Analysis TikTok’s biggest headache in its fight with Universal Music Group is UMG’s publishing catalog (and 2 other observations on the feud the whole music industry is talking about) What's really going on behind the scenes of music's big Grammy Week fall-out
News Kenny Ong appointed Managing Director for Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore at Sony Music Ong to spearhead the company's expansion and strategic development across the region
News USTR’s ‘Notorious Markets’ Report doesn’t mention AI-voice cloning, despite RIAA’s efforts The USTR report identifies a 'complex ecosystem' of online services that enable digital piracy
News Warner Chappell Music signs Grammy-nominated R&B artist Coco Jones to exclusive publishing deal Jones is up for five awards at the forthcoming 66th Annual Grammys
News Big Machine Label ups Mike Rittberg to COO, Clay Hunnicutt to EVP, Label Operations Rittberg, a veteran of Universal Music Group, joined Big Machine in 2017, while Hunnicutt, formerly of Big Loud, joined in 2019
News US Copyright Office launches review of The MLC and DLC’s designations The periodic review is mandated under the US's Music Modernization Act of 2018
News Coldplay and Warner Music team up with MIT and Live Nation to tackle environmental impact of concerts A study to be released this year will assess the carbon footprint of concerts and suggest practical solutions to reduce emissions
News Confirmed: Universal Music Group’s music will be removed by TikTok in the coming days TikTok spokesperson says platform is "sad and disappointed" by UMG statement from earlier today
News Universal to stop licensing its music to TikTok… tomorrow The world’s largest music rightsholder just announced that its agreement with TikTok is set to expire tomorrow on January 31.
Interviews The music industry is changing. Thomas Coesfeld is busy preparing BMG for what’s next. The BMG boss discusses the sweeping changes he's made at the Bertelsmann-owned company – and the future of music
News Generative AI music market to be worth $3bn by 2028, says report commissioned by Sacem and GEMA The study found nearly unanimous support for payments to rights holders when their music is used to train AI
News UK parliamentary committee reports ‘endemic misogyny and discrimination’ in music business Discrimination persists despite women making significant headway in the music industry, the report asserts
News BMG partners with Technical University of Munich to create AI-driven music marketing campaigns Thanks to AI, BMG is now able to process royalties 10 times faster than it could previously, and track music 50% faster
News With India in the running to overtake the US as the biggest music streaming market (by volume), Believe swoops for local ‘powerhouse’ catalog Believe has also acquired WHM's YouTube channel
News SymphonyOS partners with CD Baby to equip 2M artists with AI-powered marketing tools The partnership aims to bridge the gap between aspiring musicians and the resources typically only available to artists with large marketing teams
Analysis With ‘superfans’ in their eyes, could the major record companies now rally behind Spotify in its ‘app tax’ battle with Apple? Why a careful balancing act is required by the majors as their own priorities become entangled in Spotify and Apple's fight
News Riot Games cuts 530 roles globally as it ‘more tightly integrates esports, music, and entertainment’ with its games Riot Games is laying off around 11% of its workforce
News Todd Moscowitz and Sony Music’s Santa Anna strike deal with hip hop label Trill Entertainment New deal comes less than a week after Santa Anna's partnership with and investment in Drake's OVO Sound