Interviews ‘My interest is purely about what’s right for the artist… who also happens to be my daughter.’ Dugi Lipa is the manager (and father) of Dua Lipa, one of the most successful global pop stars of recent years. His own story is pretty incredible in its own right...
Analysis Why Universal Music Group will be allowed to buy Downtown. MBW founder Tim Ingham assesses likelihood of Universal completing its proposed $775 million acquisition
News AI music invasion doubles on Deezer: 20,000 bot-created tracks now uploaded each DAY to streaming platform Figure has doubled in just two months
News Armin Zerza played a key role in Activision Blizzard’s $69bn sale to Microsoft. Now he’s joining Warner Music Group as CFO. Exec spent 10 years at Activision Blizzard as both CFO and Chief Commercial Officer
News Nick Holmstén launches Belong: Former Spotify exec’s new ‘challenger bank’ aims to reward music superfans "We're not just launching a company. We're sparking a paradigm shift," Holmsten stated in his announcement.
News YouTube launches new AI music tool… that makes instant copyright-free video soundtracks The update to YouTube's Creator Music marketplace enables video creators to produce AI-generated music via text prompts
Analysis On… OpenAI, Bain Capital, Daniel Ek, and reasons to be cheerful Tim Ingham's latest Review, exclusively sent to MBW+ subscribers
News Exclusive: Morrissey launches legal action against alleged online fraudster, as Web Sheriff investigation uncovers ‘decades-long defamation campaign’ MBW obtains letter from Morrissey's lawyers accusing alleged perpetrator of defamation and illegal conduct
Interviews BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld: ‘Our strategy is setting us up for growth.’ Boss of Bertelsmann's music company talks expansion, streaming prices, AI, and more
Analysis 5 million songs and $288m spent on catalogs: 8 Things We Learned from Universal Music Group’s 2024 Annual Report From the balance of catalog and frontline to granular financial details, MBW wades through a treasure trove of data
Analysis News BMG surpassed $1bn revenue in 2024 and spent $263m buying catalogs – as EBITDA surged to record $287m Revenue up 6.4% YoY, or 8.1% YoY on an organic basis, as catalog spending outstrips 2023
News Dua Lipa wins copyright lawsuit over hit song Levitating (with a little help from Ed Sheeran) Warner, Sony, and Universal were all co-defendants, as were Lipa's co-writers on the global smash
Analysis News UMG’s AI training injunction request shot down by judge in Anthropic lawsuit – but music publishers can now gather more evidence from platform Licensing deals between OpenAI and news publishers suggest damages could be measured if Universal wins, says judge
Analysis KATSEYE, concerts, and BTS’s comeback: What we learned from HYBE’s latest earnings call Revelations and predictions from Korean firm's all-important Q4 chat with fiscal analysts
Analysis The best argument why Spotify (and other music streaming platforms) need to increase their prices in 2025. Why the oft-ignored metric of ARPCH gives the music industry a fresh perspective – and fresh insights – on streaming's pricing model
