Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we be sure that you caught the 5 largest tales to hit our headlines over the previous seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their revenue and scale back their touring prices.
This week, rumors a couple of potential sale of audio tech firm Sonos made a comeback. Bloomberg Information speculated that Amazon or Spotify are the likeliest suitors for the agency if its board decides to promote, following a fallout over a problem-plagued software program rollout.
In copyright lawsuit information, we realized that Mike Caren‘s APG is suing Create Music Group, alleging that Create claimed the copyrights on YouTube movies of APG songs, and entered into “bogus contracts” with APG-signed artists.
We additionally realized that AI music generator Suno, after being sued by the majors final yr, is now dealing with one other lawsuit, this one from German assortment society GEMA, accusing it of coaching its AI fashions on copyrighted works with out permission.
In the meantime, HYBE‘s superfan platform Weverse launched a brand new report, exhibiting it had handed the 150 million downloads mark whereas attracting top-tier expertise like Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion.
Lastly, a Netflix value hike highlighted the widening hole between the video streaming large’s pricing and that of Spotify’s. With Netflix’s new pricing within the US, a Netflix Customary subscription now prices $72 extra per yr than a person Premium Spotify account.
1) SONOS TAKEOVER SPECULATION GROWS, WITH SPOTIFY OR AMAZON TIPPED AS POTENTIAL SUITORS (REPORT)
May an acquisition bid quickly be made for audio know-how firm Sonos?
The fallout from its app rollout in 2024 and the corporate’s current management shakeup, which noticed CEO Patrick Spence and Chief Product Officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin depart final week, have intensified hypothesis about potential consumers if the corporate’s board decides to promote.
The corporate’s current struggles have pushed its market worth right down to $1.7 billion from over $5 billion throughout its pandemic peak.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman factors to Spotify and Amazon as probably the most possible suitors, every providing distinct benefits for a possible acquisition…
AI music generator Suno continues to be one of the vital controversial entities within the music enterprise right now.
In June, the $500 million firm was sued by the most important report corporations, together with fellow AI agency Udio, for allegedly coaching their techniques utilizing the majors’ recordings with out permission – an accusation they beautiful a lot admitted to in courtroom filings in August.
Now Suno can also be being sued for copyright infringement by German assortment society and licensing physique GEMA.
GEMA represents the copyrights of round 95,000 members in Germany (composers, lyricists, music publishers) in addition to over 2 million rightsholders worldwide…
Mike Caren’s indie music firm APG has sued Create Music Group, claiming that Create engaged in “brazen thievery” of APG’s songs and recordings.
In a criticism filed with the US District Courtroom for the Central District of California on Tuesday (January 21), writer Artist Publishing Group, label Artist Accomplice Group, and distributor Launch International LLC alleged that Create Music Group claimed the copyrights on YouTube movies of works owned or licensed by APG.
The criticism additionally alleges that Create has “made a weak and unavailing try to justify their copyright infringement of [APG’s] recordings and compositions by getting into into bogus ‘contracts’ with sure artists who created these recordings and compositions” – figuring out they had been already signed to APG…
HYBE’s superfan platform, Weverse, hit the milestone of 150 million cumulative world downloads in 2024.
That’s based on Weverse’s 2024 International Fandom Pattern Report, the place the corporate revealed that the variety of artist communities on the platform grew 30% YoY to 162 in 2024.
The report additionally reveals that the platform’s consumer base grew constantly throughout all continents, with a median progress price of 19% final yr.
Sixteen separate world artist groups joined Weverse in the course of the yr, with high-profile worldwide stars like Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion, and Conan Grey driving double-digit consumer progress throughout North America, Europe, and Asia…
Netflix has raised its subscription costs within the US for the primary time in almost a year-and-a-half, additional widening the value hole between the video streaming large and music streaming chief Spotify.
Below its newest US pricing, Netflix is growing the price of its ad-free Customary plan, which permits for 2 simultaneous HD streams, by $2.50 per 30 days, to $17.99 from $15.49.
The Premium tier, in the meantime, now prices $24.99, up $2 from $22.99.
Consequently, subscribing to Netflix’s Customary tier will now value you roughly $72 extra per yr than subscribing to Spotify’s particular person Premium (at $11.99 per 30 days)…
MBW’s Weekly Spherical-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their revenue and scale back their touring prices.Music Enterprise Worldwide
