Music News Stream

RSS Oct 19, 2026 12:30pm · Musically

Traditional Arabesk music is proving popular with young Turks

In Türkiye, Arabesk music has been popular since the 1960s: a genre that wears its heart firmly on its sleeve with themes of yearning, grief and unrequited love. Which, as it turns out, is striking a chord anew with young Turkish listeners in 2026. The post is from Music Ally.

RSS Oct 19, 2026 12:30pm · Musically

Sync startup Maia Universe inks more deals and raises funding

We’ve been keeping tabs on sync-licensing startup Maia Universe since the Swedish/UK firm was one of the winners of our 2024 Music Ally SI:X startups contest. The post is from Music Ally.

RSS Oct 19, 2026 12:30pm · Musically

UMAW wants to ‘Raise the Bar’ for venue policies in the US

US union United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) has launched its latest campaign, targeting “the worst practices at music venues across North America”. The post is from Music Ally.

RSS Oct 19, 2026 12:30pm · Musically

Musixmatch acquires Songdex and Blokur owner Music Reports

Lyrics firm Musixmatch was founded 16 years ago, but has never bought another company… until now. It has announced the acquisition of Music Reports, the US firm that owns the Songdex copyright registry as well as rights and licensing firm Blokur. The post is from Music Ally.

RSS Oct 19, 2026 11:30am · Musically

New studies explore AI expectations, jobs impact and gender gap

Beyond the AI-music debates that have been gripping our industry, there’s a lot to think about in terms of the other ways AI will affect our jobs and wider society. Several studies published in recent days offer new perspectives on that. The post is from Music Ally.

RSS Oct 19, 2026 10:37am · Music Business WorldWide

Sony and Universal ask court to force Suno investor Lightspeed to testify about the ‘legal risk of training data’

The labels made their case in a filing in Boston federal court last Tuesday (October 13), opposing Lightspeed's motion to quash their subpoena. Source

RSS Oct 19, 2026 10:36am · Music Business WorldWide

Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour has grossed $534M to date… as her 13-show Madrid residency closes with more than 700,000 fans

Shakira's team said demand for tourism and accommodation generated by the residency outstripped that of events including Pope Leo XIV's visit to the city and Formula 1. Source

RSS Oct 19, 2026 10:35am · Music Business WorldWide

DOJ sues ticket broker REPS, alleging it made $120.8M profit reselling tickets to Beyoncé concerts and other shows after bypassing limits

According to the complaint, REPS bought more than eight tickets to each of at least 83,000 events between January 2022 and October 2025. Source

RSS Oct 19, 2026 10:35am · Music Business WorldWide

Mike Sistad and Evyn Mustoe Johnston exit ASCAP Nashville after a combined 39 years at the PRO (report)

Sistad had worked at ASCAP since 2001, while Johnston joined the Nashville team in 2012. Source

RSS Oct 19, 2026 10:34am · Music Business WorldWide

Maree Hamblion promoted to EVP, A&R and Creative, Australia and New Zealand, at Universal Music Publishing

Hamblion, who is based in Sydney, will lead UMPG's creative and talent development strategy in both markets. Source

RSS Oct 19, 2026 10:32am · Music Business WorldWide

UK politicians press CMA to investigate Live Nation’s market power before the end of 2026

The House of Commons' Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee renewed the call on Sunday (October 18), citing what it described as Live Nation's "dominance" across promotion, venues, festivals, and ticketing Source

RSS Oct 19, 2026 10:26am · Music Business WorldWide

Dua Lipa urges judge to reject Samsung’s bid to throw out her $15M TV box lawsuit, accusing company of ‘theft’

Dua Lipa is seeking at least $15 million in damages, plus punitive damages, legal fees, and a permanent court order barring Samsung from using her image. Source

RSS Oct 19, 2026 10:26am · Music Business WorldWide

Drake and UMG sued by songwriter who claims ‘Janice STFU’ chorus is ‘literally identical’ to his demo

Aviel Calev Hirschfield alleges that the song's chorus is "literally identical" to one he completed in January 2026 and sent to producers who work with Drake. Source

RSS Oct 19, 2026 10:21am · Music Business WorldWide

90,000 synthetic tracks a day: Why Deezer is handing users the ultimate AI ‘kill switch’

Fully AI-generated tracks now make up more than half of Deezer’s new deliveries on peak days, yet just 1% to 3% of its streams. Source

RSS Oct 19, 2026 10:20am · Music Business WorldWide

Musixmatch acquires Songdex owner Music Reports, as it looks to become a ‘full-stack rights and royalties platform’

The deal marks the first acquisition in Bologna-based Musixmatch's 16-year history. Source

RSS Oct 16, 2026 2:01pm · Musically

Independent artist case study with Anja Kotar

Anja Kotar is a Slovenian-born singer, songwriter and producer based in California. She trained as a classical pianist and has been releasing music independently since 2017 – these days through Venice Music. We chatted to Anja for our Artist Ally Substack to explore how she navigates her releases, offering a few creative workflows and marketing ideas to help inspire your own artists. Here are some of the highlights: The post is from Music Ally.

RSS Oct 16, 2026 1:58pm · Musically

What Google’s Frightgeist can tell artist teams about Halloween

Google has published Frightgeist, its annual round-up of what people are searching for ahead of Halloween. It’s pitched at retailers deciding what to stock, but it’s just as handy for anyone planning spooky season content around an artist. The post is from Music Ally.

RSS Oct 16, 2026 1:53pm · Musically

Facebook joins trend for user algorithm control

After testing the water on Instagram, Meta is bringing its ‘Your Algorithm’ tool to Facebook, which means users can now tell the app in their own words what they’d like to see more (or less) of in Feed and Reels. The feature started life on Instagram Reels last December and spread to Feed and Explore in June, so Facebook’s turn was always a question of when rather than if. The post is from Music Ally.

RSS Oct 16, 2026 1:51pm · Musically

Tinashe appears in popular micro-drama as part of her Popstar album campaign

Tinashe is the latest artist to appear in Brooklyn Coffee Shop, Pooja Tripathi’s hit Instagram micro-drama. In it, a pair of deeply unimpressed baristas, Thyme and Cale, serve up attitude to a rotating cast of customers. The post is from Music Ally.

RSS Oct 16, 2026 12:30pm · Musically

Podcasting is ‘a two-horse race – with YouTube out in front’

We’re used to reporting on Midia Research’s music predictions, but it’s also using its crystal ball to squint at the podcasting market. The post is from Music Ally.