Music Industry
-
Sound designers, field recordists, mixers and professional sound-effects libraries have formed the Professional Sound Alliance, a new coalition pushing for licensing and compensation when professionally recorded sound is used to train commercial AI systems or appears in media without permission. Launched September 24th, the group argues that the rights debate…
-
DistroKid delivered nearly 12 million tracks to a single major streaming service in six months, accounting for more than half of everything delivered to that platform during the period, according to allegations contained in Universal Music Group’s new copyright lawsuit against the DIY distributor. The streaming service is not identified.…
-
LANDR says artificial streams flagged by Spotify across music it distributes fell 95% between the first quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026, as the company adds more fraud screening before releases reach streaming services. The Montreal-based music-creation and distribution platform disclosed the figure in a September 22nd…
-
Spotify is expanding Reserved beyond early concert-ticket access with setlist playlists that change after each show, personalized share cards and a dedicated in-app destination designed to keep ticket holders inside Spotify from the presale through the days after the concert. The features begin rolling out September 24th for Reserved, Spotify’s…
-
Sam Smith and Normani’s long-running copyright fight over “Dancing With a Stranger” is moving toward a jury trial after a federal judge refused to end the case in the defendants’ favor, leaving jurors to potentially decide whether the 2019 hit infringed an earlier song built around a strikingly similar central…
-
Sony Music Group has become the first music company to join the Alliance for Responsible Innovation in the Arts & Media, bringing its increasingly firm position on AI licensing into a coalition already representing major companies across film, television, journalism, publishing, education and technology. The September 23rd announcement places Sony…
-
South Korean prosecutors are asking an appeals court to overturn Kakao founder Kim Beom-su’s acquittal and sentence him to 15 years in prison over alleged stock manipulation during the 2023 battle for control of SM Entertainment. The request came September 23rd at the final hearing before the Seoul High Court.…
-
A coordinated anti-piracy operation across five Latin American countries has blocked 317 websites linked to illegal music services, stream ripping and, in dozens of cases, malware distribution. Operation LUMEN was carried out September 22nd and 23rd, with authorities in Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic working together on…
-
HYBE is taking its cinema festival worldwide for the first time, turning concert films, two live BTS broadcasts and an interactive K-pop screening into a weeklong theatrical event across more than 60 territories. HYBE CINE FEST 2026 will run from October 24th through October 31st in partnership with event-cinema distributor…
-
Robert Palmer’s estate has entered a wide-ranging partnership with Primary Wave Music covering the late singer’s publishing and recording catalogs as well as rights connected to his name, image and likeness. Announced September 23rd, the agreement gives the estate access to Primary Wave’s publishing infrastructure and marketing operation while the…
