WMG’s Atlantic Music Group’s latest joint venture is with Fader Label Atlantic Music Group (AMG) is a big fan of joint ventures at the moment. Fader Label is its latest partnership.

WMG’s Atlantic Music Group’s latest joint venture is with Fader Label

Atlantic Music Group (AMG) is a big fan of joint ventures at the moment. Fader Label is its latest partnership.

Sony Music and UMG team up to launch music festivals in Asia Major labels are very keen on joint ventures at the moment, but rarely with one another. Nine By Nine is the latest exception to the rule.

Sony Music and UMG team up to launch music festivals in Asia

Major labels are very keen on joint ventures at the moment, but rarely with one another. Nine By Nine is the latest exception to the rule.

Muse Group says musicians have ‘clear boundaries’ on AI usage Muse Group is the parent group of Ultimate Guitar, Hal Leonard, MuseScore and Audacity, so it’s got a sizeable community of musicians.

Muse Group says musicians have ‘clear boundaries’ on AI usage

Muse Group is the parent group of Ultimate Guitar, Hal Leonard, MuseScore and Audacity, so it’s got a sizeable community of musicians.

Sony Music’s AWAL launches a fund for UK ‘cultural curators’ AWAL is known for developing independent artists, but now it is launching an initiative focused on ‘cultural curators’ in the UK.

Sony Music’s AWAL launches a fund for UK ‘cultural curators’

AWAL is known for developing independent artists, but now it is launching an initiative focused on ‘cultural curators’ in the UK.

UMG will review Pershing Square bid but backs management team As expected there have been a few follow-ups to yesterday’s news that hedge-fund Pershing Square wants to buy Universal Music Group for €55bn.

UMG will review Pershing Square bid but backs management team

As expected there have been a few follow-ups to yesterday’s news that hedge-fund Pershing Square wants to buy Universal Music Group for €55bn.

Report: ByteDance’s Soda Music has 140m active users in China Back in April 2022, we reported on the launch of ‘Qishui Yinyue’ (Soda Music) in China. It was a music-streaming service from TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. “Can even ByteDance take a bite (or a byte?) out of Tencent Music and NetEase Cloud Music’s dominance in China?” we wrote at the time. Four years on, it seems that it can.

Report: ByteDance’s Soda Music has 140m active users in China

Back in April 2022, we reported on the launch of ‘Qishui Yinyue’ (Soda Music) in China. It was a music-streaming service from TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. “Can even ByteDance take a bite (or a byte?) out of Tencent Music and…

Pershing Square submits bid to buy UMG in a $63.5bn deal Yes, you read that right: for once Universal Music Group is part of a corporate-acquisition story as the company that is potentially being acquired. The buyer? Hedge fund Pershing Square, owned by billionaire Bill Ackman. The price? Potentially €55bn ($63.5bn at current exchange rates). That’s according to the Financial Times, reporting on the offer this morning. The acquisition would create an entity referred to as ‘new UMG’ that would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Pershing Square submits bid to buy UMG in a $63.5bn deal

Yes, you read that right: for once Universal Music Group is part of a corporate-acquisition story as the company that is potentially being acquired. The buyer? Hedge fund Pershing Square, owned by billionaire Bill Ackman. The price?…

Festival Republic boss defends booking Ye for Wireless Festival The Wireless Festival is due to take place in London from 10-12 July, with Ye (formerly Kanye West) booked to headline all three nights – following a similar single-headliner tactic with Drake last year. Will it take place, though? Ye’s recent history of anti-semitic statements and pro-Nazi stunts has ignited a firestorm of criticism of the booking, as well as a series of brands pulling their sponsorship of the festival.

Festival Republic boss defends booking Ye for Wireless Festival

The Wireless Festival is due to take place in London from 10-12 July, with Ye (formerly Kanye West) booked to headline all three nights – following a similar single-headliner tactic with Drake last year. Will it take place, though?…

US music bodies weigh in to publishers’ Anthropic lawsuit A group of music publishers are continuing to sue AI firm Anthropic for copyright infringement, focusing on its alleged use of their lyrics to train its Claude model, as well as some of its outputs. Now they have the backing of a group of US music-industry bodies: the RIAA, NMPA, A2IM, SONA, Black Music action Coalition, Music Artists Coalition, Artist Rights Alliance and SoundExchange.

US music bodies weigh in to publishers’ Anthropic lawsuit

A group of music publishers are continuing to sue AI firm Anthropic for copyright infringement, focusing on its alleged use of their lyrics to train its Claude model, as well as some of its outputs. Now they have the backing of a group of…

Social-media roundup: ‘Passive’ use, slop letter, video forecasts There’s a lot going on around social-media platforms right now, much of it not-entirely positive. A group of stories today offers a snapshot of some of the concerns – but also the money that’s still driving the giants of the sector. Start with UK communications regulator Ofcom’s latest report, which we sense may shed light on trends in many other countries too.

Social-media roundup: ‘Passive’ use, slop letter, video forecasts

There’s a lot going on around social-media platforms right now, much of it not-entirely positive. A group of stories today offers a snapshot of some of the concerns – but also the money that’s still driving the giants of the sector.…

Music Ally Insight Report :: The State of Music Streaming 2026 Welcome to our first Insight Report of 2026, which looks at the music streaming ecosystem. And the topic that dominates this year's issue is, of course AI. But fret not: this isn’t an ‘AI is brilliant’ brovangelising report, but neither is it a ‘sky’s falling in’ doomread. The industry is now at a true inflection point, and our thinking has crystallised around five ‘Cs’, each of which is outlined in the report: …

Music Ally Insight Report :: The State of Music Streaming 2026

Welcome to our first Insight Report of 2026, which looks at the music streaming ecosystem. And the topic that dominates this year's issue is, of course AI. But fret not: this isn’t an ‘AI is brilliant’ brovangelising report, but…

Spotify revamps sponsored playlists and debuts carousel ads It's the time of year when social-media platforms and streaming services unveil their latest ad formats and initiatives – Spotify included.

Spotify revamps sponsored playlists and debuts carousel ads

It's the time of year when social-media platforms and streaming services unveil their latest ad formats and initiatives – Spotify included.

Happiness is a warm Gaussian Splat: The Beatles meet Snapchat It's 1 April, so when we were sent a press release about a famous band that includes the phrase 'Gaussian Splat', we were on full Spoof Alert.

Happiness is a warm Gaussian Splat: The Beatles meet Snapchat

It's 1 April, so when we were sent a press release about a famous band that includes the phrase 'Gaussian Splat', we were on full Spoof Alert.

Instagram sets out its stall as a ‘music superfandom’ platform "Music superfans are on Instagram," is one of the lead takeaways in a new report commissioned by Instagram from Luminate.

Instagram sets out its stall as a ‘music superfandom’ platform

"Music superfans are on Instagram," is one of the lead takeaways in a new report commissioned by Instagram from Luminate.

OpenAI raises $122bn and says it’s now making $2bn a month What was that about OpenAI raising a $110bn funding round valuing the company at $730bn? The AI giant has now updated those figures.

OpenAI raises $122bn and says it’s now making $2bn a month

What was that about OpenAI raising a $110bn funding round valuing the company at $730bn? The AI giant has now updated those figures.

Spotify ‘Pre-Nostalgia’ feature soundtracks users’ future memories Spotify’s latest personalised-playlists feature taps in to an unexploited listener emotion: nostalgia for things that haven’t happened yet.

Spotify ‘Pre-Nostalgia’ feature soundtracks users’ future memories

Spotify’s latest personalised-playlists feature taps in to an unexploited listener emotion: nostalgia for things that haven’t happened yet.

D.FOE send a radio show into space for NASA’s Artemis II Sending music into space is a tried and trusted headline-maker. The latest artist to look skywards are D.FOE, working with Thunk Radio.

D.FOE send a radio show into space for NASA’s Artemis II

Sending music into space is a tried and trusted headline-maker. The latest artist to look skywards are D.FOE, working with Thunk Radio.

German collecting society GEMA reveals its 2025 distributions “Strong growth despite difficult trading conditions,” is the summary of German collecting society GEMA’s 2025 in its annual report.

German collecting society GEMA reveals its 2025 distributions

“Strong growth despite difficult trading conditions,” is the summary of German collecting society GEMA’s 2025 in its annual report.

Spanish artist Dellafuente’s concerts average 58,815 attendees Last week we reported on the latest figures from Spain’s Association of Musical Promoters (APM), showing double-digit growth.

Spanish artist Dellafuente’s concerts average 58,815 attendees

Last week we reported on the latest figures from Spain’s Association of Musical Promoters (APM), showing double-digit growth.

30% of Céline Dion’s Spotify streams come from 25-34 year-olds Céline Dion released her Titanic hit ‘My Heart Will Go On’ in 1997. But nearly a third of her Spotify streams come from millennials.

30% of Céline Dion’s Spotify streams come from 25-34 year-olds

Céline Dion released her Titanic hit ‘My Heart Will Go On’ in 1997. But nearly a third of her Spotify streams come from millennials.

Bob Dylan launches a Patreon for lectures, letters and stories Bob’s got a paywall, stacking up the membership. He’s on Patreon, posting for the followship...

Bob Dylan launches a Patreon for lectures, letters and stories

Bob’s got a paywall, stacking up the membership. He’s on Patreon, posting for the followship...

Collabhouse Go is an ‘essential toolkit’ for independent artists More than 200,000 artists have used Collabhouse's collaboration and promotional tools over the years. Now it’s entering its next phase.

Collabhouse Go is an ‘essential toolkit’ for independent artists

More than 200,000 artists have used Collabhouse's collaboration and promotional tools over the years. Now it’s entering its next phase.

About those web3-metaverse land-plots that were so hot in 2022… Remember the heyday of web3 metaverses? When Snoop Dogg was building a mansion in virtual world The Sandbox, followed by Warner Music Group?

About those web3-metaverse land-plots that were so hot in 2022…

Remember the heyday of web3 metaverses? When Snoop Dogg was building a mansion in virtual world The Sandbox, followed by Warner Music Group?

SoundCloud to help artists drop exclusive tracks for superfans “In an age of ubiquity where everybody can have everything, people want the things that other people can’t have. They want the scarcity...”

SoundCloud to help artists drop exclusive tracks for superfans

“In an age of ubiquity where everybody can have everything, people want the things that other people can’t have. They want the scarcity...”

Music-merch survey: ‘Younger fans want more than a t-shirt’ Midia Research has been quizzing 1,000 US music-merch buyers about their habits, with some encouraging findings for artists and their teams – but also some warnings. “Younger fans want more than a t-shirt,” is one of the lessons, with Midia noting that 16-24 year-olds are “over-indexing for listing merch options like posters, keychains, and jewellery as their favourites” when asked.

Music-merch survey: ‘Younger fans want more than a t-shirt’

Midia Research has been quizzing 1,000 US music-merch buyers about their habits, with some encouraging findings for artists and their teams – but also some warnings. “Younger fans want more than a t-shirt,” is one of the lessons, with…

Major labels to challenge recent copyright-termination ruling In January we reported on a significant ruling by a US federal appeals court that seemed to pave the way for songwriters to terminate copyright deals and regain their rights globally, not just in the US. The ruling followed a court case involving 1963 song ‘Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love) by Cyril Vetter, and the small music publisher that owned the rights.

Major labels to challenge recent copyright-termination ruling

In January we reported on a significant ruling by a US federal appeals court that seemed to pave the way for songwriters to terminate copyright deals and regain their rights globally, not just in the US. The ruling followed a court case…

Slop Tracker website aims to track ‘the AI streaming drain’ In the time it took to write this news story, $256 was “drained” from human artists by tracks from just 50 AI-generated artists on Spotify. At least, that’s according to a site called Slop Tracker that’s been set up to highlight the issue. The site claims that the 50 artists in its list have earned just under $2.7m from their top songs since it started tracking them, suggesting that they may have an expected monthly income of nearly $312k.

Slop Tracker website aims to track ‘the AI streaming drain’

In the time it took to write this news story, $256 was “drained” from human artists by tracks from just 50 AI-generated artists on Spotify. At least, that’s according to a site called Slop Tracker that’s been set up to highlight the…

Women headliners at The O2 have increased by 300% since 2016 March is Women's History Month, as well as 8 March being International Women's Day. A good time to reflect on the progress being made.

Women headliners at The O2 have increased by 300% since 2016

March is Women's History Month, as well as 8 March being International Women's Day. A good time to reflect on the progress being made.

Former WMG subsidiary Uproxx now has 160m monthly viewers The narrative of ‘artist formerly signed to a major label enjoys life as an independent musician again’ is one that pops up regularly. James Blake is the latest example. It’s also a narrative that we see somewhat less regularly for startups, services or media entities that were acquired at some point, then broke away again amid strategic rejigs. Uproxx is one of those.

Former WMG subsidiary Uproxx now has 160m monthly viewers

The narrative of ‘artist formerly signed to a major label enjoys life as an independent musician again’ is one that pops up regularly. James Blake is the latest example. It’s also a narrative that we see somewhat less regularly for…

Spotify and labels seek $322m default judgement from Anna’s Archive ‘Shadow library’ website Anna’s Archive’s decision to scrape Spotify and announced that it would be making a huge stash of metadata and audio files available last year is increasingly looking like the mother of all own-goals. Spotify and the three major labels swiftly sued Anna’s Archive, winning a preliminary injunction in January to stop it from releasing the sound recordings publicly.

Spotify and labels seek $322m default judgement from Anna’s Archive

‘Shadow library’ website Anna’s Archive’s decision to scrape Spotify and announced that it would be making a huge stash of metadata and audio files available last year is increasingly looking like the mother of all own-goals.…