Music Business News: North America

Universal, Sony, Warner join $76M funding round in Stability AI

The three major music companies have all just banked equity in Stability AI – by joining a USD $76 million Series B investment into the gen-AI company. Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, and Warner Music Group join a Series B investor coalition that also includes gaming giant Electronic Arts, plus investment firms AMD Ventures … Continued

Analysis

5 things to know about Round Hill’s Suno and Anthropic lawsuits: model weights, extraction tools, and a $75M number

Round Hill says statutory damages could approach or exceed $1 billion in each case, and intends to take both Suno and Anthropic to trial.

News

Sony Music sues Ralphs parent Kroger over alleged copyright infringement in social media ads

The complaint states that Kroger disclosed advertising costs of approximately $1.18 billion in 2025.

News

Olivia Rodrigo fights the scalpers, as Ticketmaster cancels batch of tickets that breached sale terms

Fans had to apply for the seats through a request window that closed on August 21 at 11:59pm ET, according to Ticketmaster.

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DSW reaches settlement in principle with Sony Music over music used in social media ads

Financial terms were not disclosed in the filing, and the agreement between Sony and the retailer has yet to be executed.

News

Gabz Landman promoted to Executive Vice President, A&R at Warner Chappell Music

Landman is based at the company's Los Angeles headquarters and will continue to report to Ryan Press, President, North America, WCM.

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From Apple Music’s AI labeling plan to Spotify’s $1.5B buyback… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up

The biggest headlines from the past few days...

News

Spotify expands its share buyback program by $1.5B, raising total authorization to around $2.2B

The company's Board of Directors approved the increase, which Spotify confirmed in a press release on Thursday (August 20).