Music Business Worldwide - News, jobs and analysis for the global music industry

Inside the first accounts of Rock Bidco, the London company Sony used for its $1B+ Queen deal

They're Not 'Major Labels.'

Suno admits data breach that reportedly leaked 55.3 million users' data

Music publishers file amended lyrics lawsuit against Anthropic – just as AI firm’s separate $1.5B settlement with authors wins court approval

The latest filing draws heavily on Anthropic's internal records, obtained through discovery, to support claims the publishers first brought in October 2023.

News

Universal hires Tseyin Foo as President, Global Supply Chain to ‘strengthen the global capabilities powering UMG’s next phase of growth’

Former Skechers and Nike exec will be based in Los Angeles

News

India’s Tips Music grew revenues 21% in calendar Q2 – but profit fell 4% as content spend jumped 90%

Spending on music acquisitions pulled Tips' operating EBITDA margin down to 50.3%, from 64.2% a year earlier and 74.0% in the preceding quarter.

News

Sony Music Publishing acquires Monty Norman Limited, from the estate of late James Bond Theme composer

He was the credited composer of the James Bond Theme, first heard in the 1962 film Dr. No.

News

South Korea fines TikTok for collecting user data to target ads, and Apple over Siri recordings

The regulator fined Apple Distribution International KRW 252 million (about $170,000) over the collection of Siri recordings and transcripts without consent.

Analysis News

YouTube’s subscription business ‘growing faster than ads,’ driven by Music and Premium, says Alphabet

Platform's ad revenues rose 13% YoY to $11bn in Q2

News

Judge refuses to dismiss Reach Records’ case against UMG’s Capitol CMG over abandoned deal

Reach alleges that Capitol CMG agreed to buy the label during 2025, then pulled out months later by telling Reach the agreed price was too high.

News

Instagram now lets users swap the music on published posts and carousels

The feature, called Replace Audio, keeps a post's likes, comments, shares and reach in place when the soundtrack is changed.

Analysis

Key Principles for Ethical AI Use in Music Creation

The following MBW op/ed comes from John Meller, a Partner in the Entertainment practice at law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

News

Muvox drops its patent lawsuit against BMG, then sues Apple and Amazon over the same patent

The New Mexico company filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in its case against BMG on July 15, ending a dispute it first brought in August 2024.

News

Songwriter sues Willie Colón’s publishing company over royalties from salsa hit ‘Talento de Televisión’

Amílcar Boscán also asked a judge to let him reclaim the copyrights to the song under US copyright law.

News

SoundCloud acquires Nina Protocol, the independent music platform winding down after five years

The deal opens a migration process for Nina's artists to move their music, content, and followers to SoundCloud.

News

Academy of Country Music appoints Andy Schuon, ex-MTV and REVOLT TV exec, as new CEO

Andy Schuon will start in the role on September 1, 2026, and will be based at the Academy's headquarters in Nashville.

News

Snoop Dogg biopic ‘Snoop’ dated for August 2027, the first film from the rapper’s Death Row Pictures

Jonathan Daviss, known for the Netflix series Outer Banks, will play Snoop Dogg in the title role.

News

US musicians union urges court to reject Universal and Warner bid to dismiss lawsuit over Suno and Udio deals

The AFM says the deals triggered a "new use" provision requiring UMG and Warner to compensate members whose music was licensed to AI companies.

News

Sync agency Nothing Standard launches publishing JV with UMPG UK and record label via Virgin Music

Singer-songwriter Morgan Harper-Jones is the first signing to Nothing Standard Publishing through the UMPG collaboration.

News

TikTok is testing an opt-in ‘Likeness Detection’ tool that lets US creators find and report AI deepfakes of themselves

It was first spotted by social media consultant Matt Navarra, who wrote in a post on X that TikTok was testing the feature with "some US creators."

News

Universal Music Group has spent over $500M on its share buyback – with stage one of the process nearly complete

In total, UMG has repurchased 26,073,074 of its own shares since the program began in April, at a cost of EUR €487.7 million