Music News

Live events platform Fever, which announced a $100 million raise yesterday, has officially acquired Dice. Photo Credit: Fever Moments after scoring a $100 million raise, live events platform Fever has set its sights on the ticketing world with the acquisition of Dice. New York City-headquartered Fever, which has secured at least $440 million from investors since 2022, unveiled the play today. As the purchaser sees things, the businesses’ “combined scale and capabilities” will power “a consumer

Wannasee Limited has shut down and canceled a number of its music festivals. Photo Credit: Adrià Sánchez Roqué The UK’s Wannasee Limited has confirmed that it “will not be able to continue” operating, and the development has resulted in nearly a dozen festival cancellations. Wannasee announced the unfortunate news on its website and in a media statement, after pulling the plug on the namesake Wannasee Festivals last week. One of those cancellations was made official at the last minute; Wannas

Photo Credit: SiriusXM SiriusXM announces the launch of Morgan Wallen Radio to bring fans closer to the country superstar ahead of his latest album, I’m the Problem. The limited-run channel, which debuts today, is available to SiriusXM subscribers in their cars on Channel 57, and on the SiriusXM app through May 31. Curated by Wallen himself, the channel features his biggest hits, deep cuts, and all 37 tracks from his new album. In addition to his own music, Wallen hand-picked songs from music

Photo Credit: Big Loud Morgan Wallen’s latest album I’m the Problem has set new records on Spotify—just two years after the country singer was shadow banned from editorial playlists. The 2021 racial slur incident led to Spotify and several country music awards bowing out of platforming the singer. The industry fallout was pretty universal, with radio stations stopping spins of his tracks, his label put him on ice, and Spotify refused to feature his songs on their country editorial playlists. N

Photo Credit: Morgan Wallen and Blodin Ukella Blodin Ukella and Morgan Wallen’s Ryl Company receives $15 million in Series B funding, marking $30 million in growth equity in total. Created in 2022, Morgan Wallen and Blodin Ukella’s Ryl Company held a Series A funding round in 2024, netting $7.5 million. The new funds will help fast track the tea company’s expansion, marketing campaigns, and product creation. The funding will also get Ryl Tea into over 40,000 stores by the end of the year, inc

Photo Credit: Jessi Vaughn Stevenson (WCM), Jared Mullins, Morgan Wallen, and Phil May (WCM) by David Lehr Warner Chappell Music Nashville and Morgan Wallen’s publishing company, Wilder Music, have signed a global publishing deal with Jared Mullins. Known for his dynamic songwriting, singer-songwriter Jared Mullins has co-written several No. 1 hits, including “Thank God” by Kane Brown featuring Katelyn Brown, and Jake Owen’s “Homemade.” Both tracks topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart, w

Photo Credit: Flaco2xs / reddit Apple’s removal of the popular music streaming app Musi from the App Store has sparked a high-profile legal battle. Musi’s creators allege the tech giant engaged in collusion and ‘backroom dealings’ with major labels to force the app offline. Apple has dismissed these claims as ‘unfounded conspiracy theories.’ Musi garnered over 66 million downloads on the App Store before it was removed, serving millions of users across the globe. The app acted as a simple wrap

Adaptive Music’s Tony Alexander chats with soul artist MAJOR on indie marketing and branding at Music Biz in Atlanta last week (Photo: Music Biz) Music Biz switched cities and kept most of the music business crowd. Now, Atlanta is the chosen city for 2026 as well — leaving a potentially juicy opportunity for a Nashville industry event. Despite excessive hand-wringing over Music Biz’s switch to Atlanta from Nashville, the music business crowd showed up in relative droves last week. Attendance a

Photo Credit: Alexander Abero With the TICKET Act’s passage in the U.S. House, several music industry organizations have released full statements in support of the action. Now the law must pass through the Senate. Several music industry organizations released statements about the passage of the TICKET Act. Some of those statements praise the move, but also call attention to carve outs that may weaken the law as it is written. Here’s a peek at where many industry bodies stand on the passage. N

Photo Credit: Joel Katz, courtesy of the Katz family Powerful longtime music attorney Joel Katz, whose clients included James Brown, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, and the Recording Academy, has passed away. He was 80 years old. Joel Katz was the founding chairman of the entertainment and media practice at top law firm Greenberg Traurig, and was heavily involved in the Recording Academy and Country Music Association. He negotiated major deals for both. Katz represented artists like James Brown, Wil

Photo Credit: Library of Congress by Tomasz Zielonka Music organizations pen a letter about maintaining the Library of Congress and US Copyright Office under the control of the Legislative Branch. The Songwriters Guild of America, the Society of Composers & Lyricists, and Music Creators North America have banded together to pen a letter to members of Congress regarding the importance of maintaining the Library of Congress and the US Copyright Office under the jurisdiction of the Legislativ

Photo Credit: Izumi Two influential music industry groups, the Music Artists Coalition (MAC) and the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) have thrown their support behind New York legislative bills A.8659 and S.8221. These bills aim to overhaul the state’s live event ticketing system—giving artists more control over how their tickets are sold. Their advocacy reflects a growing frustration among artists, venues, and fans over exploitative ticketing practices and excessive fees in the

Napster buyer Infinite Reality has revealed the identity of the investor behind the over $3 billion round it announced in January 2025. Photo Credit: Ben Sweet Now claiming a north of $15 billion valuation, Napster buyer Infinite Reality has officially revealed the identity of the mysterious investor behind its $3 billion January raise. Despite its size, that raise didn’t make too big a splash in the music world, where Infinite Reality is best known for its Napster acquisition. But in January

Photo Credit: NBA on ESPN An as yet unreleased Lil Wayne track featuring Bono from the eagerly anticipated ‘Tha Carter VI’ makes its debut in a preview for the NBA Finals. Lil Wayne is preparing to drop his hotly anticipated new album, Tha Carter VI, due for release tomorrow (June 6). Fans have waited eagerly for the album, and now they’ve been treated to a taste, just ahead of release. An unreleased track from the album, which features U2 legend Bono, has appeared in an ad for Game One of the

Photo Credit: Live Nation (NBA Youngboy) NBA YoungBoy is making his return to the stage by announcing 13 new shows for his ‘Make America Slime Again’ 2025 tour. The tour is a sly reference to his recently granted presidential pardon from Donald Trump. Trump granted the pardon on May 28,2025 after NBA YoungBoy served almost two years in prison on federal gun charges. In a statement at the time, the rapper thanked the president for “giving me the opportunity to keep building—as a man, as a fathe

Photo Credit: OLENS Global / CC by 3.0 A Seoul court has hit K-Pop group NewJeans with an injunction, with fines for independent activity starting at $730,000 per infraction. The Seoul Central District Court ruled on Friday that K-pop girl group NewJeans must refrain from performing without Ador’s consent or approval until a decision is made in a lawsuit over the validity of its members’ exclusive contracts. Should the group violate the court’s order, each member will be required to pay 1 bil

Photo Credit: Brad Paisley for Walmart Soundcheck / Lunchbox LP / CC by 2.0 The NFL announces country superstar Brad Paisley as headliner of the Draft Concert Series on Saturday, April 26. As the grand finale to the Draft weekend in Green Bay, Brad Paisley will take the stage at the Draft Theater near Lambeau Field for a free concert following the conclusion of Round 7 of the Draft. The NFL Draft Concert Series is presented by Bud Light, and kicks off Saturday, April 26, closing out three days

Photo Credit: Nine Inch Nails by Allina S (chocolate_starfish__) / CC by 2.0 Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross announce the full lineup for Future Ruins, a new festival bringing together the biggest composers in film and TV. Future Ruins is set to take place at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center on November 8, featuring performances that include festival organizers and Nine Inch Nails duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The festival is described as a “first-of-its-kind music festiva

A live performance from Abby Anderson, one of the many artists publicly backing the No Fakes Act. It’s time for Congress to pass the No Fakes Act – at least according to 21 Savage, Billy Idol, Deadmau5, Joe Walsh, Lainey Wilson, and a number of others who are backing the bill ahead of a Senate hearing today. Just shy of 400 artists and actors signed a petition in support of the legislation, which, designed to tackle AI deepfakes, would establish bolstered voice and likeness protections. Origi

Photo Credit: James Cridland / CC by 2.0 NPR is suing President Trump over his executive order to stop all federal funding for the nonprofit public broadcaster. National Public Radio (NPR) is suing President Trump over his executive order to cease federal funding for nonprofit broadcasters, including NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C. According to NPR and three other public radio stations, Trump’s May 1 order vi

Photo Credit: United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) Today the NYC Council voted to pass Resolution 368, which calls for fair pay for artists in music streaming. The council also endorsed the passage of the Living Wage for Musicians Act introduced in the U.S. Congress in 2024. “I’m thrilled the New York City Council has passed my Resolution 368 today, in support of the Living Wage for Musicians Act. In the music capital of the world, artists deserve fair pay and dignity,” shared Council Me

Photo Credit: Radu Lin The New York City Council is set to vote tomorrow on Resolution 368, which expresses the city’s support for the federal Living Wage for Musicians Act. Resolution 368 is sponsored by a coalition of council members including Shahana K. Hanif, Chi A. Osse, Carlina Rivera, Julie Menin, Tiffany Cabán, Justin Brannan, Rita Joseph Louis, Gale Brewer, Kevin Riley, and Amanda Farias. The resolution calls on Congress to pass and for the President to sign the Living Wage for Musici

Photo Credit: Tim Myers For Congress Former OneRepublic bassist Tim Myers announces his run for the US House seat occupied by Rep. Ken Calvert in Riverside County’s 41st District. Tim Myers hopes to oust a long-standing Republican in the Los Angeles area as the Democratic party aims to regain control of the House under Donald Trump’s second presidential term. He announced on Thursday his intention to challenge Rep. Ken Calvert in the 41st District in Riverside County, which stretches from the

Photo Credit: Marvin Meyer Online video and podcast revenue surged in 2024 with the strongest gains since 2021. But for ad-supported streaming music, the future isn’t as bright. Ad revenue online showed strong revenue growth overall in 2024, increasing 14.9% year-over-year. The IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report found internet advertising revenue hit $258.6 billion in 2024, its highest since 2021. “The US digital ad industry showed remarkable strength in 2024. Despite the volatility

Photo Credit: Panagiotis Falcos MusicAnswers has spent two years conducting a survey of college student music creators to better understand their experience with song registration agencies—specifically the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC). The results are pretty grim, with a majority of college students being unaware of their purpose or what they do in the industry. A survey of 150 music creator college students from across the United States reveals that 93% of respondents have never seen