News and Trends

"We have informed the organizers of our concerns, and as it stands, Diageo will not sponsor the 2026 Wireless festival," said a company spokesperson. Source source https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/pepsi-and-diageo-withdraw-sponsorship-of-uks-wireless-festival-as-kanye-west-booking-sparks-backlash/

Gamma-owned Vydia caught in controversy over musician whose videos were claimed against Source source https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/a-folk-musician-had-her-voice-cloned-by-ai-and-her-recordings-claimed-by-a-copyright-troll-welcome-to-2026/

IMPALA, the European trade body representing over 6,000 independent music companies, has criticized Warner Music Group‘s agreement to acquire Revelator, calling the deal “bad news for artists, fans, and Europe’s diversity as [a] whole.” The statement, published on Thursday (April 2), came one day after WMG announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to … Continued Source source https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/impala-was-unhappy-about-umgs-purchase-of-downtown-now-it-says-wmgs-revelator-acquisition-is-bad-news-for-artists-fans-and-europes-diversity/

Two amicus briefs filed on Friday (April 3) in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit have backed UMG Recordings in its defense against Drake’s defamation appeal over Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us. Both briefs support the dismissal of Drake’s lawsuit and urge the appeals court to affirm the October 2025 ruling … Continued Source source https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/yale-law-school-scholars-back-umg-in-drakes-not-like-us-defamation-fight-arguing-rapper-consented-to-kendrick-lamars-lyrics/

The biggest headlines from the past few days... Source source https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/from-wmg-swooping-for-revelator-to-umgs-e500-million-share-buyback-program-its-mbws-weekly-round-up/

Universal Music Group and Believe have settled the copyright infringement lawsuit filed against the Paris-headquartered music company and its distribution platform TuneCore in late 2024. A Joint Stipulation of Dismissal With Prejudice was filed today (April 3) in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, confirming that all claims in the … Continued Source source https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/umg-and-believe-settle-lawsuit-that-alleged-industrial-scale-copyright-infringement-of-universals-music/