Music News

Mumbai, where Hungama, now preparing to shut down its music streaming service, is headquartered. Photo Credit: Hardik Joshi So long, Hungama Music: The Indian streaming service is reportedly set to cease operating this coming Tuesday, April 15th. Music Ally identified the quick-approaching shutdown today, pointing to an official update that the Mumbai-headquartered company provided to users. “Starting 15th April, 2025, the Music Section will bid goodbye as we make way for exciting new experi

Photo Credit: Tingey Law Jay-Z’s battle with Jane Doe lawyer Tony Buzbee heats up as Buzbee files to dismiss the rapper’s lawsuit against him — and makes fresh allegations, too. Tony Buzbee, who represents over a hundred alleged Sean “Diddy” Combs victims, has filed a motion to dismiss Jay-Z’s defamation lawsuit against him. Among those Buzbee represents is a Jane Doe who accused Diddy and Jay-Z of raping her when she was a minor in 2000. Jay-Z has staunchly denied those allegations, which cu

Photo Credit: Spotify Spotify invests over a million dollars to help authors and publishers produce more audiobooks in other languages, starting with French and Dutch. Spotify has announced a plan to invest €1 million ($1.1 million) to boost audiobook production in languages other than English, starting with French and Dutch. Adoption of Spotify’s audiobook offerings has been relatively slow in the Netherlands and France, which is why Spotify wants to start with these languages. According to

Photo Credit: Creators Corp. Coachella has teamed up with UGC game studio Creators Corp. for a new Fortnite Creative game called Coachella Pillars. The multiplayer showdown launched today and transports players to the Coachella Canvas in a music-fueled competition. Suspended above the festival grounds, 2-12 players will stand atop Pillars of Sounds, attempting to knock each other off within spaces inspired by the festival’s environment—all set to a backdrop of the festival’s music. The map fea

BTS, whose Army diehards are coordinating to report AI deepfakes depicting Hybe artists. Photo Credit: HopeSmiling BTS agency Hybe’s deepfake crackdown is in full swing, and South Korean police have made multiple arrests in connection with alleged AI-powered crimes. We touched on that deepfake-takedown push yesterday, when Ador vowed to pursue legal action against those making “malicious” online comments about NewJeans. The overarching Hybe, we noted, has for years been spearheading anti-haras

Photo Credit: Nelly by Adam Bielawski / CC by 3.0 The last St. Lunatics member who was still suing Nelly for copyright infringement has dropped his lawsuit. But this battle may not be over yet. St. Lunatics member Ali Jones has dropped the lawsuit the group filed against former member Nelly last year. The filing claimed the group never received proper credit or royalties for Nelly’s 2000 album, Country Grammar. The rest of the group — Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, and City Spud — all dropped out of the

Photo Credit: Global Gaming League The Global Gaming League has raised $10 million in funding from celebrity investors including T-Pain and Flavor Flav. The league is not focused on eSports, but rather a league that brings together every kind of player. GGL was founded by Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum music producer and entrepreneur Clinton Sparks, in partnership with T-Pain and tech entrepreneur Jeff Hoffman (Priceline, UBid, Booking.com). The GGL is a multi-title gaming league with celebr

The Korean National Police Agency in Seoul. Photo Credit: Gohsuke Takama A step towards reconciliation? Despite its contractual dispute with NewJeans, Hybe’s Ador is bringing out the legal guns to protect the girl group from online harassment. Ador disclosed as much in a lengthy social media post, claiming at the outset that “malicious” comments targeting K-pop artists have seen a “significant escalation” as of late. Said comments include but aren’t limited to appearance-related criticism, “f

Photo Credit: Kate Nash by Man Alive! / CC by 2.0 Kate Nash calls out Spotify for paltry payments, but Spotify responds by saying they sent her check to Universal — so it’s out of their hands. In an all-too familiar situation, another artist has called out Spotify for piddly payments on a significant number of streams. This time, it’s Kate Nash, whose 2007 hit “Foundations” has over 100 million plays on Spotify. But Nash told BBC’s Woman’s Hour podcast that she’s hardly seen a dime. “‘Foundat

Photo Credit: Weezer by Hunter Kahn / CC by 4.0 Weezer is still playing Coachella this weekend despite bassist Scott Shriner’s wife Jillian pointing a gun at and getting shot by police this week. Police shot Weezer bassist Scott Shriner’s wife Jillian on Tuesday while in pursuit of three suspects who fled on foot during a hit and run. The suspects made their way to Shriner’s neighborhood, where 51-year-old Jillian Shriner confronted police outside her neighbor’s house, armed with a handgun. A

The Internet Archive and the major labels are discussing a possible settlement in their Great 78 Project copyright infringement battle. Photo Credit: Mick Haupt Multiple years and twists later, the major labels’ copyright infringement lawsuit against the Internet Archive looks to be trending towards a resolution. That’s according to the litigants themselves, which just recently requested a 30-day stay in the case. The presiding judge promptly approved the sought pause, and as a result, we sho

Photo Credit: Lady Gaga by Justin Higuchi / CC by 2.0 Coachella 2025 is right around the corner, and there’s still time to plan a trip. Here’s how to score last-minute tickets, parking, lodging, and more. Coachella’s Weekend 1 kicks off on Friday, and this year’s edition of the much-beloved festival features headliners Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, and Post Malone. Other performers include The Misfits, Missy Elliott, Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion, Japanese Breakfast, and many more set to play in

Kevin Liles, who’s taken a step towards officially seeking the dismissal of a sexual assault lawsuit filed against him by a Jane Doe plaintiff. Photo Credit: Maryland GovPics Universal Music Group (UMG) and 300 Entertainment co-founder Kevin Liles are taking steps to seek the dismissal of a Jane Doe accuser’s sexual assault lawsuit. The major label and the former Warner Music higher-up (who was an exec with UMG’s Def Jam as well as the overarching Island Def Jam in the 90s and early 2000s) ma

Photo Credit: Alejandro Luengo The Trump administration’s efforts for a TikTok deal may have gone down in flames thanks to the president’s tariffs. But Trump insists a deal is still on the table. President Trump still says a potential deal to spin off TikTok’s US assets is “still on the table,” just days after it was put on hold and the deadline extended yet again. But China’s displeasure with the recently imposed trade tariffs may have killed any chance for a deal. Trump remains undeterred on

Photo Credit: Soulja Boy | X/Twitter Rapper Soulja Boy (real name DeAndre Cortez Way) was slapped with a $4 million verdict in a civil sexual assault trial brought by his former assistant. The ‘Jane Doe’ alleges years of physical and sexual abuse during her employment from 2018 to 2020. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2021 with allegations of sexual battery, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jane Doe says the rapper hired her as a personal assistant for $500 weekly

Photo Credit: !K7 Create Music Group has announced the acquisition of indie electronic label !K7. The deal was already in motion before the death of !K7 Founder Horst Weidenmueller in February 2025 at age 60. A representative shared the following statement from Weidenmueller. “This transition is a deeply personal one for me, but I know that with Create Music Group, !K7 is in the right hands. Create Music Group shares our commitment to artists, labels, and creativity, and I am confident that th

Photo Credit: Google Google has announced it is adding its text-to-music model Lyria to Vertex AI. Vertex AI is now the only generative AI platform with models across all modalities—video, image, speech, and music. Vertex AI can now build a complete, production ready asset starting from just a text prompt, to an image, to a complete video featuring both music and speech. The model was also updated with Veo 2, an advanced video generation model to allow video to be refined and repurposed with p

Photo Credit: KTLA 5 News A three-car crash led Los Angeles police to chase down a suspect in his underwear before shooting a woman married to Weezer’s bassist in a wild twist. Jillian Shriner, 51, wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, was shot by police in a strange story that now sees her facing charges of attempted murder. The bizarre story was released by the LAPD and began on April 8 in the Eagle Rock neighborhood, in the eastbound lanes of the 134 Freeway. California Highway Patrol resp

Photo Credit: Nicholas Green Superfan apps like Weverse (HYBE) and the freshly-launched Berriz (Kakao Entertainment) have become critical tools for K-pop labels — helping transform fan engagement into scalable revenue streams while addressing core industry challenges along the way. Now, it looks like Warner Music’s superfan app is getting off its starting blocks. Traditional streaming economics often fail to capture the full financial potential of highly engaged ‘superfans’—those who drive mus

Photo Credit: Shift Instagram is prepping a new push to entice TikTok creators away from the platform as the site remains in limbo in the United States. While Trump offered a second extension on the TikTok ban, the increasing trade war between the US and China has left dim prospects of a deal materializing. Instagram is looking to appeal to creators who want a platform whose stability in the United States is not in question. They’ve added an iPad app and have worked on improving search functio

Photo Credit: Flou For all the attention paid to missing music metadata, copyright infringement, and royalty battles, the music industry often overlooks a potentially bigger issue: chaotic music contracting. Enter Flou, whose CEO, Alexiomar Rodriguez, is helming one of the more promising missions in the music industry: to fix the chaos that surrounds music agreements. Here’s a breakdown of his vision for ‘Music Contracts 2.0’ — including a detailed white paper. What’s wrong with music contract

Photo Credit: Karol G by Junta de Andalucia / CC by 2.0 A high court in Colombia rules that Karol G and J Balvin’s track “+57” violated the rights of children due to lyrics that ‘sexualized’ minors. A Colombian high court has ordered Karol G, J Balvin, and several other reggaeton artists who helped record the song last year, including Feid, DFZM, and Maluma, to refrain from publishing music that violates the rights of minors. The 14-page ruling determined that the song did, in fact, violate t

Photo Credit: Rubby Pérez / Instagram Merengue singer Rubby Pérez has died after sustaining injuries during the Jet Set Club roof collapse in the Dominican Republic. He was performing on stage at the time. The Jet Set Club was a converted cinema and hosted large dance events, though authorities have not yet identified what caused the structural failure. At least 124 people died in the collapse of the roof, with 150 others reportedly injured. The death toll is expected to rise as authorities an

Photo Credit: Edison Research A new study from Edison Research finds ad-supported streaming has more listeners than its paid, ad-free counterparts. For decades, music on the radio was the most accessible and free way to listen to music. But radio stations have traditionally been supported by ads, so listeners were well accustomed to hearing them between songs. The only way to get an “ad-free” experience was by purchasing an album on vinyl, tape, or CD. These days, thanks to streaming services

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. speaks during Grammys on the Hill in support of the expanded No Fakes Act. Photo Credit: The Recording Academy Federal lawmakers have reintroduced the No Fakes Act, which is drawing strong support from in and well beyond the music industry. Senators and representatives from both sides of the aisle reintroduced the legislation today. We’ve covered the years-old bill (which, looking to tackle AI deepfakes, would establish bolstered voice and likeness prote