News After scrapping artist merch fees at its US club venues, Live Nation ups minimum wage to $20/hour for 5,000+ employees Initiative is part of a wider program called 'On the Road Again' created with legendary artist Willie Nelson
News CTM Outlander acquires publishing catalog of country music star Sam Hunt Company has also signed a publishing deal for his future works
News Ex-CEO of SM Entertainment launches K-Pop company in the US with backing from private investment firms Raptor Group, Animoca Ventures and more TITAN says that it is 'poised to reshape and revolutionize the K-pop landscape'.
News Primary Wave strikes music rights deal with Derek Dick of UK rock band Marillion Deal will see the company acquire the singer and lyricist’s master royalties and writer’s share
Analysis 3 observations on… the sale of BMI (and Google’s entrance into music rights management) On BMI's fraternizing with CapitalG (aka Alphabet's fund), plus a windfall for radio broadcasters, and $100 million of money going to songwriters and publishers
News Morgan Wallen’s ‘Last Night’ was the top song on Apple Music globally in 2023 Apple Music has published its year-end charts highlighting the biggest songs of the year across Apple Music and Shazam
News Riggs Morales named EVP, A&R at Def Jam Recordings Morales made his name as an A&R and artist development executive at Atlantic Records and Eminem's Shady Records.
Analysis The Weighting Is The Hardest Part A change in Billboard Chart reporting threatens to marginalize vinyl records and the stores who sell them, says Nabil Ayers
News Splice just launched a new label that represents South Asian samples and sounds Splice subscribers will now be able to access a variety of South Asian sounds and samples created by well-known artists from the region.
News 74% of music fans believe that AI should not be used to clone or impersonate an artist without permission, says IFPI study This year’s edition of the Engaging With Music survey marked the first time the IFPI asked music fans about the role of AI in music
News ONErpm launches DIY distro service, OFFstep.com and a new SaaS platform, ONErpm Enterprise Solutions New entities bring the total number of companies under ONErpm's umbrella to five
News iHeartMedia to receive $100m from sale of BMI US radio giant lined up $100m windfall from sale of BMI to a shareholder group led by New Mountain Capital
News Daryl Hall sues John Oates over plan to sell stake in their JV (report) Hall contends that Oates' sale of his stake in their joint venture violates the terms of their own agreement.
News beatBread joins Spotify, YouTube, others in IMPALA’s Friends program beatBread says it has paid advances to almost 500 artists and labels since launching in November 2020
Analysis News From BMI’s private equity sale to what UMG thinks about AI and copyright law… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days.
Analysis Sony Music’s artists aren’t involved in YouTube’s new voice-cloning AI experiment. Not unrelated: Google’s recent filing with the US Copyright Office. MBW Explains: On 'fair use', Sony Music, YouTube's AI experimentation and the US Copyright Office
Analysis News What Universal Music Group really thinks about generative AI and copyright law… MBW has digested UMG's revelatory 99-page submission to the US Copyright Office on generative AI. Here's what we've discovered.
News Believe-owned metal label Nuclear Blast forms e-commerce partnership with merch company Impericon The collaboration will see Impericon overseeing and enhancing Nuclear Blast's European e-commerce activities