News After $1.5bn takeover proposal, Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s board tells Blackstone: We’re listening… Bring on a firm offer, HSF's board tells private investment giant
News Strap in. Blackstone is ready to bid $1.5 billion for Hipgnosis Songs Fund. To paraphrase Pink Floyd, Will the sun (Concord Chorus) be eclipsed by the moon (Blackstone)?
Analysis News From the NMPA’s criticism of Spotify’s bundling plans to Concord’s bid for Hipgnosis assets… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days…
News Taylor Swift’s return to TikTok includes an in-app experience for ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ with ‘first-of-its-kind’ features In-app experience follows the return of the superstar's music to TikTok, amid its licensing dispute with Universal Music Group
News Believe’s board backs takeover bid from Denis Ladegaillerie-led consortium The company will continue to trade on the stock market following the expected buyout.
Analysis Blog Yes… Udio’s output resembles copyrighted music, too. After playing with Suno, Ed Newton-Rex gets his hands on the next hottest new app in generative music AI, Udio
News Copyright case over Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ continues in New York appeals court The long-running dispute, in which Sheeran emerged victorious last year, now continues in an appellate court in New York.
Interviews ‘Jelly Roll speaks to the underdogs with his music; Lainey Wilson has made Country Cool Again.’ BMG Nashville EVP of Recorded Music, JoJamie Hahr, on the rise of Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson, and BBR Music Group's positioning in country music
News Audiomack signs partnership with Merlin, as streaming service aims to monetize and legitimize modified audio Audiomack's Audiomod tool allows music fans to speed up, slow down, and adjust the pitch on the songs they're listening to
News NMPA accuses Spotify of ‘attacking songwriters’ as streaming service changes how it pays out mechanical royalties in the US SPOT now considers its Premium plans to be 'bundles' – because they combine audiobooks and music
News TikTok rival Triller to merge with NASDAQ-listed AGBA, creating $4 billion social media and financial services company "We believe this is the most efficient route for Triller to access public capital markets and secure the liquidity needed for rapid growth."
News SoundExchange to handle payment admin for JKBX’s Creator Program JKBX received qualification for its assets from the SEC in March
News Africa-focused streaming service Mdundo reports 41% jump in active users, as Nigerian currency crisis pressures revenue The Nigerian naira fell 38% in Q1, putting pressure of Mdundo's revenue even as user growth continued unabated
News Concord, financed by Apollo, makes $1.4bn cash bid to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s assets But will Merck Mercuriadis and Blackstone go quietly? Don't bet on that.
Analysis News Epidemic Sound’s royalty-free music is played 2.5bn times per day on YouTube and TikTok, but company still struggles to turn a profit The company says there are now 26 million videos on YouTube and TikTok featuring its music
Analysis Universal Music Group generated 51% of its 2023 recorded music revenues in North America… and 8 other things we learned from its new annual report MBW takes a deep dive through Universal's latest in-depth financial report
News Singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka sells stake in catalog to Primary Wave Music Sedaka has written or co-written for artists including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Connie Francis, Tom Jones and more
News Harri Davies appointed Head of A&R at RCA Records UK He most recently held the position of Senior Director A&R at Concord Music Publishing in the UK