Music Business
Music Tech Pitch Competition for Electronic Labels and Publishers Announced
Feedback is Music Technology UK's recurring pitch competition for music tech founders. AFEM is teaming up with MTUK on this one to put electronic music labels and publishers at the centre of the room.
Beatport Connect Announces New York Music Conference
Beatport Connect comes to New York on Friday 12 June, taking over Refuge in Brooklyn for a full day of panels, workshops and a networking mixer with the artists, labels and industry voices building ca
Kanye West loses copyright trial over sample
A jury held the rapper liable for infringing an instrumental track at a 2021 listening party for his chart-topping album.
Ye Loses Copyright Trial Over Uncleared ‘Donda’ Demo Sample
A jury held the rapper liable for infringing an instrumental track at a 2021 listening party for his chart-topping album.
Linda Perry Talks ‘Let It Die Here’ Documentary & Album, Plus 4 Non Blondes’ ‘What’s Up?’ Viral Moment: ‘You Can’t Buy That Kind of Marketing’
The legendary songwriter & frontwoman also talks to the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast about reuniting with her '90s band for a new album.
Warner Music Group’s Armin Zerza adds COO role to his remit, just one year after joining as CFO
Zerza's new remit as COO will encompass corporate development, central marketing, business and market intelligence, and WMX Source
Bertelsmann veteran Björn Bauer named CFO of combined BMG-Concord music company
The appointment will take effect upon closing of the BMG-Concord merger, which is expected to fall in the second half of 2026. Source
If you thought the US music industry was concerned about AI, you should hear what they’re saying in China.
Tencent Music has explicitly blamed the 'proliferation of unauthorized AI-generated content' for creating 'headwinds' for its music subscription growth. Source
Beatport Connect NYC Conference
Beatport Connect comes to New York on Friday 12 June, taking over Refuge in Brooklyn for a full day of panels, workshops and a networking mixer with the artists, labels and industry voices building ca
Tencent Music Reports $1.15B Q1 Revenue, Doubles-Down on Concerts, Merch, Membership
"We are transitioning to a membership based model that goes beyond content subscriptions to deliver more immersive music experiences."
Tencent Music Reports $1.15B Q1 Revenue, Doubles-Down on Concerts, Merch, Membership
"We are transitioning to a membership based model that goes beyond content subscriptions to deliver more immersive music experiences."
Tencent Music generated over $1bn in Q1, up 7.3% YoY – driven by growth in Super VIP-led memberships and concert revenues
China-headquartered music streaming company Tencent Music Entertainment generated total revenue of RMB 7.90 billion (USD $1.15 billion) in the first quarter of 2026, up 7.3% year-over-year. That’s according to the company’s latest earnings report, published on Tuesday (May 12), for the three months
Samsung Addresses Dua Lipa Image Lawsuit
The company has offered an explanation after the superstar accused it of plastering her face on television boxes without permission.
Samsung Responds to Dua Lipa Lawsuit, Says It Got ‘Explicit Assurance’ Before Using Her Image
The company has offered an explanation after the superstar accused it of plastering her face on television boxes without permission.
Downtown’s CD Baby launches ‘full-service’ artist program offering marketing, distribution, and financial support for 10 indie acts in 2026
The program will support 10 artists through 2026, offering priority distribution, targeted DSP marketing, paid digital campaign support, and more. Source
US music offices and organisations launch their own association
Music cities (and counties, and states…) are an increasingly-active element of the US music industry, with an array of organisations working to nurture their local ecosystems and communities. Now they’ve got a trade body of their own. The Association of Music Offices (AMO) launched this week at the
CD Baby debuts ‘Stages Selects’ program with 10 indie artists
Newly ensconced within UMG’s Virgin Music Group after the acquisition of its parent company Downtown Music, distributor CD Baby has unveiled a new “high-level support” program for some of its artists. ‘Stages Selects’ will offer priority distribution, DSP marketing, paid digital-campaign support and
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 generated by Brazilian artists on Spotify grew at almost double the
Artistic Futures wants to help songwriters find missing royalties
A European Union co-funded project called Artistic Futures is aiming to put AI to positive use for songwriters: by helping them to identify unclaimed royalties and broken metadata. The project is the work of a group of music companies: Unison Rights and Encert Predict from Spain; Valunode from Eston
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 with yet another Hipgnosis company – Hipgnosis Songs Group –