Apple Music increased its subscription prices globally on Friday (July 17). In the US, the cost of an individual subscription has risen from $10.99 to $11.99. The company told MBW in a statement that, “as a result of rising licensing costs, Apple Music is increasing its subscription price beginning today”.
Elsewhere this week, AI music company Suno moved to hire a Director of Accounting to help it “build toward IPO readiness”.
Also this week, 404 Media reported that hacked source code revealed that Suno scraped YouTube Music, Deezer, and Genius to train its models.
Meanwhile, Sony Music Publishing completed its acquisition of the entire music rights portfolio of Recognition Music Group, in a deal reported to be worth between $3.5 billion and $4 billion.
Plus, Pophouse Entertainment acquired a stake in Iron Maiden’s catalog, plus the band’s name, image, and likeness rights.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…
1. APPLE MUSIC HIKES SUBSCRIPTION PRICES
Apple Music has raised its subscription prices worldwide, in its first increase to the service since 2022.
The new pricing is already live on Apple‘s pricing pages in the US, the UK and Europe, and MBW understands it is rolling out across other markets.
In the US, the Individual plan rose to $11.99 per month from $10.99, the Family plan to $19.99 from $16.99 and the Student plan to $6.99 from $5.99.
The new pricing took effect today (July 17), and marks the first increase to Apple Music‘s prices since October 2022.
Apple confirmed the price increase and the reason behind the change in a statement provided to MBW:
“As a result of rising licensing costs, Apple Music is increasing its subscription price beginning today,” the company said. (MBW)
2. SUNO IS BUILDING TOWARD ‘IPO READINESS’
Suno wants its next senior finance hire to help the AI music company “build toward IPO readiness.” That’s according to a job listing for a Director of Accounting at the firm, spotted by MBW. Suno describes the position as “the Controller’s right hand and one of the first hires” on an accounting team it is building “from the ground up.”… (MBW)
3. DONE DEAL! SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF RECOGNITION MUSIC GROUP’S CATALOG
Sony Music Publishing (SMP) has completed its acquisition of the entire music rights portfolio of Recognition Music Group. The deal, first announced in May, has closed following regulatory approvals in multiple territories, MBW can reveal.
“We can confirm that the acquisition of the entire music rights portfolio of Recognition Music Group by Sony Music Publishing has completed following regulatory approvals,” said a statement jointly issued to MBW by SMP and Recognition…. (MBW)
4. SUNO SCRAPED YOUTUBE, DEEZER AND GENIUS TO TRAIN ITS AI, HACKED CODE REVEALS
Hacked source code from AI music company Suno lists YouTube Music, Deezer, and Genius among the platforms it scraped to build its AI models, according to a report from 404 Media on Wednesday (July 15). The code was obtained by a hacker who breached Suno and shared it with the publication. The same hacker also accessed information on hundreds of thousands of Suno customers, including emails and/or phone numbers, and Stripe payment details, according to the report…. (MBW)
5. IRON MAIDEN SELL STAKE IN CATALOG, PLUS NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS RIGHTS, TO POPHOUSE
Pophouse Entertainment has entered into a partnership with influential British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The company has acquired a stake in their publishing and master music rights, as well as the name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights. The Sweden-based music investment firm confirmed the partnership in a statement on Tuesday (July 14), following Iron Maiden’s EddFest concert weekend at Knebworth in the UK on July 10-11…. (MBW)
