Analysis The modern record industry is moving into its ‘cut to grow’ phase. On layoffs at Warner Music Group and BMG, and an upcoming cost savings program at Universal Music Group
News Another suitor wants BMI – and has put a $2bn+ proposal on the table MBW sources tell us that a SPAC has made a significant proposition to BMI management
News Warner Music Group has signed up for Deezer’s ‘artist-centric’ royalties model in France News follow's Deezer's announcement of the new model with Universal Music Group in September
News Hipgnosis Song Management appoints Daniel Pounder as CFO, Jonathan Baker as General Counsel HSM currently services two clients: the Blackstone-backed private fund, Hipgnosis Songs Capital, and the UK-listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund
Analysis News Sony generated $2.33bn from recorded music and publishing in calendar Q3, up 8.3% YoY Travis Scott's Utopia was Sony Music's biggest revenue-generating project globally in calendar Q3
News Hipgnosis Songs Fund names Rob Naylor as new Chairman, Francis Keeling as non-executive director Former Round Hill board members jump over to Hipgnosis Songs Fund amid continuation turbulence
Analysis News Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) attracted 1,329% more streams than the original version of 1989 in the US last week What impact will 1989 (Taylor's Version) have on the weekly streams of the original version of the album in future weeks?
Analysis News Confirmed: From next year, tracks on Spotify will have to be played 1,000 times before they start earning money Sources close to Spotify's conversations with rightsholders confirm more information about the service's new royalty model
Analysis Talking ‘garbage’: How can Spotify and co sort the dregs of the music business from the hidden treasures? On Sir Lucian Grainge's bluntness, Believe's rebellion, and why a careful balance is required to find a true 'artist-centric' formula
News Morgan Stanley is investing more than $700m to buy music copyrights in partnership with Kobalt Deal represents a return to managing investment for outside capital for Kobalt, which sold $1.4 billion in portfolios in past few years
Analysis News Deezer’s ‘artist-centric’ model now has a new ‘user-centric’ element which, despite not really being ‘user-centric’, is quite a clever idea. MBW Explains: Digging into what Deezer's latest addition to 'artist-centric' really means
News BMG, following ‘more efficient and more effective’ strategy under new CEO Thomas Coesfeld, reorganizes structure; around 40 staff cut MBW obtains internal note that confirms a range of changes at Bertelsmann-owned company
Analysis Hipgnosis Songs Fund has been left concussed by ‘discontinuation’. But with a seemingly rock solid ‘call option’, Merck Mercuriadis still holds all the cards. On: Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the all important 'call option', Blackstone, and the most likely outcome of this week's mess
News Daniel Ek just banked $64M selling Spotify shares – three months after he banked $100M doing the same thing Ek offloads 400,000 shares the day after his company's latest quarterly earnings in the US
News Paul Burger and Andrew Wilkinson resign as Hipgnosis Songs Fund non-exec directors ahead of tomorrow’s continuation vote The comes in the same month that HSF confirmed the Chairman of its current board, Andrew Sutch, will step down from his role