News – Music Business Worldwide

From Suno’s $5.4B valuation to Bill Ackman’s exit from Universal Music… it’s MBW’s weekly round-up

Music Business Worldwide — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:25:05 +0000

The biggest headlines from the past few days...

Soraib el Jelali appointed Head of A&R at Warner Chappell Music Benelux

Mandy Dalugdug — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:20:27 +0000

El Jelali first joined WMG in 2023 as Head of A&R at Atlantic Records Benelux, where he worked with artists including Diamond-certified Roxy Dekker.

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UMG launches nextWAV artist development program in New Zealand

Mandy Dalugdug — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:00:40 +0000

The 12-month program is open to applicants aged 16 to 18 who are permanent residents or citizens of New Zealand.

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MOBO Awards founder Kanya King dies at 57

Music Business Worldwide — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:00:54 +0000

'The music world has lost one of its most fearless champions.'

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Remember ‘Say No To Suno’? Someone just hired a plane to fly it over an AI investor summit… featuring Mikey Shulman.

Tim Ingham — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:54:25 +0000

Its location in the skies was significant – directly over the UBS AI in Entertainment Summit at the Shutters on the Beach hotel, where Suno CEO Mikey Shulman was among the speakers.

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Concord invests in and strikes strategic partnership with Lito Music, the company founded by Latin hip-hop & reggaeton artist Lito MC Cassidy

Murray Stassen — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:21:47 +0000

The deal expands Concord’s presence in Latin music

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A bill moving through Congress could change who controls the US Copyright Office. Here’s why it matters for the music business.

Murray Stassen — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:11:16 +0000

Who controls the machinery of copyright in the United States, and what happens to music if that control shifts?

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Canada walks back plan to make US audiovisual streaming services pay a bigger Canadian-content levy

Mandy Dalugdug — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:58:50 +0000

The measures were announced by Marc Miller, Canada's Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages.

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Julian Franzoni appointed General Manager for Argentina and Uruguay at Warner Chappell Music

Murray Stassen — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:32:32 +0000

Franzoni joined WCM in 2016 and rose through the ranks in the A&R team

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Fast-growing producer royalty company mprs is now buying producer catalogs – in partnership with Milk & Honey

Tim Ingham — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:00:57 +0000

Founded in 2021, mprs – pronounced 'Empress' – was spun out of artist management and services company mtheory when Universal Music Group acquired mtheory's label division

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