News BandLab rolls out integration with beat marketplace Airbit BandLab Technologies acquired Airbit earlier this year
News Saregama, India’s oldest label, buys majority stake in digital entertainment firm Pocket Aces in $20m deal Saregama has acquired a 51.8% stake in Pocket Aces
News Ramona Forsström promoted to Managing Director of Warner Music Finland; Niko Nordström to exit company Exec to succeed Niko Nordström, who is exiting Warner Music after 16 years
Analysis News From Ed Sheeran’s copyright victory to Songtradr buying Bandcamp… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days
News Rick Ross and Maybach Music Group strike partnership with Larry Jackson’s $1bn-backed gamma Also joining gamma is Breyon Prescott, including his Chameleon Entertainment label and catalog
Analysis Warner Music Group boss Robert Kyncl on AI, why labels still exist, and 2 other things we learned from his Q&A at the Code Conference Kyncl spoke during a Q&A session at the Code Conference in Laguna Niguel, California, this week
News Hipgnosis Songs Fund Chair, Andrew Sutch, to step down; all-important ‘continuation vote’ looks likely to happen on October 26 Shareholders will vote on whether to keep Hipgnosis Songs Fund as a close-ended investment entity next month
News Do Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones plan to sell their catalog? No – but it could be donated to charity. Jagger told the WSJ that “the children don’t need $500 million to live well. Come on.”
News PPL to sponsor A&R Awards category celebrating behind-the-scenes linchpins Fast-growing collection society supports award for 'the glue of the A&R department'
News Songtradr acquires Bandcamp from Fortnite maker Epic Games News arrives a year and a half after Epic Games acquired Bandcamp
Interviews With 20bn streams to date and annual revenues of over €25m, Romania’s Global Records sets its sights on expansion in the GSA region Diana Munteanu, Head of Label at Global Records, and Julian-Dominik Vicari, the company's new market head in Germany on the company's strategy for the GSA region.
News Quincy Jones receives first-ever Peace Through Music Award from Recording Academy and US State Department The Recording Academy has partnered with the US State Department on the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative
News Jet, rock band behind ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’, strikes ‘landmark’ catalog deal with BMG 'Jet are a generation-defining band,' said Heath Johns, BMG President, Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia
News William Hsieh appointed Managing Director of Universal Music Taiwan Exec joins UMG from interactive fitness tech firm Fiture, where he served as Vice President of Content
Analysis News Latin music generated $627m in US recorded music revenues in H1 2023 – up 14.8% YoY Latin music’s share of overall US recorded music revenues reached 7.5% in the first half of 2023, according to RIAA's Mid-Year 2023 Latin Music Report
Analysis News [PIAS] boss Kenny Gates on Deezer x Universal’s ‘artist-centric’ model: ‘For labels who invest every year, relentlessly, in new talent, this has to be good news.’ Thought the debate had died down? Think again...
News Africa-focused music streaming service Mdundo reaches 26.6m Monthly Active Users Mdundo also reported a 239% YoY jump in revenue from paid subscriptions
Interviews ‘Our plan is to further build Mushroom as a global independent powerhouse.’ MBW’s World Leaders series speaks to Mushroom Group CEO Matt Gudinski