News Travis Scott sued for alleged copyright infringement over ‘Stargazing’ and ‘Til Further Notice’ A vocal line from a 1991 track was used without permission in 'Stargazing' and 'Til Further Notice,' a new lawsuit alleges
News Cinq Music raises $250m from parent company GoDigital to fund acquisitions – with an eight-figure ‘marquee’ catalog acquisition already in the pipeline The significant capital raise arrives as heat appears to be reentering the blockbuster music rights acquisition space
Analysis News The major record companies (and Merlin) saw their Spotify market share fall again in 2023. Yet even before ‘artist-centric’ changes, this decline started slowing. Spotify's annual report reveals an interesting trend around the joint market share of major record companies and Merlin on the platform
Interviews ‘Twenty, thirty years from now, this is going to be a period of music that we romanticize.’ MBW’s World’s Greatest Producers series meets Rob Bisel, a multi-Grammy nominee who has worked with SZA, Kendrick Lamar and more
News Worldwide Independent Network elects five new board members The new members hail from Argentina, Chile, Croatia, India and South Korea, part of WIN's effort to "connect as many territories as we can"
News Lofi Girl’s record label lands publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music France Lofi Girl, the first 24/7 music livestream on YouTube, has become a worldwide phenomenon
News Ultra Music Publishing acquires Wheezy’s back catalog, inks new go-forward deal Patrick Moxey's company has signed a deal for 427 songs from Wheezy's, catalog plus future works
News Universal inks strategic partnership to develop a ‘Music City’ in the Middle East – featuring the first Capitol Studios outside of Hollywood UMG strikes partners with UAE-based DGMC to build "the Middle East’s first-ever Music City'
News Metaverse studio Karta expands to ZEPETO, targeting fashion-forward audience ZEPETO has built a user base of 400 million on the strength of its virtual fashion marketplace
News SM Entertainment trims 2025 revenue goal by 22% after Q4 2023 revenue falls 3.4% The K-pop giant has trimmed its revenue target for 2025 from KRW 1.8 trillion to KRW 1.4 trillion
News EQT, Denis Ladegaillerie, and TCV launch $1.64 billion takeover bid for Believe EQT says it expects to be 30 to 35% invested in Believe should takeover bid succeed
Analysis News From Warner’s best-ever quarter to Spotify’s $9bn payout to the music industry… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days…
News Killer Mike – and a host of top execs – joined ‘Award Season’ Grammy Week party, hosted by Milk & Honey and Reservoir MBW co-sponsored event alongside Splice, SoundCloud, Mark Music + Media Law, BMI, UBS, and Endurance Artist Management.
News Reservoir generated $35.5m in calendar Q4 2023, up 19% YoY The company has raised its outlook for full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA, in the wake of "strong revenue growth"
News Believe expands in Japan, launches imprint dedicated to Japanese hip-hop Launch of the new label in Japan comes three months after Believe began operating in the market
Analysis As Warner Music Group posts its biggest ever quarter… WMG boss Robert Kyncl says he’s ‘confident’ that Universal and TikTok will resolve their spat Kyncl is planning 'as much automation as possible,' and more lobbying for higher prices at music streaming services
Analysis News Audacy resolves dispute with BMI for $25m, clearing way for BMI’s sale A lawsuit against BMI by Audacy could have caused BMI and New Mountain "to abandon the merger altogether"
Analysis Spotify paid out $9 billion to music rightsholders in 2023 – equivalent to 63% of its annual revenues That's around 24 times what TikTok paid music rightsholders last year (which in itself isn't a fair comparison)