Music Business News: Europe

Did Spotify just confirm that ‘superfan clubs’ are coming to its platform?

Spotify appears to have revealed this information in a blog post

Johannes von Schwarzkopf appointed SVP Corporate Development at BMG

Von Schwarzkopf will lead BMG's efforts to identify new business opportunities and oversee growth initiatives

Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s Chairman is determined to abolish Merck Mercuriadis’ ‘call option’. He was less bothered when Round Hill Music Royalty Fund’s investment manager had a near-identical clause.

A tale of two call options...

Grammy-winning engineer Wez Clarke’s music-making skills have been ‘cloned’ by an AI platform. He loves it.

The clone was created in collaboration with the engineer himself

PPL partners with India’s ISAMRA on royalty collections

The deal means PPL can now collect royalties on behalf of mandated performers in India

Live music company DEAG plans to re-list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and raise between €40m to €50m to spend on M&A

The company first went public in 1998 and delisted in January 2021

Merck Mercuriadis seems willing – currently – to trade in his ‘call option’ at Hipgnosis Songs Fund. So why is the company’s board offering to ‘bribe’ potential bidders with a £20 million bung in an attempt to offset it?

Yesterday, this saga took a turn for the bizarre

Brooke Salisbury joins Sony Music UK as Senior Vice President, International Marketing & Digital Partnerships

The exec most recently served as General Manager at ADA UK, Warner Music’s Distribution and Label Services division