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
RSS
Jun 10, 2026 3:21pm · Music Business WorldWide
The Other Songs Live took place at the London Palladium on May 19, with songwriters and musicians performing alongside current BRIT School students Source
RSS
Jun 10, 2026 2:58pm · Rolling Stone Music News
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 […]
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
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’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 […]
RSS
Jun 10, 2026 12:52pm · Music Business WorldWide
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
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 […]
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 […]
RSS
Jun 10, 2026 11:16am · Music Business WorldWide
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