Music Business News: North America

Jamie Kinelski appointed SVP of A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group

Jamie Kinelski previously served as Senior Vice President & Head of West Coast Creative at Kobalt since 2022

Spotify paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024 – a full $1bn more than in 2023

Streaming company has paid out nearly $60bn to music rightsholders since Spotify was founded in 2008.

Playboi Carti sued by Eric Mercer Jr. aka Blakk Soul for alleged copyright infringement and breach of contract over ‘Kelly K’

Eric Mercer Jr. says he had a contract giving him 5% ownership of Kelly K, but never saw a cent from the song's commercialization

News

Travis Scott named top artist-songwriter in Q3 2024; Mike Dean claims title of top non-performing songwriter on NMPA’s Gold & Platinum Program (based on RIAA certifications)

The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has revealed the top songwriters in the US for the third quarter of 2024

News

Bruno Mars breaks own record, hitting 150M monthly Spotify listeners

Bruno Mars continues to shatter records, this time becoming the first artist to reach 150 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The feat, announced Monday (January 27), comes just over two months after Mars surpassed The Weeknd‘s previous record of 120.7 million monthly listeners. With the latest listener count, Mars’ listeners now account for a little … Continued

Analysis News

In the wake of new Spotify deal, Universal Music Group adds $3.4 billion to its market cap; Warner Music Group shares up 4.7% as investors await similar agreement with streamer

Universal and Warner jointly pile on around $4 billion in market cap value following landmark announcement

Analysis

I Love L.A… and I’m angry at those who mocked us in our darkest moment.

Lucas Keller, founder of Milk & Honey, on the Los Angeles wildfires – and his fury at America's Most Heartless

News

Spotify General Counsel Eve Konstan to exit

Exec's last day at Spotify will be January 31.