Music News

Photo Credit: World Red Eye DJ Alesso headlined the grand opening of downtown Miami’s Worldcenter, a $6 billion retail, dining, and entertainment hub. Miami’s downtown lit up as global superstar DJ Alesso headlined a massive open-air block party celebrating the grand opening of Miami Worldcenter, the city’s new 27-acre, $6 billion retail, dining, and entertainment hub. Thousands turned out for the high-energy show, which transformed Miami Worldcenter’s streets into a full-sensory experience wi

A live performance from Fatherson, one of the acts signed to Easy Life Records. Along with several other Easy Life entities, the label has been majority-acquired by All Things Considered. Photo Credit: Paul Hudson All Things Considered (ATC) has acquired a majority interest in Jamie Osman’s Easy Life Entertainment management company and label. London-headquartered All Things Considered revealed the purchase in a brief release this morning. Per the buyer, which has closed a number of acquisiti

Photo Credit: All-American Rejects TikTok The All-American Rejects are making headlines with a series of surprise pop-up concerts across the United States. Dubbed the ‘house party’ tour, the group is building anticipation for their upcoming comeback tour and their first full-length album in over a decade. The band kicked off their spontaneous tour on April 30 at the University of Southern California, following the release of their new single “Sandbox.” Since then, they’ve hit the road and cris

Michael Smith, the individual accused of masterminding a $10 million+ streaming fraud scheme, has tapped a high-powered Diddy law firm for representation. Photo Credit: Kier in Sight Archives Still plodding through discovery, the federal fraud case against Michael Smith is now set for an early August status conference. Meanwhile, the alleged royalties scammer has tapped newly minted Diddy law firm Harris Trzaskoma LLP for representation. Technically, two of that firm’s attorneys, Justine Harri

Photo Credit: why kei A coalition of automakers and tech companies sends a letter to Congress urging them to pair the AM radio mandate with royalties for musicians. A broad array of leading automakers and technology companies have sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, asking them to advance the American Music Fairness Act (AMFA). The legislation will require big radio companies that made $13.6 billion in advertising revenue last year to p

Photo Credit: CBS | AMAs The American Music Awards (AMAs) drew the largest audience since 2019—thanks to the move to CBS. The 2025 AMAs were hosted by Jennifer Lopez, with the two-hour prime-time event attracting 4.86 million viewers. That’s a 38% increase over its last live broadcast in 2022, which aired on ABC. This year’s awards show reclaimed the top spot as the #1 broadcast of the night—demonstrating the growing impact of multi-platform distribution. These ratings include both traditional

Photo Credit: Amazon Music Amazon Music announces the beta of its new AI-powered search, designed to help fans learn more about their music. Select Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers in the US can take a sneak peek at Amazon’s new AI-powered search. The idea is to enhance music discovery and help fans learn more about their favorite artists. To use this beta feature, users can tap the “Find” button at the bottom of the screen and enter an artist’s name in the search bar. By selecting the “Exp

Photo Credit: David Marek / Amazon Music Amazon Music has announced pop-country singer Dasha as the latest Breakthrough Artist to receive support from the platform. She’ll receive bespoke video and audio content across the platform’s playlists and programming. Dasha recently released an Amazon Music Original cover of Gretchen Wilson’s “Here for the Party” in advance of her Mane Stage debut at Stagecoach. The track captures the bold, celebratory spirit of Wilson’s original version while adding

Photo Credit: Goldenvoice Amazon Music is once again the exclusive livestream partner for Goldenvoice’s Stagecoach festival. This year’s sold-out festival is taking place April 25-27 in Indio, California. Fans from around the world will be able to enjoy sets from country music’s biggest artists from the comfort of their own homes, including riveting sets from artists like Zach Bryan, Jelly Roll, Luke Combs, Lana Del Rey, Carly Pearce, Brothers Osborne, Nelly, Creed, Dasha, Sturgill Simpson, Ba

Photo Credit: Rendering of Honda Center Encore Anaheim’s Honda Center announces a $1 billion privately funded renovation to reimagine the arena, spearheaded by longtime stewards, the Samueli Family. OC Sports & Entertainment (OCSE) made the announcement of the multi-year investment led by the owners of the Anaheim Ducks. The comprehensive renovations will reimagine nearly every aspect of the venue. The project launched last fall and plans to run through the end of 2027. Importantly, Honda

TikTok USA, circa 2025 (Photo: TCY) Months after ‘the ban,’ there’s no telling what happens to TikTok next in the US. After inching oh-so-close to a deal to secure TikTok in the US, China apparently pressed hard pause on the arrangement following Trump’s tariff slap. So what does that mean for the music industry? If you love uncertainty, this one’s for you. Trump is now extending the ban by another 75 days, though a hard clock is now ticking on a deal that was apparently 99% done. Congression

Photo Credit: Vogue / YouTube If Taylor Swift can name drop her newest album at the Grammys, André 3000 is right behind her with an album drop at the Met Gala. The rapper made an appearance at the Met Gala sporting a (modified) baby grand piano on his back. His latest solo album 7 piano sketches dropped as he walked up the stairs. The origin of the album started more than a decade ago, when André was living in Texas with his son. He says the house was pretty empty, including just a few beds, a

Photo Credit: Amos Bocelli, Veronica Berti (Manager), Kirk Sommer (WME), Andrea Bocelli, Jay Marciano (CEO, AEG), Francesco Pasquero (Manager), Eugenio D’Andrea (Legal Consultant), David Levy (WME) / AEG Presents Andrea Bocelli signs a major five-year touring agreement with AEG Presents in the next chapter of his storied career. The exclusive partnership will give AEG Presents full responsibility for managing and producing the Italian tenor’s ticketed live events worldwide beginning January 1,

Photo Credit: Google Android Auto is getting a slew of new features, including a Spotify experience with a brand new app that includes support for its “Jam” feature. Google has announced a series of car-related updates for Google I/O, including an overhaul to the Spotify experience for Android Auto. The updated app will rely on Google’s “Car App Library” for Android Auto and Android Automotive OS, with additional flexibility in how apps can be developed for this platforms. For Spotify, this b

An Eras Tour performance from Taylor Swift, whose original catalog might be changing hands once again. Photo Credit: Paolo V Shamrock Capital is actively looking to offload Taylor Swift’s original masters – at least according to one new report, which is attaching an astonishing price tag to the possible deal. Page Six’s Jeanette Settembre provided an overview of the rumored catalog divestment, though at the time of this writing, Shamrock didn’t seem to have commented publicly on the matter. N

Anthropic counsel has apologized for a citation ‘hallucination’ in an expert testimony submitted as part of a copyright battle with music publishers. Photo Credit: Igor Omilaev Time to lay off the use of AI in legal documents? Amid a high-stakes copyright battle with music publishers, Anthropic attorneys have apologized for an apparent citation “hallucination,” pinning the blame mainly on Claude. We broke down the citation crisis after counsel for the music publisher plaintiffs formally voice

Photo Credit: DiFronzo / CC by 2.0 In a significant ruling for the music industry and artists’ social media practices, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has definitively dismissed a copyright infringement case levied against Lil Nas X over Instagram photos. The lawsuit was brought forth by photographer Rodney Woodland, who alleged that Lil Nas X had posed similarly to several of his copyrighted images on Instagram. The case initially survived a motion to dismiss in district court, raising con

Still fending off App Store regulatory scrutiny, Apple has officially appealed last month’s ruling in its courtroom confrontation with Epic Games. Photo Credit: Laurenz Heymann As expected, Apple has moved to appeal last month’s ruling in its Epic Games legal battle over App Store terms. Meanwhile, the Open App Markets Act is poised to be reintroduced in Congress. Apple attorneys confirmed the appeal in a brief notice, after CEO Tim Cook underscored that the maneuver was forthcoming. The conci

Photo Credit: James Yarema Apple has requested the US District Court in Northern California pause enforcement of the new App Store rules after its recent loss to Epic Games. Apple has asked for a stay on the court’s injunction, in an emergency motion filed on Wednesday. That injunction requires the company to allow developers to link to alternative payments methods in their apps. The court’s decision and Apple’s subsequent request are the latest in an ongoing legal battle between the tech gian

Photo Credit: Laurenz Heymann Apple is facing renewed legal scrutiny after the law firm Hagens Berman filed a new class-action lawsuit over Apple’s violations of a federal injunction to reform the App Store. The new class action follows a recent ruling in which a judge found Apple in contempt of a 2021 anti-trust order that stems from the Epic Games case. The 2021 injunction mandated that Apple must allow app developers to direct users to external websites for in-app purchases and subscription

Apple is keeping TikTok on the App Store as the forced-sale saga continues to unfold. Photo Credit: Solen Feyissa Despite the absence of a confirmed deal for TikTok’s U.S. operations, Apple is reportedly keeping the app on its App Store – at least for the time being. This latest development in the TikTok divestment saga follows strong indications of a sale agreement. Last week, just days ahead of the (already-extended) cutoff for ByteDance to find a buyer for TikTok U.S., VP Vance communicated

Photo Credit: rishi Apple Music has appointed industry veterans Ole Obermann and Rachel Newman as Co-Presidents to steer the streaming service. The dual leadership structure will report to Apple Vice President Oliver Shusser. The structure merges external innovation with internal institutional knowledge as Apple fights for market share against industry behemoth Spotify. Ole Obermann joins the organization from TikTok, where he served as the Global Head of Music Business Development from 2019 t

Photo Credit: Windows Apple Music now offers Dolby Atmos playback on Windows, upping its support of devices outside the ecosystem. The strategy makes sense to capitalize for Apple’s Services division—main competitor Spotify’s high-fidelity audio offering is still MIA. Dolby Atmos is a surround-sound audio format that allows music to be heard in an immersive, three-dimensional audio experience. The feature was added to Apple Music for Windows in a recent update—which will require a PC and headp

Photo Credit: Daniel Cañibano Apple Music has introduced a highly anticipated feature—a built-in music tool to make transferring from another digital service provider (DSP) like Spotify much easier. The tool will help users import their libraries and playlists from other music services directly into Apple Music. The only caveat is that the tool is currently in a testing phase and is only available to Apple Music subscribers in Australia and New Zealand. Switching music streaming services is no

Photo Credit: Joshua Hoehne Apple has one again blocked the return of Fortnite to the iOS App Store—also impacting the game’s availability in Europe. The game could be installed on iOS devices through the Epic Games Store on European iOS devices, but no longer. This move marks the latest escalation in an ongoing legal and regulatory battle between Apple and Epic Games, developer of Fortnite. Fortnite was originally banned from the App Store in 2020 after Epic Games included a direct payment sy