News From Suno getting sued by Koda to Live Nation’s $8.5bn in Q3… it’s MBW’s weekly round-up The biggest headlines from the past few days...
Interviews BeatStars has paid creators over $400m to date. CEO Abe Batshon wants 1 million musicians to earn a living from his platform 1.5 million tracks are downloaded monthly from BeatStars' marketplace of 11 million-plus beats
News Peter Quinlan named MD for Europe at AXS as Hannah Rouch joins as VP, Marketing, Europe AXS has made two key leadership appointments as part of its expansion across Europe
News Primary Wave strikes partnership with estate of Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott Lynott penned and recorded songs such as The Boys Are Back In Town and Dancing in the Moonlight
News Global songwriter royalty collections reached $13.6bn in 2024, up 7.2%, CISAC reports Growth in collections from digital and live music could see a bit of a slowdown in the years ahead, the report states
News WMG invests in ‘always on’ catalog marketing strategy, hiring Leda Chang in global role Exec will work closely with Global Catalog President Kevin Gore and his senior team
News Nuno Rocha appointed Head of Business Development for MENA, Lusophone, and Francophone markets at ONErpm Company expands with new office in Luanda, Angola
News Virgin Music renews multi-year deal with Brazilian label GR6 The agreement continues a relationship that began in 2020 between the Universal Music Group-owned music distributor and the São Paulo-based label.
News Luminate partners with Tencent Music to add sales metrics from China to its global data set for the first time Luminate, Billboard’s longtime official Charts partner, will track streaming and sales metrics from TME platforms
News Spotify calls ‘payola’ lawsuit ‘nonsense’ as class action targets playlist practices Genevieve Capolongo alleges Spotify deceives users by letting labels boost song visibility through reduced royalty payments.
News UK’s Dune nears closing of $2.6M Series A round ahead of artist investment app launch Dune's platform allows fans to buy stakes in musicians that fluctuate in value according to daily streaming data.
Analysis News Spotify leadership talk price hikes, the company’s ‘ubiquity strategy’ and more on Q3 earnings call Spotify is making a big push into audiobooks and video, and so far, it appears to be paying off
News Steven Lankenau to lead Concord’s Boosey & Hawkes; Janis Susskind OBE to conclude tenure after 46 years with the company Janis Susskind OBE will conclude her tenure as Managing Director in June 2026, following a 46-year career with the company.
News Vinny Kumar promoted to President of EMPIRE Publishing, as pubco expands into Africa Munyaradzi Chanetsa to run the African division as MD while Vinny Kumar leads the global team from HQ in San Francisco
News Reservoir generated $45.4m in calendar Q3, up 12% YoY Reservoir Media has published its financial results for the three months ended September 30, 2025
News Live Nation’s revenue jumps 11% to record $8.5bn in Q3 on strong stadium activity, fan spending The company hosted over 51 million fans globally in Q3, with stadium shows up 60% from the prior year.
News Gary Gersh named Chairman of Bella Figura; company signs Sony Music Publishing deal in US push The London-based independent creative music rights company will establish operations in Los Angeles.
Analysis News Spotify subscriber base grew by 5m to 281m in Q3; company posted $680m operating profit for the quarter Company's latest financial results (for Q3 2025) were filed this morning (November 4)