury’s booking policies…

Chris Cooke • 23 Jun 2025

Coldplay • 2 min read

Coldplay re-release catalogue on EcoRecords, as industry seeks eco-friendly discs that are cheaper to produce and sound better

Coldplay will re-release all their albums on EcoRecords in August. A number of artists have been experimenting with more environmentally sustainable physical discs, and technological developments mean that approach is becoming cheaper, while audio quality issues are being addressed…

Chris Cooke • 23 Jun 2025

CMU Selects • 1 min read

CMU Selects - the last week’s standout releases

Five fresh tracks from last week: Lorde’s euphoric ‘Hammer’, SOPHIE’s fizzy ‘OOH’, Westside Cowboy’s punk ride, dexter in the newsagent’s intimate lo-fi ‘special’, and The Bloody Beetroots with Tokky Horror’s tense and twitchy ‘NUMB’…

Kaya Robertson • 23 Jun 2025