Sony Music news

Universal and Sony file amended Suno lawsuit after judge gives all clear to add stream ripping claims

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Suno • 3 min read

Universal and Sony file amended Suno lawsuit after judge gives all clear to add stream ripping claims

Earlier this month Universal and Sony were given permission to add stream ripping allegations to their Suno lawsuit, prompting the filing of an amended complaint this week. Those allegations may make it easier for the majors to defeat the AI company’s ‘fair use’ defence in the copyright dispute…

Chris Cooke • 28 Aug 2026

Universal and Sony sue rogue music app Musi

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Musi • 2 min read

Universal and Sony sue rogue music app Musi

Universal and Sony are suing Musi, the app that pulls in its music from YouTube rather than having its own deals with the music industry. That approach got Musi kicked out of the Apple App Store, and now the majors want to hold it liable for copyright infringement in Canada, where the app is based…

Chris Cooke • 07 Aug 2026

Sony Music sues Udio for a second time, with the extra 30,000 recordings that could result in $4.5 billion damages

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Sony Music • 3 min read

Sony Music sues Udio for a second time, with the extra 30,000 recordings that could result in $4.5 billion damages

Sony Music has sued Udio. Again. It wanted to add 30,000+ extra recordings to its original lawsuit, boosting the potential damages it could seek to over $4.5 billion. But the judge wouldn’t allow that late-in-the-day change, so Sony has simply filed a second lawsuit listing the extra 30,000 tracks…

Chris Cooke • 21 Jul 2026

Jermaine Dupri sues Sony Music over “wilful deceitful actions” that resulted in $18 million in unpaid royalties

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Jermain Dupri • 3 min read

Jermaine Dupri sues Sony Music over “wilful deceitful actions” that resulted in $18 million in unpaid royalties

Jermaine Dupri has had a 34 year relationship with Sony Music after first partnering with the major back in 1992. But he now reckons that Sony has systematically underreported and underpaid royalties he is due on many of the records he was involved in, so he’s suing for more than $18 million…

Chris Cooke • 08 Jul 2026

“Enduring power of great music” on display as Sony gobbles up the former Hipgnosis business in $4 billion deal

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Hipgnosis • 3 min read

“Enduring power of great music” on display as Sony gobbles up the former Hipgnosis business in $4 billion deal

Sony has bought all the music rights currently controlled by Recognition Music Group, the company previously known as Hipgnosis. The major acquired some smaller catalogues from Hipgnosis owner Blackstone last year. This latest bigger deal could be worth as much as $4 billion…

Chris Cooke • 11 May 2026

Sony Music wins copyright and performer rights battle with the estates of Jimi Hendrix’s bandmates

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Jimi Hendrix Experience • 5 min read

Sony Music wins copyright and performer rights battle with the estates of Jimi Hendrix’s bandmates

Sony has won its legal battle with the estates of Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, both members of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The estates said Sony was infringing the late musicians’ rights by distributing the band’s recordings, but the high court says - based on a 1966 agreement - that’s not true…

Chris Cooke • 29 Apr 2026

Sony boffins say new tech can reveal what music went into the genAI blender to make new tracks - but can it actually work in the real world?

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Artificial Intelligence • 6 min read

Sony boffins say new tech can reveal what music went into the genAI blender to make new tracks - but can it actually work in the real world?

Sony’s AI R&D team has published research on how some pretty complex science could help pinpoint which tracks have influenced a generative AI model when it’s spitting out music. The research is exciting - but a long way from being a product, a distinction that coverage so far has rather glossed over…

Chris Cooke & Sam Taylor • 17 Feb 2026

DSW Shoe Warehouse lawsuit over TikTok copyright infringement is nothing more than “forum-shopping”, says Sony Music

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Sony Music • 2 min read

DSW Shoe Warehouse lawsuit over TikTok copyright infringement is nothing more than “forum-shopping”, says Sony Music

Earlier this year DSW Shoe Warehouse filed a lawsuit against Sony Music asking a judge to rule it didn’t infringe the major’s copyrights by putting pop music into its TikTok videos. That sneakily preempted Sony’s own infringement lawsuit against DSW. Sony now wants the DSW litigation dismissed…

Chris Cooke • 22 Oct 2025

Sylvia Rhone announces departure from top job at Sony Music’s Epic Records

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Sony Music • 2 min read

Sylvia Rhone announces departure from top job at Sony Music’s Epic Records

Sylvia Rhone is standing down as Chair and CEO of the Epic label at Sony Music. The first black woman to chair a major label in the US, Rhone has now led frontline label divisions at all three major record companies. In a memo to staff, Sony boss Rob Stringer hailed the “trailblazing executive”…

Chris Cooke • 23 Sep 2025

Spotify agrees new deal with Sony Music Group that includes song rights in the US

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Spotify • 3 min read

Spotify agrees new deal with Sony Music Group that includes song rights in the US

Sony has announced a new licensing deal with Spotify. Like the other two majors, it will now directly license its songs catalogue in the US, where the streaming service previously relied on the MLC-administered compulsory licence, under which Spotify could apply a controversial bundling discount…

Chris Cooke • 18 Sep 2025

Sony Music’s NYC HQ criticised over handling of corporate culture scandal at Aussie division

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Sony Music • 2 min read

Sony Music’s NYC HQ criticised over handling of corporate culture scandal at Aussie division

Australian tabloid the Daily Telegraph has published another report about employee grievances at Sony Music Australia and allegations that CEO Vanessa Picken has fostered a toxic workplace culture. Staff members are now specifically criticising how the major’s New York HQ is handling the crisis…

Chris Cooke • 01 Sep 2025

Sony’s merch division seeks court order banning sale of Benson Boone knock-offs

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Benson Boone • 2 min read

Sony’s merch division seeks court order banning sale of Benson Boone knock-offs

Benson Boone is on tour around the US and bootleggers are trying to sell knock off merch outside his shows. He works with Sony Music’s Ceremony Of Roses on his official merchandise, and it wants a court order banning the sale and ordering confiscation of all the knock offs…

Chris Cooke • 29 Aug 2025