Analysis News Sony generated $2.89B from recorded music and publishing in calendar Q3 2025, up 13.3% YoY A monster quarter for major, with streaming revenues in recorded music up 12% YoY, and streaming revenues in music publishing up 25% YoY
News Universal Music Group’s Global Impact Team expands ‘Sounds of the Future’ program to the UK UMG has also partnered with the Black Music Coalition on an internship program
Interviews BeatStars has paid creators over $400m to date. CEO Abe Batshon wants 1 million musicians to earn a living from his platform 1.5 million tracks are downloaded monthly from BeatStars' marketplace of 11 million-plus beats
News Luminate partners with Tencent Music to add sales metrics from China to its global data set for the first time Luminate, Billboard’s longtime official Charts partner, will track streaming and sales metrics from TME platforms
News Spotify calls ‘payola’ lawsuit ‘nonsense’ as class action targets playlist practices Genevieve Capolongo alleges Spotify deceives users by letting labels boost song visibility through reduced royalty payments.
News SM Entertainment’s operating profit soars 261% amid streak of hit K-pop albums, growth at fan platform DearU A sharp jump in concert and merchandise revenue also contributed to the company's blockbuster Q3 earnings
Analysis News Spotify leadership talk price hikes, the company’s ‘ubiquity strategy’ and more on Q3 earnings call Spotify is making a big push into audiobooks and video, and so far, it appears to be paying off
Analysis The biggest heist in music history: Why AI needs to be built on transparency, consent and remuneration The following op-ed comes from Gorm Arildsen, CEO Danish CMO Koda
Analysis 3 things you might have missed from Universal’s Q3 earnings call Music fans want to see AI improve their listening experience, not replace human artists, UMG's research found
News Cinq Music parent company rebrands, raises $230m in fresh funding via new GoDigital Music division GoDigital, which has raised over $1bn to date, has created three new business units: GoDigital Music, Networks, and Brands.
News UMG’s Udio deal prompts questions from Irving Azoff and the Music Artists Coalition "Artists must have creative control, fair compensation and clarity about deals being done based on their catalogs,” said Azoff
News Dan Rosen promoted to President of Warner Music Australasia & Southeast Asia WMG exec will now oversee company's recorded music businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam
Analysis News From Universal’s landmark Udio deal to DistroKid’s new merch launch… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up The biggest news from the past week - all in one place
News Too Lost partners with Xposure Music to co-fund catalog acquisitions, with plans to deploy ‘tens of millions of dollars’ in upcoming deals Xposure Music will handle deal sourcing and financial underwriting, while Too Lost will handle distribution, rights administration and royalty processing
News Universal Music settles Udio lawsuit, strikes deal for licensed AI music platform Both parties agreed to jointly develop a licensed AI music creation service set to launch in 2026.