Music Business
Recorded music revenues in Italy grew +10.7% YoY last year; paid streaming revenues in the market jumped 14.1% YoY
Paid subscriptions, totaling EUR €234.4 million ($269 million), represented 69% of Italy’s total streaming revenues in 2025. Source
UK government reverses course on stance to let AI companies train on copyrighted music without permission
'We have listened. We have engaged extensively with creatives, AI firms, industry bodies, unions, academics and AI adopters, and that engagement has shaped our approach.' Source
“The truth is that a 12-year-old girl pre-sold her creative output before she knew what it would be like, and before she knew what she was signing away”: Lorde confirms that she no longer has a recording deal with UMG
Her previous contract expired at the end of 2025, and she says that she now has a feeling “of openness and possibility”
Cautious welcome for UK government’s latest AI copyright stance, as BMG files latest Anthropic lawsuit
The UK government yesterday abandoned plans for an AI copyright exception, although it doesn’t currently have a plan B. The music industry is glad the new exception is off the agenda, but concerns remain. Meanwhile, Sony has been discussing the deepfake problem, and BMG has sued Anthropic
Subscription music streaming revenues rose just 2% YoY in Sweden in 2025
Subscription-based audio streaming revenue climbed 2% YoY to SEK 1.95 billion ($199m), accounting for 85% of all music sales in Sweden in 2025. Source
Ye Settles Lawsuit From Rappers Who Said His ‘Vultures 1’ Illegally Sampled 1990s Track
The deal will end a case claiming Ye's reps reached out to clear a sample on “Fuk Sumn,” then ghosted the negotiations and just used it anyway.
UK Government Reverses Plan for AI Training on Copyrighted Music
The U-turn marks a major victory for campaigners from across the sector who opposed the policy
Lisbon's Underground Club Scene Faces Challenges
Over the past decade, Lisbon has been a haven of DIY nightlife, with a plethora of collectives, record stores, artists, labels and venues coming together to create a vibrant and varied scene. But the
Janet Jackson signs global deal with Believe Music Publishing
Jackson has sold over 180 million records worldwide Source
Janet Jackson Signs Global Deal With Believe Music Publishing
The icon moves her entire catalog to the French music company's publishing division.
Underground Resilience: Lisbon's DIY club scene refuses to give up on the dancefloor
Over the past decade, Lisbon has been a haven of DIY nightlife, with a plethora of collectives, record stores, artists, labels and venues coming together to create a vibrant and varied scene. But the Portuguese capital's underground club community has also faced a wave of threats, with venue closure
Deezer’s revenues fell slightly in 2025 – but it was profitable
If the story of the IFPI’s Global Music Report and various local bodies’ figures for 2025 is growth, that’s not quite the case for streaming service Deezer – although its latest financial results gave it something else to shout about instead. The company reported annual revenues of €534m for 2025, d
Facebook payouts to ‘content creators’ grew 35% to $3bn in 2025
Instagram may get more of the attention when it comes to Meta’s interactions with creators (influencers, as was) but Facebook is clearly no slouch in terms of the revenues it is generating for those social-media stars. “Facebook paid content creators nearly $3 billion in 2025 — a 35% increase from t
BMG joins the lyrical lawsuits against AI company Anthropic
Music lawsuits may not be Anthropic’s biggest legal headache at the moment, given its escalating battle with the US administration. However, it has now picked up an additional adversary on the music front: BMG. The company has sued Anthropic for “pervasive infringement of copyrighted musical composi
Simply Divest: Pophouse buys majority stake in Tina Turner catalogue
Swedish firm Pophouse is best known as the company behind ABBA Voyage, and more recently its acquisition of rock band Kiss’s catalogue and other rights with a view to creating a similar hologram-tastic live experience in the future. However, the company also owns rights relating to Swedish House Maf
UMG boss hails AI’s shakeup of ‘both creation and distribution’
With Universal Music Group at the forefront of the music industry’s AI dealmaking, chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge’s appearance at a conference held by Nvidia – one of those partners – was a hot ticket this week. He talked about AI’s potential for musicians. “As long as they’re respected, as lon
Recorded music growth in 2025: France and Italy reveal figures
Now that the IFPI’s Global Music Report for 2025 is out – here’s our coverage from yesterday in case you missed it – some more country-specific figures are emerging from local label bodies. Starting with France and Italy. French organisation SNEP reported €1.07bn of recorded-music revenues for 2025,
Study suggests creative expression may be a niche AI use-case
When music-industry executives talk about an exciting new era of licensed musical AIs that enable fans to interact with their favourite artists’ music… it’s unclear whether there’s much evidence, yet, that fans want this. Even big numbers from Suno – which has been used by 100 million people with tw
UK government scraps plan for AI training on copyrighted music following backlash
The U-turn marks a major victory for campaigners from across the sector who opposed the policy
Björn Sandberg named Head of Commercial Marketing at AudioSalad
Sandberg will lead AudioSalad’s artist and label marketing Source