Music Business Worldwide

From Universal Music’s fresh round of layoffs to Spotify’s catalog surge… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-up

Rafaela Fornitani — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 17:29:30 +0000

The biggest headlines from the past few days...

SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, others sue Washington, D.C., to block its 10% cap on ticket resale prices

Mandy Dalugdug — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 22:35:37 +0000

The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction against the District's RESALE Act, which is set to apply from January 1, 2027.

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Warner Chappell Music signs My Chemical Romance to exclusive worldwide publishing deal

Rafaela Fornitani — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 17:35:20 +0000

Warner Chappell will oversee the catalog's global rights administration, copyright protection, and sync licensing across film, television, and video games.

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Live Nation calls FTC’s BOTS Act lawsuit ‘misguided,’ says agency is trying to ‘flip the Act on its head’

Mandy Dalugdug — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 17:26:06 +0000

If the FTC wins, ticketing companies that run their own resale marketplaces could be held liable for reselling tickets they knew, or should have known.

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AEG Presents acquires Auguri Productions, which has worked with Stromae, Angèle, and David Guetta

Mandy Dalugdug — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 17:24:44 +0000

Auguri Productions is the Paris-based artist development and concert production company co-founded by Charles Bensmaine.

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Chance the Rapper wins second trial against ex-manager Pat Corcoran, who must hand over merch vendor payments – and up to $1.5M in fees, according to Chance’s team

Mandy Dalugdug — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:48:19 +0000

The ruling does not put a number on what Corcoran owes, but representatives for Chance say he is likely to forfeit up to $1.5 million in management fees.

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Mohnish Sani appointed Head of Strategy and Growth for HYBE Americas

Mandy Dalugdug — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:24:46 +0000

The role is newly created at the company, which oversees HYBE's business in the US, Canada, and Latin America.

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Donald Trump signs American Music Tourism Act into law, tasking Commerce Department with promoting travel to US music sites and events

Mandy Dalugdug — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:20:56 +0000

Under the Act, music tourism covers travel to attend a festival, a concert, or another live musical performance or music-related special event.

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Ben Katovsky joins Matt Spetzler’s Pipeline as CEO

Rafaela Fornitani — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 23:01:08 +0000

Pipeline is the $200 million-backed financing platform for the music and creative industries that launched in January through Matt Spetzler's investment firm Jamen Capital.

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Here’s exactly what Amazon, Spotify, Apple and other streaming services want to pay songwriters for 2028–2032

Murray Stassen — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 19:03:58 +0000

Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Pandora, and Google have filed their rate proposals in Phonorecords V

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