News US investor group including Employer.com founder, Roblox CEO claims to have secured $20B+ for TikTok purchase bid (report) Jesse Tinsley said his planned bid has interest from Roblox CEO David Baszucki and Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley, as well as YouTuber MrBeast
News Concord acquires publishing catalog of Ed Sheeran collaborator Johnny McDaid McDaid has also written for the likes of P!nk, Lewis Capaldi, Keith Urban, Shawn Mendes, Zara Larsson, Alicia Keys, and Jung Kook, amongst many others
News OpenAI, valued at $157bn and facing multiple copyright infringement lawsuits, says China’s DeepSeek may have used its data to train rival AI model without permission DeepSeek spent far less money on developing a chatbot than US AI companies, but it may have done so by stealing OpenAI's IP
News Influence Media Partners raises $360m in debt financing led by Goldman Sachs BlackRock acted as a joint placement agent.
News Spotify wins ‘bundling’ lawsuit, as court dismisses legal action brought by the MLC Court grants Spotify's motion to dismiss the lawsuit
News Hiroki Totoki named new CEO of Sony Group; Kenichiro Yoshida to remain as Chairman Leadership shakeup to be effective April 1, 2025
News Adam Wilkes and Alex Hill to lead AEG’s international operations, as company realigns management structure Adam Wilkes named President and CEO of AEG Presents, Europe and Asia-Pacific; Alex Hill named President and CEO, AEG International
News UK’s House of Lords votes to strengthen copyright protections in AI, dealing blow to government’s plans The House of Lords voted 145 to 126 in favor of amendments to a bill in a bid to strengthen copyright protections in AI development
News Various Artists expands into Australia/New Zealand; Arwen Hunt to lead division headquartered in Sydney Industry veteran has worked as a manager, A&R, publisher, label manager, product manager and a promoter
News NetEase Cloud Music secures temporary deal to keep SM Entertainment’s catalog Cloud Music earlier warned users that SM’s entire music catalog might be removed from the platform due to unsuccessful renewal negotiations
News Brigitte Alanis promoted to Partner at music law firm King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, LLP Alanis' clients include Victoria Monét, Roddy Ricch, Malibu Babie, Alex Warren, Lil Skies, and Willie Jones, among others
News BMI veteran Alison Smith to retire after 40-year career at the company Shouvik Das to Lead Distribution, Publisher Relations & Administration Services Department
Analysis We talked with Anthropic’s Claude about The Beatles. Those copyright ‘guardrails’ seem to be working… pretty much. Anthropic's Claude can still be tempted into referencing Beatles lyrics – but chatbot refuses to print them verbatim
News Katie Welle promoted to President, Head of US A&R at Sony Music Publishing Based in Los Angeles, Welle will report to Sony Music Publishing Chairman/CEO Jon Platt
News Sir Lucian Grainge issues update on UMG’s L.A. wildfire relief efforts: ‘The road to recovery will be very long. We will be there every step of the way.’ UMG's CEO has pledged support for those impacted by the wildfires in Southern California
News Jamie Kinelski appointed SVP of A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group Jamie Kinelski previously served as Senior Vice President & Head of West Coast Creative at Kobalt since 2022
Analysis News Spotify paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024 – a full $1bn more than in 2023 Streaming company has paid out nearly $60bn to music rightsholders since Spotify was founded in 2008.
News Playboi Carti sued by Eric Mercer Jr. aka Blakk Soul for alleged copyright infringement and breach of contract over ‘Kelly K’ Eric Mercer Jr. says he had a contract giving him 5% ownership of Kelly K, but never saw a cent from the song's commercialization