News As Sony prepares to buy Queen’s catalog for over $1 billion, band’s annual revenue comes in at $49 million Queen's royalty earnings have slipped since last year, but that doesn't seem to be a sign the band's popularity is fading
News Merck Mercuriadis to step away as Chairman of Hipgnosis Song Management 'I am excited about the company’s future and its ongoing success with the support of Blackstone.'
News After being acquired by HYBE in a $32m deal last year, voice cloning startup Supertone launches AI-powered virtual pop group, SYNDI8 Supertone claims that its software can create 'hyper-realistic and expressive voices that [are not] distinguishable from real humans.'
News TPG buys stake in Untitled Entertainment from Boat Rocker as it launches new talent management firm TPG has named Michel Pratte, former President of Boat Rocker Media, to lead the newly established company
News Futureverse and Animoca Brands to undertake $5M equity swap under new strategic deal Futureverse's AI tools and metaverse platform will collaborate with Animoca Brands' network of Web3 projects
News Warner Chappell Music now represents the publishing catalog of Tom Petty around the world WCM hails pact as a milestone agreement with late songwriter's estate
News Believe vows ‘continued expansion’ in Greater China, appointing Charles Liu as GM and Rebecca Dong as MD, Operations in key market Based in Beijing, Charles Liu is responsible for defining and leading Believe’s revenue growth strategies in Greater China
News Spanish collecting society SGAE fined $7M for anticompetitive practices Spain's competition authority says SGAE abused its dominant market position with the use of flat-rate licensing fees
News UK’s PPL paid out over $131M to performers and rightsholders in Q2 2024, up 6% The licensing company credits the growth to improved sharing of metadata and a new public performance tariff
News Neil Miller named General Counsel at Merlin Miller's previous experience includes stints at Meta Platforms and SoundCloud
Analysis News From the majors’ AI lawsuit to Believe’s big acquisition plans… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days…
News Joakim Johansson promoted to President, Nordics at Universal Music Central Europe UMG credits Johansson with Universal Music Sweden's reclamation of its position as market leader in the country
News Universal sued by Grammy-nominated songwriter Jon Hume over use of audio stems in Dean Lewis hit Be Alright Nashville-based songwriter files legal complaint against UMG
News Downtown introduces Curve Royalty Services for royalty process outsourcing The move follows Downtown’s acquisition of royalty processing platform Curve Royalty Systems in 2023
News Primary Wave Music to co-produce documentary on songwriting legend Gerry Goffin Goffin penned 114 Billboard Hot 100 hits, with eight of those reaching number one