MBW Explains

The UK government just unveiled a new ‘label-led’ initiative to improve pay for legacy artists, songwriters and session musicians. Here’s what that means…

UK songwriters will be the first in the world to receive a per-diem from labels for attending songwriting sessions

Why the ‘Long Fat Tail’ of the Oasis catalog will Live Forever

The following MBW Explains article was written by Will Page, the author of 'Pivot: Eight Principles for Transforming Your Business' and the former Chief Economist for both Spotify and PRS for Music

Analysis News

UMG’s Michael Nash on AI: ‘Copyright is not the enemy of innovation…’ and 3 other things we learned from his keynote at the UN’s AI summit

Michael Nash, EVP and Chief Digital Officer at Universal Music Group, delivered a keynote presentation at the UN's AI for Good summit in Geneva on Tuesday (July 8).

Analysis News

Emerging markets, superfans, and price rises: 7 takeaways from Goldman Sachs’ new ‘Music in the Air’ report

Goldman Sachs has published the latest edition of its influential Music in the Air report

Analysis

The importance of rejection – and being told ‘that’s impossible’: 5 things we learned from Elliot Grainge’s commencement speech

Atlantic Music Group boss gave commencement speech for graduates at Northeastern University over the weekend

Analysis News

The EU is investigating UMG’s $775m Downtown buyout – but why, and what happens now?

MBW explains Article 22, and how the investigation process works...

Analysis

Subscription growth, super-premium, and short-form video’s ‘inadequate monetization’: 7 takeaways from Universal Music Group’s Q1 2025 earnings call

Sir Lucian Grainge, Michael Nash, and Boyd Muir dug deep into the company's strategy and numbers on their Q1 call

Analysis

ASCAP, BMI, GMR, and SESAC have their say in US Copyright Office’s PRO inquiry…

The four biggest PROs in the United States just filed with the Copyright Office. Here's what they said.

Analysis

Sony, Warner Chappell, Concord, Reservoir urge less regulation of PROs in responses to US Copyright Office inquiry

All companies have argued strongly for reduced regulation in the sector

Analysis

5 million songs and $288m spent on catalogs: 8 Things We Learned from Universal Music Group’s 2024 Annual Report

From the balance of catalog and frontline to granular financial details, MBW wades through a treasure trove of data

Analysis News

AI-made works can’t be copyrightable, says US court… for now, at least.

AI-assisted works are copyrightable, however, asserts appeals court

Analysis

OpenAI is pushing for Donald Trump to weaken copyright protections in the US. Paul McCartney is fighting back.

Letter signed by 400 creative types, including a Beatle, issued after startling submission to US government by OpenAI and Google

Analysis

5 key arguments from UMG’s attempt to dismiss Drake’s defamation lawsuit: ‘These claims are no more than Drake’s attempt to save face.’

As reported earlier today (March 17), Universal Music Group (UMG) has filed a motion to dismiss Drake's defamation lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar's hit track Not Like Us, arguing the case is "utterly without merit" and should be dismissed with prejudice.

Analysis News

Sony generated $2.70 billion from recorded music and publishing in calendar Q4, as ATEEZ topped firm’s global sales chart

Sony’s global music rights operation – across recorded music and music publishing – generated USD $2.70 billion in the three months to end of December 2024. That’s according to MBW’s calculations based on Sony Group Corp’s calendar Q4 2024 (fiscal Q3) results, as announced by the Japanese firm today (February 13). The $2.70 billion figure … Continued

Analysis News

Using copyrighted content to train AI without permission is not ‘fair use’, US court rules in Thomson Reuters case

However, the ruling might not apply to the music industry’s lawsuits against generative AI developers