This week, Bolloré CEO Cyrille Bolloré publicly urged Universal Music Group‘s management to reject Bill Ackman‘s $64 billion takeover bid, declaring “the price is not there at all.”
Meanwhile, Larry Jackson‘s Gamma filed a lawsuit in New York seeking to unmask the anonymous creators behind two “SCAMMA” smear websites.
Elsewhere, UMG and Sony Music moved to add more than 61,000 copyrighted recordings to their lawsuit against AI music generator Suno after discovery revealed it trained on “millions” of their tracks.
Also this week, YouTube announced it will now automatically detect and label realistic AI-generated videos even when creators don’t disclose the use of AI.
Plus, longtime Spotify executive Sulinna Ong exited the streamer to join U2‘s management team alongside Irving and Jeffrey Azoff.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…
1. BOLLORÉ URGES UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP TO REJECT BILL ACKMAN’S $64B TAKEOVER BID
Cyrille Bolloré, Chairman and CEO of the Bolloré Group, UMG’s largest single shareholder, has encouraged Universal Music Group’s management to reject Bill Ackman’s $64 billion takeover proposal.
Speaking at the Bolloré Group’s annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday (May 27), Bolloré took aim at the bid’s valuation, its funding structure, and also questioned Ackman’s management style. “I encourage the management of Universal Music to reject it,” Bolloré said, as quoted by Reuters… (MBW)
2. LARRY JACKSON’S GAMMA FILES LAWSUIT TO UNMASK CREATORS OF SMEAR WEBSITES
Gamma has filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court seeking to identify the anonymous creators of an online smear campaign. The lawsuit seeks to unmask the makers of two websites that accuse the company and its Co-Founder and CEO, Larry Jackson, of streaming fraud, embezzlement, and financial mismanagement – sites that Gamma says operate “without even a semblance of truth or accountability.”
The 12-page complaint, filed on Tuesday (May 26) and reviewed by MBW, brings three causes of action: defamation, trade libel, and unfair competition under New York common law… (MBW)
3. UMG AND SONY SEEK TO ADD OVER 61K RECORDINGS TO SUNO LAWSUIT AFTER DISCOVERY REVEALS AI TRAINED ON ‘MILLIONS’ OF THEIR COPYRIGHTED TRACKS
Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment have asked a federal court for permission to add more than 61,000 copyrighted sound recordings to their copyright infringement lawsuit against AI music generator Suno.
The motion, filed on Thursday (May 21) in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, comes after the record companies used audio fingerprinting technology to identify their recordings within Suno’s training data. The original complaint, filed in June 2024, asserted 560 copyrighted works… (MBW)
4. YOUTUBE WILL NOW AUTOMATICALLY DETECT AND LABEL AI VIDEOS – EVEN WHEN CREATORS DON’T DISCLOSE IT
YouTube will now automatically apply AI content labels to realistic AI-generated videos on its platform – even when creators have not disclosed the use of AI themselves.
For music, the implications are pointed: the prominent label will apply to photorealistic AI music videos but not to stylized or animated ones, creating an implicit incentive for artists experimenting with AI visuals to favor the latter.
The platform said it is rolling out “new internal signals” to identify AI-generated content, starting in May 2026… (MBW)
5. SULINNA ONG EXITS SPOTIFY TO JOIN U2 MANAGEMENT TEAM ALONGSIDE IRVING AND JEFFREY AZOFF
U2 have appointed Sulinna Ong as a Management Partner, a newly created role that sees her join Irving and Jeffrey Azoff in leading the band’s management.
Ong will work across the full breadth of the superstar Irish rock band’s career, with a focus on “creative and innovation”, reporting directly to the four band members, according to a statement issued on Tuesday (May 26).
She joins after more than seven years at Spotify, where she most recently served as Global Head of Editorial & Curation, Music… (MBW)
