News HYBE acquires $78m stake in SM Entertainment from K-pop company’s founder Lee Soo Man SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Man sells his remaining shares to HYBE
Analysis News Apple fined nearly $2bn in EU over ‘abusive’ app store rules for music streaming services – and it could potentially be on the hook for more damages Apple plans to appeal the decision
Analysis News A mystery company is mulling a $1.8 billion+ bid for Believe… but may be shut out by Denis Ladegaillerie consortium’s prior dealings Yet Ladegaillerie and co have a trump card up their sleeve
News Sony Music Entertainment Japan shutters virtual talent brand, PRISM Project PRISM Project producer cites 'considerable staff resources required not only to sustain but to further grow the brand'
News Mandy Freebairn named US Label Manager at IDOL as music distributor signs two North American deals The indie distribution and A&L services company has forged new partnerships with Le Plan Recordings and Old Soul Music
News Taylor Swift and Beyoncé’s concert films account for ‘literally all’ of AMC’s revenue growth in Q4 2023 All of the increase in AMC's revenue and EBITDA came from these two concert films, CEO Adam Aron said
News Spotify unveils standalone audiobooks tier for free users, priced at $9.99/month Available only in the US for the time being, the new subscription tier is Spotify's latest attempt at converting free users to subscribers
Interviews ‘AI is exciting and terrifying. It’s something we all should be paying significant attention to, especially managers of deceased icons.’ Ashley Austin, founder of Artist Legacy Group, on the responsibilities and opportunities of managing the estates of legendary artists
Analysis News From Universal Music’s cost-saving ‘redesign’ to Warner’s superfan app… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days…
Analysis News As D-Day arrives for TikTok’s Universal feud, UMPG tells songwriters: ‘They simply do not value your music’ Universal Music Publishing Group has in the past 24 hours written a new missive to its songwriters
News Warner expands distribution deal with India’s Tips Industries, amid ongoing South Asian music boom Warner's new deal with Tips will include the Indian film production and music company's entire repertoire
Analysis Over 38% of music on TikTok is ‘modified’, says study that analyzed 100 million audio tracks on the platform Either pitch or speed of these tracks were altered, according to Pex data
Analysis Blog The UK music industry’s next milestone and how we get there MBW Views is a series of op/eds from eminent music industry people… with something to say. The following comes from Kim Bayley, CEO of the UK's digital entertainment and retail association ERA.
News NetEase Cloud Music reports first-ever full-year net profit as paid music subscribers jump 15.3% to 44.1m Revenues from music services umped 17.6% year-over-year in 2023, the company said in its latest earnings report
News UK recorded music revenues hit $2.76 billion annually, finally beating previous 2001 high It has taken more than two decades for recorded music revenues to recover from the digital piracy slump, and that's not adjusting for inflation
News Experience commerce platform Easol, which has raised $30M in funding, opens first US office Easol aims to simplify e-commerce for experiential retailers such as festivals and tour operators
News ASCAP doubles down on non-profit model after paying out record $1.59bn to songwriters and publishers in 2023 Over 960,000 members contribute to ASCAP's musical catalog, which includes artists like Beyoncé, Billy Joel, Cardi B, and more
News Sony Music UK promotes Damaris Rex-Taylor to Managing Director, RCA Records UK At RCA UK, Rex-Taylor has guided campaigns for artists such as Tyla, Travis Scott, Cat Burns, Miley Cyrus, and newcomer Myles Smith