Donna Summer estate strikes deal with Primary Wave covering catalog and name, image & likeness rights
Summer sold more than 100 million albums worldwide Source
Music News Stream
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Merck Mercuariadis on Hipgnosis, vindication, and his next move.
The entrepreneur opens up on his new industry thesis – and how he feels seeing the company once known as Hipgnosis sold to Sony Source
India, Vietnam… and the question the music business keeps avoiding
Bill Werde, Director of the Bandier Music Business Program at Syracuse University, argues that the freemium model championed by YouTube and Spotify may now be holding back growth in the world’s most populous music markets — and that it’s time for the industry to ask whether ‘free’ is still serving it… Source
The Other Songs Live raises £400,000 for the UK’s BRIT School
The Other Songs Live took place at the London Palladium on May 19, with songwriters and musicians performing alongside current BRIT School students Source
Behind The Campaign: La Rvfleuze
French drill rapper La Rvfleuze (real name: Seny Bengaly) released his debut album, ‘Numéro d’écrou’, in March 2026. He had begun by releasing tracks via DistroKid in 2022 but was later jailed for burglary and eventually released in 2025. During his time in prison, tracks were leaking and going viral. He signed with Warner Music […]
Warner Music Group is buying AI-attribution startup Sureel AI
The three major labels have been striking deals with various AI startups, but now Warner Music Group is acquiring one: Sureel AI.
Warner Music Group acquires Sureel AI, the attribution startup that traces how AI models use artists’ work
Sureel's multi-patented technology creates "AI DNA" for every work, breaking it into component parts and tracing how AI models use those elements. Source
Geese and Oklou were big winners at the 2026 Libera Awards
With Indie Week in New York in full swing, the Libera Awards took place this week to garland artists, labels and industry companies with an independent focus. Artist-wise, the big winners were rock band Geese and electro-pop artist Oklou. Geese won Record of the Year, Breakthrough Artist and Best Alternative Rock Record. Perhaps pointedly, their ‘Getting Killed’ […]
Duetti expands with acquisitions of newer tracks and remix program
Duetti’s business providing funding for independent musicians is well established, but now it is expanding its horizons in two ways. First, it is lowering its “acquisision age threshold” for recordings. No, that doesn’t mean it’s seeking out toddler songwriters. It will now be looking to acquire catalogues including tracks released as little as six months […]
Chris Brown settles songwriter’s lawsuit over ‘Sensational’ and ‘Monalisa’
Steve Chokpelle, who performs as Muso, alleged he wrote lyrics for two of Chris Brown's songs but was excluded from the credits and the revenues. Source
UMG prices €1bn bond offering as boss makes latest AI comments
As the dust settles from its rejection of an acquisition offer by hedge-fund Pershing Square, Universal Music Group has taken its next financial step forward. It has priced €1bn of new ‘Eurobond Notes’ that will be sold to investors outside the US to raise money for “general corporate purposes, including the refinancing of existing indebtedness and […]
YouTube claims ‘broad license’ to use music uploads for AI training
Questions about what YouTube and parent firm Alphabet are training their musical AIs on, and what the licensing structure around that is, have been bubbling for some time. A court filing this week sheds more light on the issue. The filing is part of a case sparked by a lawsuit earlier this year against Google by plaintiffs […]
Google moves to dismiss indie artists’ Lyria 3 AI training lawsuit, arguing they licensed their music when agreeing to YouTube’s terms of service
Google argued that the artists licensed their music to YouTube when they uploaded it – and that the license covers the conduct they are now suing over. Source
Sony Music urges court to reject Udio’s bid to seal the size of its AI training data
Sony Music argued that the number "is necessary to understand the full extent of Udio's copying." Source
Symphonic promotes four executives, with Taylor Garland elevated to EVP & CFO
Janette Berrios was elevated to SVP, Corporate Marketing; Ed Poston to SVP, Head of A&R; Lane Roney to SVP, Finance; and Taylor Garland to EVP & CFO. Source
Primavera Sound festival faces criticism over weather disruption
Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival faced stormy weather on its opening day Thursday – literally and figuratively.
Video exclusives: Spotify x Le Sserafim and YouTube x Madonna
Video is the new (old) battleground for streaming services in 2026: a space, unlike audio, where they can safely negotiate exclusives with big artists. Spotify’s latest partnership is with K-Pop group Le Sserafim, following the recent concert it hosted for them in Seoul. Video of the performance is now available exclusively on the service, along with […]
Live roundup: NIVA launches, MVT x Audoo, Charli XCX ‘Angel Tickets’
There is plenty of news coming out of US live association NIVA’s annual conference this week. Starting with the launch of the ‘Fix the Tix Fan Action Center’. It’s an online service to help fans request refunds and dob in “deceptive ticket resale practices in real-time”, playing into NIVA’s wider campaign against those. The launch […]
Apple Music is getting new features in iOS 27 software update
Apple kicked off its WWDC event yesterday – its annual conference for developers – with the traditional keynote debuting its next raft of software updates and services. Want to know what’s new in Apple Music when the iOS 27 update drops later this year? You’ll need some sharp eyes to spot the references in a huge word-cloud […]
Berklee study explores music, video and use of AI technologies
Berklee College of Music has published a new report exploring “how music is discovered, licensed, created, and used across today’s social media video ecosystem”, as well as the role of video in musicians’ careers, and AI. An important note: this isn’t just a survey of musicians. It also interviewed creators (influencers), brand marketers and music supervisors – 1,003 […]