Analysis Observations on Universal Music Group’s 2024 restructuring programThe 'why', the 'where', and the 'how many' of the music biz's biggest story of the moment under the microscope
Analysis News 158 million tracks had 1,000 plays or fewer on music streaming services last year. 45 million had no plays at all.The number of tracks with no plays on audio streaming platforms jumped by 7.7 million over the past year, according to a new Luminate report
Analysis News Andreessen Horowitz’s thoughts on AI shows what the music industry will be up against in 2024The company's views place it squarely on the opposite side of the issue from much of the music industry
Analysis Here’s exactly how Spotify’s new 1,000 annual streams royalty policy works…Spotify is introducing a significant update to the way it calculates recorded royalties next year
Analysis Spotify has laid off 2,300 employees this year. That’s a shock – but also kind of inevitable.On: Promises made at Investor Days, Christmas Walks, and Daniel Ek's long-term aim for his shareholders
Analysis News NMPA: Generative AI is ‘the greatest risk to the human creative class that has ever existed’Everything we learned from the National Music Publishers Association's US Copyright Office submission
Analysis 3 observations on… the sale of BMI (and Google’s entrance into music rights management)On BMI's fraternizing with CapitalG (aka Alphabet's fund), plus a windfall for radio broadcasters, and $100 million of money going to songwriters and publishers
Analysis News What Universal Music Group really thinks about generative AI and copyright law…MBW has digested UMG's revelatory 99-page submission to the US Copyright Office on generative AI. Here's what we've discovered.
Analysis The modern record industry is moving into its ‘cut to grow’ phase.On layoffs at Warner Music Group and BMG, and an upcoming cost savings program at Universal Music Group
Analysis WMG’s Robert Kyncl expects more artist-centric streaming deals, and 2 other things we learned on the company’s latest earnings callWarner Music Group's CEO weighed in on YouTube's new AI tool that clones superstars' voices, and said he's talking to politicians about AI regulation.
Analysis Live Nation’s Michael Rapino lays out the argument for why concerts – not streaming – are the future of the music bizRapino spoke at length at Liberty Media's investor conference in New York last week, breaking down the economics of his company's field
Analysis Talking ‘garbage’: How can Spotify and co sort the dregs of the music business from the hidden treasures?On Sir Lucian Grainge's bluntness, Believe's rebellion, and why a careful balance is required to find a true 'artist-centric' formula
Analysis News Four things we learned from Sir Lucian Grainge on Universal’s Q3 earnings call… that wasn’t ‘Merchants of Garbage’From Deezer to AI and China, UMG's leadership team discussed a number of key topics for the business
Analysis Hipgnosis Songs Fund has been left concussed by ‘discontinuation’. But with a seemingly rock solid ‘call option’, Merck Mercuriadis still holds all the cards.On: Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the all important 'call option', Blackstone, and the most likely outcome of this week's mess
Analysis Blatant Plagiarism? 5 key takeaways from Universal’s lyrics lawsuit against AI unicorn AnthropicLawsuit against AI company could prove to be a decisive moment in establishing the legal boundaries of artificial intelligence