News Universal Music strikes deal with superfan platform EVEN to power D2C sales for artists worldwide The deal arrives just weeks after UMG acquired a minority stake in superfan platform Stationhead.
News HYBE AMERICA launches Blue Highway Records in Nashville, names Jake Basden as CEO HYBE AMERICA's Nashville-based country, Americana and roots rock division rebrands as Blue Highway Records, effective immediately
News Henrik Berndtson named Head of Nordics at AEG ticketing division AXS Stockholm-based Berndtson will oversee AXS’s operations across the Nordics, supporting the company’s broader European strategy
Interviews How Cutting Edge built a $1bn+ portfolio of Hollywood music rights MBW's Trailblazers series meets the leadership team at Cutting Edge Group: CEO Philip Moross, COO Tara Finegan, and Head of M&A Tim Hegarty
Analysis ‘A modern collecting society needs the pace and resilience of a modern digital service.’ The following MBW op/ed comes from Andrea Czapary Martin, CEO of PRS for Music.
Analysis News HYBE posts record annual revenues of $1.86bn for 2025 as K-Pop firm’s concert revenues hit all-time high – but operating profit plunged 73% South Korea-based entertainment giant HYBE has published its Q4 and FY 2025 earnings.
Analysis News NetEase Cloud Music now counts over 1 million registered indie artists The platform has published its FY 2025 results, in which it reported that its membership subscription revenues rose 13.3% YoY in 2025
News Warner Music Group plans to sell EMP, the merch business it acquired for $180m in 2018 Regulatory filings indicate that WMG signed a non-binding letter of intent to sell EMP.
News ASCAP paid out a record $1.76bn to songwriters and publishers in 2025 The US organization delivered a record $1.945 billion in revenue in the calendar year.
News UMG strikes global deal with ClicknClear to license songs for gymnastics, figure skating and more UMG and ClicknClear estimate that over 150 million athletes join choreographed sports globally, creating “a multi-billion-dollar demand for music licensing.”
News Music collectibles platform Wax Poetics closes $1m funding round Investors include music executives Perry Chen (Kickstarter), Nadav Poraz (WhoSampled), and Nikhil Shah (Mixcloud).
News SoundExchange expands global neighboring rights coverage via 17 new agreements with CMOs in markets including Barbados, Denmark, Kenya, Portugal, and more The expansion includes new partnerships in Kenya, Barbados, Panama, Paraguay, and several European territories.
News Connect Music raises $80m to expand indie artist financing and catalog acquisitions The music rights and technology firm will use the investment to fund catalog acquisitions and expand the company's music licensing operations.
News From Warner and Sony’s Q4 results to DistroKid’s potential $2B sale… it’s MBW’s weekly round-up The biggest headlines from the past few days...
Analysis News WMG generated $1.84bn in calendar Q4; recorded music subscription streaming revenues jump 10.9% YoY Total revenue was up 7.1% YoY at constant currency, with recorded music revenues up 6.6% YoY