Music News

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

Concord has officially acquired Broadway Licensing Global (BLG). Photo Credit: Erik Mclean Concord has officially acquired self-described “global leader in theatrical licensing and distribution” Broadway Licensing Global (BLG). The acquisition-minded Concord reached out with word of its latest purchase, the assets from which will become part of the seven-year-old Concord Theatricals unit. Most notably, this division will house BLG imprint Broadway Licensing, which licenses A Night with Janis

Photo Credit: Concord Originals + RKO Pictures Concord Originals acquires RKO, the film studio behind such classic films as ‘King Kong,’ ‘Citizen Kane,’ ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ and more. Concord Originals, the film and TV division of Concord, has announced the acquisition of  RKO Pictures, the film studio behind classics such as King Kong, Citizen Kane, The Best Years of Our Lives, It’s a Wonderful Life, Suspicion, and The Woman in the Window. RKO was acquired from Ted Hartley, who served as

Connoisseur Media has announced a ‘definitive agreement’ to acquire Alpha Media. Photo Credit: Connoisseur Looks like Connoisseur Media’s radio reach is about to get a lot bigger, as the company’s announced the acquisition of Alpha Media. Westport-headquartered Connoisseur unveiled its “definitive agreement” for Portland-based Alpha Media today. Subject to FCC approval but expected to wrap during 2025’s second half, the deal will bring 218 radio stations, operating in 47 markets, under the sa

Chili’s parent Brinker International has finalized agreements in principle to settle infringement complaints from the Beastie Boys and Universal Music. Photo Credit: Saiflee100 Copyright conflicts resolved: Chili’s parent Brinker International has officially moved to settle a pair of infringement actions centering on social media promo videos. Counsel for Brinker and each of the plaintiffs just recently informed the court (or more specifically courts) of the settlements in principle. Both act

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: Sam Smith, Normani – Dancing With A Stranger (Official Music Video) A copyright infringement lawsuit against Sam Smith and Normani over their hit “Dancing With a Stranger” has been revived by a federal appeals court. A federal appeals court has revived a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Sam Smith and Normani over their 2019 hit “Dancing With a Stranger,” alleging it copied aspects of a similarly named song from 2015. On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circu

Washington, D.C.’s James Madison Memorial Building, which houses the U.S. Copyright Office. Photo Credit: UpstateNYer The battle for Copyright Office control isn’t letting up: Shira Perlmutter is now seeking a high-speed summary judgement resolution, while the Trump administration is firing back against the sought “fast-track schedule.”   Those developments might come as a surprise in light of the court’s most recent determination. Upon denying Perlmutter’s restraining order ask, the presiding

Under a newly confirmed schedule, the lawsuit filed by former Copyright Office head Shira Perlmutter is expected to run into at least July 2025. Photo Credit: Maddi Bazzocco One scheduling sub-dispute later, the legal battle for Copyright Office control is seemingly set to proceed into at least July. That’s according to a new preliminary injunction scheduling order from the presiding judge, who signed off on most of the deadlines proposed by the involved parties. As many know, those parties –

Photo Credit: The Come Up Show / CC by 2.0 Cornell University has revoked R&B singer Kehlani’s Invitation to headline its annual Slope Day celebration. The decision was announced by President Michael Kotlikoff following a Jewish student petition that garnered over 5,200 signatures in four days. Kehlani was announced as the Slope Day performer on April 11, 2025, with the university’s Studen & Campus Life department confirming her selection as the first female headliner in 16 years for t

Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Photo Credit: Maxpower2727 TikTok could operate out of South Dakota if its U.S. sale closes – at least according to numerous reports coming from the Mount Rushmore State. Local outlets covered the interesting possibility on the heels of a related Facebook post from South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden. While it probably goes without saying, the outcome hinges on (among other things – more on this in a moment) TikTok actually selling its stateside operations. At prese

Photo Credit: Eva Rinaldi / CC by 2.0 Rapper Jayceon Terrell Taylor has been court-ordered to sell his Calabasas Mansion to satisfy a $7 million judgement. The years-long suit was brought by Priscilla Rainey, who says the rapper sexually assaulted her on the set of his VH1 reality TV series, ‘She’s Got Game.’ The Game denied the allegations made against him, but failed to appear in court in 2016 when the case went to trial. He also failed to attend any related hearings—leading to a default jud

Photo Credit: Kadyn Pierce Create Music Group has acquired Canadian independent label Monstercat—tacking on yet another indie label to its portfolio. The move closely follows the acquisition of !K7 and Deadmau5’s catalog. Monstercat has staff based in Vancouver, Toronto, and Los Angeles and has a reputation as an artist-first brand. Since launching, the brand expanded to encompass three labels including Uncaged, Instinct, and Silk. Artists who have released with Monstercat in the past include

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: Epic Games SAG-AFTRA has filed an unfair labor practice charge against Epic Games, alleging that use of AI to voice Darth Vader infringes on the union’s rights. SAG-AFTRA has released a statement about Fortnite’s use of an AI-powered James Earl Jones Darth Vader voice, claiming the game’s production company, Epic Games’ Llama Productions, infringed on the union’s right to negotiate major changes to its collective bargaining agreement. The union also filed an unfair labor practice

Photo Credit: Daryl Hall by Becky (transistr_sistr) / CC by 2.0 Daryl Hall airs his grievances with the term when discussing the genre during his appearance on the Broken Record podcast last week. When it comes to the term “yacht rock” to describe his music, Daryl Hall can’t go for that. The singer pulled no punches during his appearance on the Broken Record podcast last Thursday with host Justin Richmond. Richmond brought up the Doobie Brothers being retroactively dubbed “yacht rock” for one

Photo Credit: Otherbrick Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the operator of a website he claims is selling counterfeit merchandise. A company belonging to Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, David Gilmour Music Ltd., is filing suit against the owner of Otherbrick.com, alleging trademark infringement and counterfeiting. The lawsuit, filed in Illinois on Monday, April 21, states it was created to “combat online counterfeiters who trade upon [Gilmour’s] reputat

Photo Credit: Web Summit / CC by 2.0 Billy McFarland is looking for a buyer for the Fyre Festival name after cancelling his second attempt at hosting a destination festival. He recently licensed the ‘Fyre’ name (in perpetuity) to a media company that will run free, ad-supported music television channels later this year. McFarland officially announced the cancellation of Fyre Festival 2 after indefinitely postponing the festival. It was supposed to be hosted in Playa del Carmen from May 30 to J

An interior shot of Deezer’s Paris headquarters. Photo Credit: Deezer Deezer has reported a modest revenue improvement – and a subscriber dip – for 2025’s opening quarter. Nevertheless, execs are still banking on “reaching profitability this year.” The publicly traded streaming company (DEEZR on the Euronext Paris) today published its Q1 2025 financials as well as its close to 300-page 2024 annual report. Keeping the focus on the former, Deezer disclosed Q1 2025 revenue of €134 million (curren

Photo Credit: Deezer Deezer says over 20,000 fully AI-generated tracks are uploaded to its platform daily, or around 18% of all uploaded content. Global streaming platform Deezer has reported that over 20,000 entirely AI-generated tracks — or around 18% of all tracks — are uploaded to its platform daily. That’s an increase from the previously reported 10% in January, when Deezer launched its cutting-edge AI music detection tool. The company’s AI music detection tool sets an industry standard —

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: Tingey Law Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs plan to claim there was mutual violence between Combs and ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who is expected to testify as a star witness for the prosecution. Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo told US District Judge Arun Subramanian during a hearing that he plans to show there was mutual violence between Sean “Diddy” Combs and Casandra “Cassie” Ventura. Ventura is expected to testify against Combs as a star witness for the prosecution. Judge S

Photo Credit: HBO / Max Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers have subpoenaed Warner Bros. seeking raw, unedited footage from the HBO docuseries, ‘The Fall of Diddy.’ His lawyers sent the subpoena back in March to Warner Bros. asking for “all recordings, including raw and unedited footage” from the interviews with two accusers who appeared in the series. The docuseries aired on HBO/Max in January. The subpoena also contains a demand for any notes or journals the accusers gave the documentary’s producers

Photo Credit: U.S. Attorneys SDNY Cassie Ventura, the R&B singer and former partner of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, delivered testimony on May 14 in the rap mogul’s ongoing trial. In a dramatic moment that closed her second day on the witness stand, Ventura confirmed for the first time that Diddy and his companies paid her $20 million to settle the civil lawsuit she filed in November 2023. The $20 million settlement is a figure that was previously undisclosed to the public and was revealed during

Photo Credit: Wesley Tingey Sean “Diddy” Combs has rejected the government’s offer to plead guilty to reduce his potential prison sentence as his sex trafficking trial kicks off. Combs appeared in court on Thursday, formally rejecting the US government’s plea offer that would reduce his potential prison sentence if he would plead guilty. When asked by Judge Arun Subramanian if he rejected the prosecution’s plea deal, Combs answered, “Yes, I do, your honor. Thank you.” As the disgraced musicia