Welcome to Music Business World’s weekly roundup – where we make sure you catch the 5 biggest stories that have made our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s review is supported by China Travel Servicehelping more than 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce touring costs.
We’ve been waiting for the hammer to fall for some time, and this week it did: The U.S. Department of Justice’s Ticketmaster owner live countryaccusing the company of Violation of antitrust laws through its dominant position in the ticketing business. Live Nation predicts it will win in court.
Meanwhile, AI music generator sunSome say it makes disturbingly good music, and this week revealed it has raised funding $125 million The company’s Series B funding round was reportedly valued at US$500 million.
In a new column in MBW, fruit music founder Stef van Vuget Think it’s time to realize that artificial intelligence like Suno is now creating great music, and copyright holders should turn their attention to competing for attention instead of Create great music.
Elsewhere, the latest developments in the ongoing feud between US music publishers and music publishers Spotifythis national music publishers association (State Drug Administration) has asked Congress to enact Changes to U.S. Copyright Law So that publishers can negotiate with streaming services in a “free market.”
Spotify decides to treat its premium subscription tiers as a “bundled” service (allowing it to pay Reduce machinery usage costs), MBW noted Streaming services face backlash Respond to NMPA’s “free market” recommendations.
Here’s what happened this week…
Image source: Marcus E Jones/Shutterstock
1) The U.S. Department of Justice files an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation
The U.S. Department of Justice joins 30 state and territory attorneys general in investigating live state entertainment and its subsidiaries, TicketmasterThursday (May 23).
The U.S. Department of Justice says it is suing Live Nation, accusing it of “Monopoly and other illegal activities This hinders market competition in the entire live entertainment industry.”
The lawsuit includes a request for structural relief aimed at “restoring competition in the live concert industry, providing fans with better choices at lower prices, and opening venue doors to working musicians and other performing artists.”
“We allege that Live Nation relied on illegal, anticompetitive conduct to exert monopolistic control over the U.S. live events industry to the detriment of fans, artists, small promoters and venue operators,” the attorneys general said. Merrick B. Garland…
2) Amid the “bundling” controversy in the United States, NMPA calls on Congress to let music publishers opt out of compulsory licensing and negotiate with streaming media in a “free market”
this national music publishers association (State Drug Administration) calls on Congress amend copyright law In the United States, this would give American music publishers the freedom to choose how to license their music to music streaming services.
The NMPA said Congress “should allow rights holders the option to pass [Mechanical Licensing Collective] If certain conditions are met, it is possible to use legally set royalty rates or exit the MLC and operate in a free market.”
The legislative proposal was introduced in a letter submitted by NMPA President and CEO david israel The report, submitted to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on May 21, aims to address what the NMPA calls “continued abuse of the statutory system by digital services.”
The NMPA’s proposal comes amid an ongoing feud between music publishers and music publishers in the United States. SpotifyFollowing SPOT’s decision in early March to reclassify its premium individual, dual and family subscription streaming plans as “bundles,” as these plans now offer access to audiobooks…
3) Spotify’s battle with songwriters and music publishers just got more complicated. Let’s review.
Image source: ISOVECTOR/Shutterstock
This week inevitably brought up an unfortunate topic: the ongoing feud between American music publishers and the world’s largest subscription music streaming service, Spotify.
Their dispute stems from SPOT’s controversial decision Reclassified its premium level as “Bundle” By combining music and audiobooks, Spotify pays Lower machinery usage rates In the US, there’s more to publishers and songwriters than independent music subscription services.
Music publishers were not happy. When Spotify first announced it was reclassifying its premium services into bundles on April 18, david israelPresident and CEO national music publishers associationtold us: “Spotify appears to be back attacking the songwriters who make its business possible.”
On Tuesday (May 21), the National Medical Products Administration called on Congress to update U.S. copyright law to allow publishers to negotiate in the “free market” like record companies.
Dimathe U.S. organization that represents services like Spotify, Amazonand PandoraPresident and CEO issued a statement Graham Davis Tuesday condemn the proposal…
4) AI music generator SUNO raised US$125 million, with the company valued at US$500 million (report)
sunAn artificial intelligence-powered music creation app that’s garnering attention for its ability to create amazingly good music has turned heads. $125 million in Series B financing.
“We launched our first product eight months ago, allowing anyone to create songs with simple ideas. It’s still early days, but 10 million people Already making music using Suno” Co-Founder and CEO Mickey Schulman said in a blog post announcing this round of funding.
“While Grammy-winning artists use Suno, our core user base consists of everyday people making music – often for the first time.”
According to cited sources informationthis funding round gives the two-year-old, Massachusetts-based company an implied value of US$500 million…
5) Cruel reality: Power is turning to music and algorithmic discovery generated by artificial intelligence. Music rights holders must be aware of this opportunity.
In a new column, Stef van Vuget,founder fruit musicA record label and playlist company with tens of billions of plays believes the power of the music industry is shifting towards artificial intelligence-generated music, and rights holders must take advantage of the situation as much as possible. Van Vugt wrote:
AI music startups, e.g. sun – Just proposed $125 million In terms of funding – yes Create better-sounding music More than most newly released faux songs on music streaming services.
This shows that a “new normal” has taken over today’s music industry and will define the music industry of the future.
It’s not impossible for the largest holders of traditional music rights to thrive in this “new normal.” However, with many threats to its dominance, the balance of power in global corporations is irreversibly changing.
In fact, I predict that new rights holders—especially for music powered by artificial intelligence—will Continue to occupy market share From the biggest music rights holder for years to come…
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