Music Business
Responsible Merch Guide encourages planet-friendly products
A report published this week by Green Music Australia, Reverb and The CSO Shop aims to help artists and their teams, as well as labels and merch suppliers, make “better environmental and ethical choices”. The ‘Responsible Merch Guide’ covers issues ranging fromm clothing materials and certification
Create Music Group leads $2m funding for marketing startup Soundlink
Startup Soundlink launched in 2025 as a service to help music marketers solve “the attribution problem” – understanding how their social-media ads impacted streams. Having signed up more than 5,000 artists and labels, now Soundlink has raised a $2m seed-funding round, led by Create Music Group. The
Chartmetric warns 2025’s ‘pop slump’ has continued in 2026
Slump? What slump?! With global recorded-music revenues up 6.4% last year, the industry would be forgiven for taking a quiet moment to celebrate recently. However, analytics firm Chartmetric’s latest research may interrupt that, based on its analysis of the streaming charts. “Last year was notably l
WMG to buy Revelator in wake of UMG’s Downtown Music acquisition
Two theories emerged when UMG completed its acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings recently. One was that the lengthy regulatory scrutiny of the deal might discourage major labels from other indie acquisitions – for a while at least. The other, though, was that it may encourage such deals – particul
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 M
‘They’ve Done a Lot of Damage to the Festival Scene’: How The Demise of Bluesfest Has Been a Suckerpunch For an Industry In Crisis
The beloved Easter long-weekend festival was meant to get underway today, April 2.
Australia introduces new “orphan works” copyright legislation
Australia’s government has unveiled new copyright reforms this week, specifically involving ‘orphan works’. The post is from Music Ally.
The 2025 Royalty Numbers are in: Loud & Clear Updated with new Data & Takeaways
Artists deserve transparency about how music streaming works. That’s why we launched Loud & Clear in 2021 — to share detailed data on Spotify’s royalty payments, break down how money […] The post is from Music Ally.
Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds Announce Fall Arena Tour
The band, led by Sturgill Simpson's new persona, will hit nearly 30 markets.
Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds Set Fall Arena Tour
The band, led by Sturgill Simpson's new persona, will hit nearly 30 markets.
Billboard Music Industry Events Calendar
A complete rundown of the most important events across the music business.
Billboard's Music Industry Events Calendar Released
A complete rundown of the most important events across the music business.
Billboard's 2026 Music Industry Events Calendar
A complete rundown of the most important events across the music business.
Elon Musk’s X seizes on Supreme Court’s landmark Cox ruling in bid to derail music publishers’ copyright case
X Corp has told a Nashville federal court that last week's ruling renders the publishers' surviving claims defunct. Source
Do ‘Evergreen’ Hits Actually Last Forever? Reservoir CEO Reveals the Opportunities and Risks in Buying Catalogs
On Billboard's On the Record podcast, Reservoir's Golnar Khosrowshahi breaks down the catalog market in 2026 — and why she's working with Miles Davis and De La Soul.
Larry Mestel: How it started…
MBW’s new series delves into the stories behind the music industry’s most notable founder-led companies. Source
Tom Misch Discusses Burnout and Return to Music
As the acclaimed singer-songwriter shares 'Full Circle' – his first solo album in eight years – Misch talks to NME about taking time for himself, how to navigate the music industry, and advice for oth
Inside Runner Music's Rise in the Music Industry
The three-year-old company has also crafted hits for Rosalía, Kane Brown and Tate McRae. Now, they're ready to talk about it.
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 tr
From En Vogue to ‘Café Mocha’ & Beyond: Industry Veteran Sheila Eldridge on Staying ‘In a Learning State of Mind’
Eldridge also talks about radio's future and the importance of giving back to the HBCU community.