News Court should reject Drake’s ‘dangerous’ assumption that rap lyrics are factual in case against UMG, scholars argue Diss tracks 'are understood by audiences not to represent factual assertions about the opposing artist,' the scholars argue
News Reservoir subsidiary PopIndia strikes its first catalog deal with Musicraft Entertainment acquisition Deal arrives a month after the launch of Reservoir Media's newly established Mumbai subsidiary
News Producer Poo Bear launches TTIKR content monetization platform The mobile-first app allows musicians, filmmakers and multimedia artists to set their own prices for content and deal directly with their fans
News Universal Music expands iconic Blue Note and Deutsche Grammophon jazz and classical labels into China Labels launch in China as part of strategic expansion
News Maarten Steinkamp appointed Interim President of Armada Music Group Steinkamp has worked closely with Armada as an interim board consultant for the past several months
News Rob Stevenson, Matt Signore launch new label ALTER, backed by Firebird Stevenson and Signore were both previously in leadership roles at 300 Entertainment
Analysis News Sony generated $2.54bn from recorded music and publishing in calendar Q1 2025; Sony Music Group predicted to grow profit by ‘high single digits’ over next 12 months Both streaming and physical recorded music sales up single digits, as publishing division posts double-digit bounce in quarter
News UK artists generated more than $1bn on Spotify in 2024, up 8% from a year earlier Spotify says the total royalty haul from UK artists has more than doubled since 2018
News SoundCloud ‘fixes’ AI policy following backlash; CEO Eliah Seton says ‘AI should support artists, not replace them’ Policy change was quietly made to SoundCloud's terms and conditions in February 2024
News Did Anthropic’s own AI generate a ‘hallucination’ in legal defense against song lyrics copyright case? Anthropic ordered to respond to claims that a data scientist it employed relied on a fictitious academic article
News Spotify expands AI DJ feature with voice-based music requests for Premium users Premium subscribers will be able to verbally customize their listening sessions
News Bill Ackman resigns from Universal Music Group’s board of directors The surprise news was confirmed this morning (May 14) by UMG via a corporate announcement
News Music publishers file amended lawsuit against AI firm Anthropic, which they say ‘bolsters the case’ over company’s ‘unauthorized use of song lyrics’ Music publishers have refiled their legal complaint against Anthropic, and the AI company has once again moved to have the case dismissed
News Jeremy Sirota to exit as Merlin CEO at end of 2025 According to MBW analysis, Merlin's annual revenues reached GBP £1.19 billion (GBP $1.48 billion) as of 2023
News Universal partners with Apple Music to launch Sound Therapy wellness music collection Sound Therapy divides its offerings into three categories targeting focus, relaxation, and sleep
News Tencent Music’s ‘Super VIP’ tier drives quarterly revenues to $1bn mark as income from streaming subscriptions jumps 16.6% Company saw an 8.3% YoY increase in number of paying users, reaching 122.9 million in Q1
News Sony Music renews multi-year licensing deal with Tencent Music Entertainment News was revealed within the Q1 financial filing published Tuesday morning by TME
News Candice Watkins named President of Capitol Records Nashville and EVP of Capitol Christian Music Group Capitol Music Group is reorganizing its Nashville divisions by bringing its country and Christian music operations under a unified banner