GoDigital Music launches Nashville country imprint Orinda under General Manager Cooper Lycan
Orinda signs Nic D as its first artist Source
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Suno raises over $400 million, pushing valuation to $5.4 billion
The round was led by Bond Capital, alongside IVP, Forerunner, Union Square Ventures, Alkeon, and Quiet Source
International Entrepreneur of the Year 2026 nominees: Dr. Moti Margalit (SonicEdge)
Startup SonicEdge focuses on ‘micro-sized speakers’ for headphones, earbuds and hearing aids – small speakers with big audio quality.
International Entrepreneur of the Year 2026 nominees: Vishruti Bindal and Bharavi (Linear Festivals)
Linear Festivals has been rethinking music festivals in India by booking artists to play concerts along public-transportation lines.
2 Live Crew can’t take back their recorded music copyrights after all, appeals court rules
A US federal appeals court has overturned 2 Live Crew's high-profile victory in their long-running copyright fight Source
‘Blurred Lines’ copyright lawyer Richard Busch joins law firm Adams & Reese as Special Counsel
Drew Davis and David Niemierzycki will also join Busch in the firm's Nashville office, serving on the Global Intellectual Property team. Source
Concord Music Publishing ANZ acquires interest in catalog of The Presets co-founder Julian Hamilton
Concord has also signed Hamilton to a new publishing deal covering future works. Source
Havas, led by Yannick Bolloré, launches label via UMG’s Virgin Music Group
Virgin Music Group will handle VOLYUM's global distribution. Source
TikTok hails 11bn views (and streaming success) for ‘Self Aware’
With labels grumbling off-record to Bloomberg about TikTok caring more about its SoundOn distribution arm and direct relationships with artists, what better time to, ahem, celebrate the latest SoundOn success story? There’s nuance here though. ‘Self Aware’ by rock band Temper City was released and promoted by SoundOn, but there is a label involved too: indie Thirty […]
Bank of America is ‘Side by Side’ with Tomorrow’s Warriors
The 35th-birthday-year festivities continue for UK talent-development organisation Tomorrow’s Warriors – and now it has some big financial muscle joining the party: Bank of America. The latter is the partner for a new program called ‘Side by Side’ that will provide performance and mentoring opportunities for Tomorrow’s Warriors’ flagship ‘TW Big Band’ ensemble. The 17 […]
French project ReDisco has recycled more than 1.2m records
Record-recycling is all the rage at the moment: witness our recent report on a WMG-backed pilot turning unsold vinyl into new records while keeping the sound quality high. In France, ReDisco has been at this game since 2023 with its recycling program for vinyl, CDs and DVDs, turning them into “everyday objects” as well as new records. 1.2m recycled […]
Roli’s latest music-education move is a partnership with Casio
Earlier this year, we reported on music-education firm Roli’s launch of an ‘AI Music Coach’ to help people learn to play the company’s Airwave instrument. Now it’s branching out to more-traditional keyboards. The company has launched a partnership with Casio, debuting a ‘Roli Learn for Casio’ app in the UK and Japan this month. It promises “an immersive, […]
AI music-videos startup Neural Frames hits $5m annual run rate
Berlin-based startup Neural Frames has built a platform for creating music videos using AI, and its annual run rate (ARR – a projection of annual earnings from its current performance) has just crossed $5m. The milestone comes as Neural Frames adds a significant name to its team. Musiio founder-turned-investor Hazel Savage [pictured right] has been appointed as a […]
Official: UMG rejects Bill Ackman’s $64B takeover bid
Universal Music Group has rejected Bill Ackman's takeover offer. Source
From Bolloré urging UMG to reject Ackman’s $64B bid to Gamma’s lawsuit to unmask the creators of two smear sites… it’s MBW’s weekly round-up
The biggest headlines from the past few days... Source
Downtown Music Publishing strikes deal to represent Biz Markie catalog and name, image & likeness rights
Deal covers publishing administration and sync licensing, alongside representation of the late artist's NIL rights. Source
Sync’s new frontiers: clearance, creators, boutiques and brand intelligence
Sync continues to be an important source of income for rightsholders and musicians alike, and there are new startups trying to help.
Epidemic Sound study examines creator attitudes towards AI
As one of the key music providers for online-video creators, Epidemic Sound has a big community of customers to draw on when studying how they feel about music and new technologies. Its new ‘Future of the Creator Economy Report 2026’ puts a focus on AI, with some interesting findings. 94% of these creators (remember, we’re […]
Bloomberg questions whether TikTok is leaving labels behind
TikTok’s recent renewal of its licensing deal with Universal Music Group came with no public drama, suggesting that relations with that major label have improved since their fallout two years ago. However, Bloomberg has taken another angle in its latest coverage of TikTok, suggesting that the company is “deprioritizing relationships with music labels — cutting jobs focused on […]
LyricFind files updated complaint in battle with Musixmatch
LyricFind sued rival Musixmatch – and TPG Global, one of the latter’s key investors – in March 2025, accusing them of anti-competitive behaviour, zeroing in on a licensing deal with Warner Chappell. Since then, Musixmatch filed to dismiss the lawsuit, calling it “meritless”; LyricFind busted out additional allegations including claims that TPG tried to buy it in 2023; and Musixmatch hit […]