Analysis Why the music business should be watching Japan’s AI developments very closely MBW Reacts to recent news about AI training in Japan
News After raising $25m, BandLab rebrands Cakewalk production software as part of plan to ’empower all creators’ BandLab acquired certain assets and the complete intellectual property of Cakewalk Inc. from Gibson Brands in 2018
News Spotify cuts 200 jobs as it restructures its podcast division Layoffs represent about 2% of the company’s total workforce
Analysis News Stray Kids break K-pop sales record, achieving over 5.1m pre-orders for their new album 5-Star Seventeen's album FML racked up 4.64m pre-orders
News South Korea-based catalog buying fund Beyond Music raises $170m Company, which has raised nearly $400m to date plans to use capital 'to acquire rights to evergreen songs'
News Wise Music Group and Faber Music strike global deal for the Edition Peters printed music business Wise Music will continue to own the Edition Peters rights business
News Sony Music Japan’s PRISM Project expands virtual talent roster with two new new artists SMEJ is doubling down on its virtual talent agency, PRISM Project
News Madeleine van Schendel joins Armin van Buuren’s Armada Music as Chief Growth Officer Armada Music makes series of new hires after launching $100m catalog buying fund
Analysis News From Queen’s $1bn catalog to HYBE raising $380m for acquisitions in the US… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The biggest music biz headlines from the past week, all in one place
News Members of K-pop group EXO move to end ‘unjust long-term contracts’ with SM Entertainment (report) A statement released by law firm Lin on Thursday (June 1) detailed the artists' intention to end their deals with the K-Pop company
News HYBE is raising $380m to fund more music acquisitions in the US (report) South Korea-based music giant behind K-pop superstars BTS and rising stars New Jeans seeks to expand global presence via M&A
News Ezekiel Lewis promoted to President of Epic Records Exec has served as the company’s Executive Vice President and Head of A&R since 2020
News Reservoir aims to become the ‘largest holder of Arabic music copyrights…’ and 3 other things we learned on the company’s latest earnings call Music rights company Reservoir Media published its FY fiscal 2023 results this week
Interviews Music’s biggest companies are determined to better monetize ‘superfans’ on streaming platforms. Audius is already doing it. Audius co-founder Forrest Browning joins the latest MBW podcast
News Former Disney exec Troy Skabelund joins beatBread as Chief Financial Officer Skabelund will oversee all financial strategy and operations
News K-pop powerhouse JYP expands strategic alliance with Republic Records Companies originally entered into a strategic partnership in February 2020
News UK government forms creator ‘remuneration working group’, unveils music streaming metadata agreement Initiatives aim to improve pay for musicians and enhance the accuracy and transparency of metadata in the streaming industry
News Steve Butler named Head of Legal & Business Affairs, North America at Warner Chappell Exec has overseen key acquisitions, including the company's purchase of David Bowie’s music catalog in early 2022