Here’s a recap of recent music industry hires and in-house promotions as of October 23rd, 2026. If you have a job shuffle to share, we’re all ears. Send us a note to news@digitalmusicnews.com. If you’d like to post a job on our Job Board, just send us a request to noah@digitalmus…

Live Nation’s amended court-mandated disclosure revealing Trump’s presence at key meetings with the DOJ raises even more questions, according to the Coalition for Ticket Fairness. Following Live Nation’s amended court-mandated disclosure this week, which revealed that President T…

Warner Records announces a new label joint venture, Crime & Punishment Records, with veteran producer and industry titan Tony Berg. Today, Warner Records has announced Crime & Punishment Records, a joint venture with veteran producer and industry titan Tony Berg. The first artist…

UMG becomes the first major to ink a music licensing agreement with adaptive gaming-focused music platform Tyger. Adaptive gaming-focused music platform Tyger and Universal Music Group (UMG) have announced the first major music licensing agreement to connect artists and songwrite…

Songwriters of North America announces the 2026 SONA Awards at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on October 29. Advocacy organization Songwriters of North America (SONA) has announced this year’s series of events designed to foster community and celebrate songwriters an…

Influencer and rapper Mercedes New, publicly known as Shawty Dred, has been indicted on 46 counts of mail fraud and 15 counts of aggravated identity theft for allegedly masterminding a $4.6 million SNAP fraud scheme. The DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division recently announce…

You can buy the airplay. You can’t buy the hit. Elon Musk has reportedly spent approximately $366 million on political efforts during the current election cycle, including $276 million since July, much of it directed toward helping Republicans retain control of Congress. Accordin…

We’ve heard plenty about Suno the defendant. But what about Suno the filing party? As it grapples with high-stakes infringement complaints from UMG, Sony Music, and a slew of others, the AI music platform is now demanding a trove of streaming-data documents, pertaining to several…

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) demands answers from StubHub CEO Eric Baker amid allegations of his hedge fund making millions in reselling tickets on the platform. California Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has demanded answers f…

Live Nation has amended its court disclosure about negotiations with the DOJ, confirming a brief appearance by President Trump at the March 5 meeting in which the two parties finalized the terms of their antitrust settlement. On Wednesday, October 21, Live Nation revised its acco…

AI audio company Sonilo announces an $11 million funding round led by B Capital with participation from Redpoint. The funds will help scale operations. Sonilo, a generative audio company that builds proprietary video-native music and sound models, has announced an $11 million fun…

A former Eminem employee has pleaded guilty to a copyright infringement charge related to the reproduction and sale of unreleased tracks by the artist. Joseph Strange, a 48-year-old man who was formerly employed by celebrated rapper Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers), has pleade…

Spotify has reported double-digit year-over-year (YoY) user growth – and subscriber-base expansions “across all regions” – for Q3 2026, when its revenue jumped 16% YoY. Meanwhile, the company’s stock (NYSE: SPOT) is up about 9% from yesterday’s close. The streaming platform discl…

The rights to Damon Dash’s life story have been auctioned off for just $550,000, with the money set to go to his creditors amid bankruptcy proceedings. Music mogul Damon Dash’s bankruptcy proceedings continue with the auctioning off of the rights to his life story, which sold for…

Another log on the litigation fire: Suno is now facing a nearly $200 million copyright infringement and DMCA complaint from Reservoir Media, which has also fired off a similar action against Anthropic. Richard S. Busch-repped Reservoir submitted both suits to the U.S. District Co…

John Mayer is launching his own record label in a partnership with Universal Music Group’s Mercury Records, bringing him back to the major label fold. John Mayer has announced the launch of his own record label, Sob Rock Records, in a partnership with Universal Music Group’s Merc…

The LEGO Group and Daft Punk ink a partnership that brings the iconic duo’s robot alter egos to the LEGO universe, building on the success of a fan project. Today, the LEGO Group and EDM legends Daft Punk announced a new partnership designed to connect generations of Daft Punk an…

DEAG acquires the remaining 25.1% stake in handwerker promotion from its founder, Fred Handwerker, becoming the sole shareholder of the company. Deutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG) is acquiring the remaining 25.1% stake in handwerker promotion e. gmbh from its Founder and Managing D…

Aaron Carter’s estate has reached a settlement with two pharmacies, including Walgreens, that supplied the singer with Xanax prior to his death. The estate of Aaron Carter has reached a settlement with Walgreens and Santa Monica Medical Plaza Pharmacy, both pharmacies that suppli…

Chaos AI, a space for music creators to collaborate, has announced a $1.4 million pre-seed fundraising round led by Bridford Group and Amuse. Chaos AI, an app providing a “unified space” for music creators to collaborate, has announced a £1 million ($1.4 million) pre-seed fundrai…

Shortly after announcing a Halloween-inspired event in California on October 30, Galaxy Corporation’s humanoid robot performance has been canceled. Galaxy Corporation has abruptly canceled its Halloween-inspired humanoid robot performance, originally set for October 30 in Saratog…

The Chad Hugo v. Pharrell Williams legal battle just got even uglier: Now, Team Hugo is aggressively pushing back against Williams’ dismissal motion and alleged effort to “turn The Neptunes’ success into the work of only one person.” Hugo just recently urged the court to reject W…

Reservoir Media has taken a stake in the recorded catalog and all-important name, image, and likeness rights of “Feliz Navidad” singer-songwriter José Feliciano. New York City-based Reservoir and Lares, Puerto Rico-born Feliciano disclosed their partnership agreement today. And i…

Live event sales API platform Tickitto teams up with Google to place its live-event inventory in the Events section of relevant Google search listings. Tickitto, the API platform powering live-event sales for travel and tech companies, has announced a partnership with Google to p…

Spotify and Audi launch a next-gen native in-car app built on Google’s Android Automotive operating system, available now in select Audi models. On Wednesday, Spotify and Audi announced the launch of a new native in-car app built using Google’s Android Automotive operating system…

Angine de Poitrine have announced an expansive global tour for 2027, including festival appearances and some of their biggest headline shows yet. Angine de Poitrine have announced a wide-ranging global tour schedule for 2027, including top-billed festival appearances and some of…

Sony’s new patent fills in empty seats at virtual concerts with computer-controlled spectators to give the illusion of a full audience. Sony Interactive Entertainment has filed a patent application for technology that fills empty seats with computer-controlled virtual spectators…

Less than one year after overhauling Warner Chappell’s sync team, Warner Music Group (WMG) has announced a wider sync-side reorganization designed to streamline operations across recorded music and publishing. The major formally disclosed its revamped sync-department structure th…

Prague-based startup ArtMaster raises $2.4 million in a seed round that will go into developing AI models to help people learn musical instruments. Prague-based startup ArtMaster has raised $2.4 million in a seed round that included investors like Warner Music Group Chief Robert…

South Korea-based Galaxy Corporation is combining entertainment IP, AI, and humanoid robots for an upcoming Halloween-inspired event in California. We’ve seen how successful virtual avatar-based performances can be with the massively popular ABBA Voyage in the UK, and other simil…

Hive secures a $27 million investment from Frontier Growth to scale its marketing platform built for live events. Hive, the event marketing platform built for the live events industry, has announced a $27 million Series B from Frontier Growth. The capital will accelerate Hive’s p…

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation has been the organizer behind the Super Bowl halftime show for years. Now, the scuttlebutt suggests that Jay-Z may choose himself to headline in 2027. Jay-Z has had a banger of a year, commemorating the 30th anniversary of his debut album and the 25th anniversa…

As its financial shortfall forces the suspension of performances and programs, the Phoenix Symphony’s board works toward building a long-term financial foundation. On Tuesday, the Phoenix Symphony announced that it will suspend operations following its scheduled performance on Su…

Sync licensing platform MAIA Universe secures partnerships with major rightsholders and the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society. MAIA Universe, the Stockholm- and London-based sync licensing platform already backed by industry titans, has announced its latest partnerships wit…

All SoundExchange can do is wait in its cases against Sonos and SiriusXM, as the latter lingers in appeals, halting proceedings in the former. After collection agency SoundExchange attempted to sue SiriusXM over unpaid royalties, the case was dismissed when the court determined t…

Why building a music career depends less on reach than on return. The music business has become very good at giving artists numbers. Monthly listeners. Followers. Views. Streams. Impressions. Subscribers. We watch them because they are visible, measurable and easy to compare. Whe…

Today in social media copyright complaints: A pair of infringement actions against Kroger and LG Electronics, which allegedly incorporated a protected track into TikTok videos without authorization. Georgia-based singer-songwriter Matt Hobbs, the creator of Puppy Songs, submitted…

New York-headquartered Too Lost Music Group has entered into a definitive agreement with Xelon Entertainment, the long-running independent distributor with operations across APAC and the United Kingdom. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, with both parties expecting the…

Spotify the human artistry advocate? A year and change after kicking off an AI audio crackdown, the DSP says it’s booted north of 50 million total “slop and spam tracks” from recommendations while also axing another 75 million uploads altogether. The platform pointed to these and…

Spotify’s latest move to ensure members of Family plans live in the same household employs scanning a QR code, or users can be locked out for a year. Spotify has always intended its Premium Family plans to be used by people living together, but subscribers have often tried splitt…

Believe and Spotify have just inked a licensing agreement for Spotify’s upcoming AI remix ‘tool,’ one that will allow fans to create remixes of songs from participating artists. Believe and Spotify have signed a licensing agreement for Spotify’s upcoming tool, allowing Believe an…

A federal judge has ordered Meta to disclose the names of the employees who made or authorized the decision to obtain IP via shadow libraries including Anna’s Archive and LibGen. Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson finalized that noteworthy order yesterday, when addressing several…

Mariah Carey emerges victorious in her five-year legal battle against her brother Morgan, who sued her for defamation over her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. Mariah Carey’s brother Morgan previously sued the superstar in 2021 over her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, al…

Round Group secures a $5.3 million investment from Foresight Group to further its marketing expansion across short-form user-generated content. Leading regional private equity and asset investment manager Foresight Group has announced a £4 million ($5.3 million) investment into R…

Amy Helm files a countersuit against Levon Helm Studios’ remaining shareholders, including musician Brian Parillo and Amy’s stepmother. The fight for control over Levon Helm Studios in upstate New York continues as the late singer’s daughter, Amy Helm, has filed a complaint again…

The global trade body ICMP warns that AI training may lead to the dilution of Australian copyright laws, effectively “legitimizing larceny.” The International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP) has cautioned the Australian government against giving in to efforts from tech c…

One marathon legal battle later, the Supreme Court has decided against reviewing the landmark precedent at the center of BMG v. Vetter, and organizations including the Songwriters Guild of America are touting the development as a major victory for songwriters. Said development hi…

Materia Music is turning 10, and the timing is hard to beat. A decade ago, original game soundtracks rarely made it past the game itself. Now the company behind Deltarune’s music has a #3 placement on Billboard’s Soundtracks chart. This article was created in collaboration with D…

With an eye on evolving into “a full-stack rights and royalties platform” – and ushering in “the next generation of agentic royalty management” – lyrics database Musixmatch has scooped up Music Reports, Inc. TPG’s Musixmatch reached out with word of the acquisition, its first sin…

The Supreme Court didn’t rewrite copyright law. It left standing a decision that could threaten decades of international publishing revenue — and the music industry’s biggest players aren’t happy. The marble columns. The dark wood benches. The nine imposing chairs behind the benc…

On top of aggressively pushing to learn DistroKid’s AI release volume, Universal Music and Sony Music are now demanding that Suno investor Lightspeed testify and provide a trove of documents concerning the platform’s training and more. That subpoena sub-dispute quietly boiled ove…

Stingray unveils two new radio streaming apps exclusively for drivers of select Ford and Lincoln vehicles in the US and Canada. Streaming media specialist Stingray is now launching its Ford Streaming Radio and Lincoln Streaming Radio apps, part of an XXXL-sized deal for the compa…

The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers officially launched the Raise the Bar campaign, targeting predatory venue practices for working musicians. The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) has launched the Raise the Bar campaign, an initiative first announced earlier thi…

Cordae is getting sued for $25 million over allegedly violating an exclusive recording agreement with his forthcoming Anderson .Paak collaboration project, Heavy is the Crown. Florida-based label MMMG Inc. has slapped rapper Cordae with a $25 million lawsuit for allegedly violati…

Drake is being sued for copyright infringement on his hit “Janice STFU” by a producer who says the rapper and his team “shamelessly refuse to acknowledge” his substantial contributions. Drake has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over his hit song “Janice STFU” by a…

Ed Sheeran quietly adds another little-known opener to his North American LOOP Tour, this time in TikTok star and singer-songwriter Zach Hood. Since embarking on the rest of his LOOP Tour solo, Ed Sheeran has been featuring lesser-known artists in the opening spot on the North Am…

In the music business, who you know matters, but what you do with those connections matters even more. Talent, hard work, and great music are essential, but they don’t automatically open doors. After decades in this industry, I’ve learned that careers often move forward because s…

Goldenvoice’s single-stage dance weekend at Empire Polo Club leaned on High Scream’s production, smooth operations, and an Apple Music livestream that carried it far beyond Indio. When Goldenvoice billed Head Trip as a one-time-only experience, it set a bar it had to clear. You c…

Here’s a recap of recent music industry hires and in-house promotions as of October 16th, 2026. If you have a job shuffle to share, we’re all ears. Send us a note to news@digitalmusicnews.com. If you’d like to post a job on our Job Board, just send us a request to noah@digitalmus…

Universal Music Group and Sony Music has filed another legal action to force DistroKid to disclose how many AI-generated songs it uploads to streaming platforms. The unexpected move is happening in a completely different jurisdiction than UMG’s Massachusetts-filed litigation agai…