Ed Sheeran leaves WMG (but not because he’s ‘disgruntled’) It’s the end of an era for Ed Sheeran... and no, not just because he shaved his head a few weeks ago. But his follicular fresh start did, as it turns out, point the way to his big news this week. “A lot of new beginnings in my life atm,”…

Live Nation files to reverse US monopoly verdict but faces UK pressure Live Nation has made its latest move to overturn the recent verdict that it is an illegal monopoly in the US. However, it could soon be facing another policy headache across the Atlantic due to calls for a new competition…

US attorneys general seek Live Nation / Ticketmaster breakup Live Nation settled with the US Department of Justice a few days into its antitrust trial, but a number of state attorneys general continued with their lawsuit... and won. The trial has now moved into its 'remedies' phase where both…

I want to hold your handset: Paul McCartney set for TikTok Q&A You can't fault the promo campaign for Sir Paul McCartney's new album 'The Boys of Dungeon Lane', which has seen the veteran Beatle popping up on podcasts, late-night talk-shows and various other places. And now TikTok. McCartney will…

Jonases join the podcast bros The Jonas Brothers have revealed the launch of their podcast titled “Hey Jonas!”, the first episode having just dropped across podcast listening platforms. The podcast will feature candid, unfiltered conversations between the brothers about family, touring, personal…

Spotify sets out its strategy: ‘No such thing as an average user’ We reported yesterday on two of the big announcements from Spotify's 'Investor Day': its new 'Reserved' ticketing feature for superfans and its deal with Universal Music Group for AI fan covers and remixes. But there were plenty of…

Qobuz and Rough Trade announce new two-year partnership As veteran indie label and music retailer Rough Trade approaches its 50th anniversary, and French music streaming platform Qobuz (nearly) its 10th, the two are launching a new two-year partnership across the UK, US and Germany. Some features…

Spotify says it’s India’s “market leader in audio-streaming”, at Investor Day event More than seven years after Spotify began operating in India, the country got some talk time during its Investor Day event in New York on 21 May, the first one the DSP has held since 2022. Gustav Gyllenhammar, VP…

Spotify will now reserve concert tickets for subscribers who are ‘superfans’ of artists One of the key announcements at Spotify's investor day, Spotify Reserved, deepens its involvement in live music.

Spotify and UMG sign licensing deals to launch an AI tool for ‘fan-made covers and remixes’ Spotify's 'Investor Day' event in New York has thrown up two key music announcements today. The second is a new GenAI tool with UMG.

Stability AI launches its latest, fully-licensed music model Stability AI is one of the AI companies that has steered firmly away from using commercial music without permission to train its music models. It used production music for the first version of its Stable Audio tool, which was focused on…

US No Fakes Act returns – and this time it includes music-streaming Since 2023, American politicians have been trying to tackle unauthorised AI deepfakes with a piece of legislation called the No Fakes Act. It was originally unveiled as a draft in 2023, then formally introduced in the US Senate in…

Voice x Music program seeks to help artists ‘return to their authentic voice’ Amsterdam-based business therapy practice called Voice has launched a new program called 'Voice x Music' this week.

Spanish collecting society SGAE’s payouts grew by 3.1% in 2025 Another day, another collecting society reporting record revenues in 2025. This time it’s SGAE in Spain, with payouts of €360m.

BMI buys cue-sheet management firm Soundmouse from Orfium US-based PRO BMI has acquired Soundmouse, the cue-sheet management firm, from its previous owner Orfium in a deal announced this week.

Next-gen music culture: shifts and scenes in 2026 We are gearing up for the Music Ally NEXT conference on 18 June in London, and one of its strands will focus on 'next-gen music culture'.

Management firm Three Six Zero is getting into the sports game Calvin Harris, Willow, Muse... and now Reece James, Sam Kerr and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. What do these stars have in common?

Now Spotify is cracking down on AI impersonation in podcasts We’ve been reporting on the various moves Spotify has been making to crack down on AI slop and artist impersonation for music.

AI music roundup: Udio on attribution, Splice, Tamber and more We could have filled the entire Music Ally site with AI-music stories today. But with so much going on, combining them offers a snapshot.

Indian labels press DSPs to pay no royalties for ‘AI-generated slop’ Behind-the-scenes (and sometimes out-in-the-open) debates about whether AI-generated tracks should earn streaming royalties continue, with the latest frontier being India. Medianama reported on music company Saregama’s latest…

Protests slam labels’ AI deals: ‘Our music is not your training data’ For music rightsholders, getting to the point where licensing deals can be signed with AI companies has been hard work. But the hardest work may be yet to come: convincing their artists and songwriters to opt in to those…

US survey supporting ticket resale reform complicated by ties to Live Nation A survey released by the US-based Music Artists Coalition (MAC) claims widespread, bipartisan support for ticket-resale reform.

Spotify retires Viral Charts… but ‘Viral Hits’ playlist lives on Have you seen who’s top of Spotify’s ‘Viral 50’ chart today? That’s a trick question: you can’t. The streaming service has discontinued its charts of trending tracks, which existed in both global and country-specific versions. Why?…

Drake’s three new albums break records on streaming services You have to hand it to Drake. Having spent the last year stoking fans’ anticipation with teasers for his new ‘Iceman’ project, he pulled a switcheroo by releasing three new albums on Friday (15 May). ‘Iceman’ is one of the three: 18…

Zara Larsson and EsDeeKid go gaming in Roblox and Fortnite Zara Larsson was one of the first artists to enjoy success on Roblox, generating more than $1m of virtual-merch sales from her first activation there in 2021. Now she’s back. Zara Larsson’s Midnight Sun World is the latest virtual…

WMG and GMM Music to help Asian artists ‘Gliide’ to success Warner Music Group and Thailand’s GMM Music have been working together since 2024 on their GMM Global joint venture. Now the partnership is expanding with something called ‘Gliide’. Described as an “artist development platform” the new…

Next-gen labels: new models, new ideas and, yes, some AI One of the main strands at our Music Ally NEXT conference this June is 'next-gen labels'. Here are some notable recent examples.

Viagogo wants UK government to rethink ticketing-reform plans We reported yesterday on the disappointment within the UK’s music industry about the country’s planned crackdown on ticket touting being shunted into the long grass. Other opinions are available. Secondary-ticketing platform Viagogo is…

Spotify scraps Premium Lite tier for India, scales back Standard plan prices Spotify has removed the Premium Lite tier from its subscriptions offerings in India. Premium Lite, which was priced at Rs139 (approx. $1.45) per month and got subscribers ad-free listening with full control over what…

KPop Demon Hunters is launching a global world tour with AEG They’re going up, up, up... onto stages around the world. Yes, the inevitable is happening: a global KPop Demon Hunters tour, capitalising on the barnstorming success of Netflix’s animated film – and its soundtrack. Details? There aren’t…

How should AI licensing work for music? The BPI has some ideas… This may not be the best week to be lobbying the British government about AI and creative-industries policy, if we're honest.

Luminate digs into music superfans’ demographic differences Does age matter? It may do when it comes to music superfans, according to research firm Luminate. Its latest study explores some of the differences in fandom for various demographics, and makes for interesting reading. One finding:…

Brazilian artists’ Spotify royalties grew by 24% in 2025 Spotify paid out R$2bn of royalties for music by Brazilian artists in 2025, the company has announced. That’s around $409.2m at current exchange rates. The payouts grew by 24% compared to 2024. “To put this in perspective: royalties…

Sony Music completes big-bucks Recognition Music Group deal As rumoured, Sony Music Publishing is acquiring the complete catalogue of Recognition Music Group (RMG) – the company formerly known as three different Hipgnosis entities. The deal covers rights to more than 45,000 songs, and reunites RMG…

First John Sweeney awards given out at Liverpool Sound City The memory of music executive John Sweeney, who died in June 2025, was celebrated at the Liverpool Sound City showcase festival.

Oasis reunion documentary heads for cinemas – and then Disney+ Whenever you’re calculating attendances for big stadium tours nowadays, you’ll need to add on a few dozen to cover the camera crews filming concert documentaries. Oasis are the latest artist turning their trek into a film – in their…

UMG and WMG ink tourism-focused deals in south-east Asia Planning a holiday in south-east Asia? Two major labels are keen to sway your decision about which country to visit. Universal Music Group’s latest deal aims to “amplify Singapore’s appeal as a must-visit destination”, but Warner Music…

WMG and Bain Capital splash $300m on Red Hot Chili Peppers catalogue Warner Music Group clearly realised it didn’t want to be miser when it came to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ recordings. The major’s joint-venture with Bain Capital has reportedly splashed more than $300m on the catalogue. The…

Live Nation pushes back on ‘blue dot fever’: ‘It’s a normal touring year’ Yesterday we wrote about the ‘blue dot fever’ phrase that’s been prominent in music-trade media this week, following a spate of big tours being cancelled or delayed amid rumours of poor sales. As the company involved in many…

WMG talks catalogue and AI after strong Q2 financial results “Catalogue is 65% of our revenue, therefore, very important. It deserves all the attention that it gets...” That’s Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl talking in the major label’s financial-earnings call yesterday. He made a point of…

Akai and Denon DJ owner InMusic buys Native Instruments Electronic-music tech firm Native Instruments has found its saviour. It is being acquired by InMusic following its recent insolvency.

Youth Music warns one third of UK grassroots music projects at risk A new report from UK-based charity Youth Music spells out trouble for the country's grassroots venues and programs.

Google partners with Believe to offer AI music tool Flow Music to artists Believe has partnered with Google Labs to offer Flow Music to their users. Google says it “provides their artists with a space for exploration and iteration” and works as a “creative collaborator, helping with lyrics, toying…

Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and the quietly cancelled tours catching “blue dot fever”  “Blue dot fever” is one of those phrases that feels like it has popped right out of a marketing team’s imagineering awayday, designed to become an instant talking point. Thus you’ve probably read about it by now:…

Haryanvi music is enjoying a landmark year  With an almost 7x increase in streams from February 2023 to February 2026, Haryanvi music is having a landmark year. Among the fastest-growing Indian languages on Spotify, Haryanvi is no longer just listened to in the National Capital Region but across…

Four key industry discussions from Stockholm’s first Music Week April 22-29 was the very first Stockholm Music Week, a Swedish industry conference with discussions spanning across music business, tech and academics. Despite being the birthplace of huge stars and producers like Abba, Zara Larsson,…

Black Music Action Coalition opens application season for Accelerator Program The LA-based music industry nonprofit for racial equity and justice Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) has announced their third application seasons of the BMAC LIVE Accelerator Program, in partnership with Live Nation.…

Behind The Campaign: Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd’s ninth studio album, Wish You Were Here, turned 50 on 12 September 2025. In late 2024, in a deal estimated at $400 million, Sony Music acquired the band’s full catalogue, as well as their name and likeness – a deal which brought…

US songwriter and artist organisations urge Copyright Office to reconsider fees The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) led a host of other independent music organisations in opposing the US Copyright Office’s proposed increase to copyright registration fees. These are the fees…

AI Roundup: Udio used YouTube music; Meta/Zuckerberg sued for infringement; ElevenLabs raises $500m The latest filing in the case between Sony Music and generative music AI platform Udio is the latter’s response to Sony, and it contains some pretty meaningful insights. Don't forget: this is the…