Interviews ‘With production music, there are no limits on the opportunities we can bring emerging talent.’ West One Music’s Global CEO Edwin Cox tells us more about the firm's origins, the evolution of the production music space, and how the globalisation of media has changed the way the company licenses its music
News Frank Rogers promoted to Chief Creative Officer at Spirit Music Group Rogers will continue to oversee Spirit Music Nashville’s operational activities
Interviews ‘Make music that you want to listen to. Don’t chase trends.’ Grammy-winning songwriter Starrah tells MBW about her breakthrough, her biggest hits, her methodology and philosophy
News Lauren Spencer Smith signs global music publishing deal with Warner Chappell Warner Chappell Music (WCM) has signed a global publishing deal with pop artist Lauren Spencer Smith.
News The Kobalt sale: 3 takeaways from the music industry’s biggest story of the moment Willard Ahdritz and Laurent Hubert on the future for Kobalt... under new ownership
News Kobalt Music Group sold to US-based private equity firm Francisco Partners FP will own 90% of Kobalt, say MBW sources, with a minority stake taken by Matt Pincus' new vehicle
News Tencent Music to work with Billboard in bringing Chinese artists to the global stage Tencent Music Entertainment forges alliance with US music media brand Billboard
News The Beatles return North American merchandise rights to Universal’s Bravado Deal reunites legendary band’s merchandise business with their recorded music catalog
News Warner Chappell Music strikes licensing deal with short-form video platform (and TikTok rival) Kuaishou App reports to reach more than 180m monthly active users outside of China
Analysis News Half of APAC listeners use social media for music discovery, a win for TikTok and its music-streaming foray APAC music discovery stats revealed in new report from US market monitor Luminate
News BMG revenues increased 25% to €371m in first half of 2022 BMG reports that 60% of its revenues in the first half of 2022 were from publishing, with 40% from recordings.
Analysis News Utopia is raising €300 million in a Series C round that would value its company at €2.5bn. But what’s it building? A deep dive into one of the most intriguing companies operating around and within the modern music business
News Music startup Soundstripe attracts $9m in fresh funding shortly after launching mobile app Startup provides royalty-free music for video
Analysis News Triller, which has raised $300m to date, is being sued by Sony Music for non-payment of ‘millions of dollars’ Triller just raised more funds, pushed back its IPO (again)... and has been hit by a major lawsuit by SME