News MBW (and Skibidi Toilet) just inspired a flurry of TikTok music takedownsTikTok took swift action over a list of videos that MBW identified as 'manipulating' UMG content
Analysis Down The Skibidi Toilet: Why Universal Music Group’s ‘Project Timeout’ is hitting TikTok with endless copyright takedown requestsThere is a lot to explain here....
Analysis Warner Music Group and Denis Ladegaillerie’s tussle over buying Believe is hotting up – as France’s SEC equivalent gets dragged into the drama.Believe's board is turning to France's equivalent of the SEC to decide whether Denis Ladegaillerie's actions are approved or otherwise
News That mystery company interested in buying Believe? It’s Warner Music Group.Needless to say, Warner does not love Ladegaillerie's attempt to bypass the "fairness opinion" part of the acquisition process
News The NMPA isn’t planning to renew its deal with TikTok. Will any indie publishers join Universal Music Group’s boycott?NMPA offers to help indie pubs take legal action against ByteDance's platform
Analysis Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s assets are now valued at $690 million less than they were before. Blackstone must be licking its lips.JP Morgan analyst says the likelihood of a Blackstone takeover just increased, thanks to Shot Tower's re-valuation of HSF
Analysis News A mystery company is mulling a $1.8 billion+ bid for Believe… but may be shut out by Denis Ladegaillerie consortium’s prior dealingsYet Ladegaillerie and co have a trump card up their sleeve
Analysis So… maybe don’t bet your house on Universal Music Group and TikTok reaching a deal anytime soonUMG and Sir Lucian Grainge today doubled down on their borderline disgust with the licensing offer/s they've received from TikTok in recent months
News Universal Music Group confirms cost-saving ‘redesign’, including layoffs, that will save $270m a yearUMG EVP, Boyd Muir, confirms that UMG needs to cut costs to hit the mid-20s EBITDA margin target it promised investors
Analysis TikTok vs. Universal Music Group: The Cremation of Once-Cuddlesome RelationsSurveying the landscape of a battle between music's biggest rightsholder and ByteDance's video juggernaut
Analysis News TikTok: UMG’s catalog, including publishing, only makes up ‘approximately 30% of popular music on our platform’It's a surprising claim from the ByteDance company...
News Robert Kyncl highlights Warner Music Group’s ‘big ambitions’ for MENA, as WMG signs India-based star Nora FatehiFatehi will remain signed to T-Series, the Indian music label and movie studio, for her Bollywood projects.
News Good Neighbours might be the hottest new independent band in the world right now – and the major labels know it.MBW's sources suggest this one is moving fast, with many sides keen to make a swift and potentially substantial deal
Analysis News Universal Music Group is acquiring a stake in Complex – via a takeover focused on ‘superfans’ and e-commerceEarlier this month, Robert Kyncl, CEO of Warner Music Group, confirmed that WMG is in active discussions to sell two of Complex's long-time rivals
Analysis 3 observations on… Universal Music Group’s $240m bet on Chord Music (and the real story, Dundee Partners)Looking underneath the hood of today's big story in the music business