Music News

Photo Credit: Cumulus Media Radio group Cumulus Media is set to be delisted from the NASDAQ after repeatedly dropping below $1 and rapidly burning through cash. Prominent radio broadcasting group Cumulus Media is set to be delisted from the NASDAQ Global Market after a notification of noncompliance with the exchange’s listing rules. The company, which reports annual revenues of $827 million, operates with a significant debt burden of $797 million. According to data, it has rapidly been burning

Photo Credit: Crumbl Warner Music Group sues Crumbl Cookies for around $24 million, alleging copyright infringement on social media—including TikTok and Instagram. Warner Music Group (WMG) filed a complaint in a US District Court in Utah on Tuesday, April 22, alleging cookie chain Crumbl used at least 159 of WMG’s music in promotional videos posted to Instagram and TikTok. WMG says those works include recordings or compositions from artists and songwriters like Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Bruno Ma

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

A live performance from Mariah Carey, who, along with fellow defendants including Sony Music, is pushing to receive legal fees in an ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ copyright lawsuit. Photo Credit: Raph_PH All I want for Christmas is everything you own: A copyright infringement lawsuit over Mariah Carey’s perennial holiday hit is turning ugly amid a legal-fees sub-dispute. We first broke down that high-stakes sub-dispute closer to April’s beginning, after the presiding judge opted to toss t

Spotify stock once again topped $600 per share during today’s trading, and some analysts remain optimistic that the rebound will continue. Photo Credit: Gizmodo Spotify stock (NYSE: SPOT) rebounded past $600 per share during today’s trading. But with the company’s Q1 2025 earnings release just days away, will the momentum continue? That question is front of mind for investors and analysts, who, ahead of the first-quarter report’s April 29th release, are continuing to put out relatively bullis

Photo Credit: Amelia Troubridge Electronic trio Above & Beyond are returning to North America for a 13-date amphitheater tour in support of their latest studio album, Bigger Than All Of Us. Presented by Live Nation and spanning three months, the tour marks the group’s first full album tour in North America since 2018. It kicks off on August 15 in Vancouver and concludes on October 4 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. Other stops include major cities such as New York City, Chic

Photo Credit: Carlos Santana by Eddie Janssens / CC by 4.0 Carlos Santana postponed his San Antonio concert after a dehydration scare saw him hospitalized out of an abundance of caution. Carlos Santana was scheduled to perform at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio last night (April 22). But the event was cancelled after Santana suffered from dehydration and was taken to a local hospital for observation. “It is with profound disappointment that I have to inform you all that tonight’s show in

Photo Credit: Jay-Z by Alex Johnson / CC by 2.0 The woman who accused Jay-Z of sexually assaulting her in 2000 is asking a judge to dismiss the rapper’s countersuit against her. Identified only as Jane Doe, the woman alleged in court documents back in December that Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs raped her at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty when she was 13 years old. Although her attorneys voluntarily dismissed the case in February, Jay-Z filed a countersuit against Jane Doe

Photo Credit: Bennie Bates The MLC has announced it is accepting suggestions of Publisher candidates to join its Board of Directors, Dispute Resolution Committee, Operations Advisory Committee, and Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee. Under the Music Modernization Act (MMA), certain governance positions within the MLC are reserved for representatives of Publishers. The terms of several Publisher seats on the Board and the organization’s advisory committees are slated to end later this year

Diplo (real name Thomas Pentz), who’s inked a worldwide admin deal with Warner Chappell Music. Photo Credit: Maria Jose Govea Warner Chappell Music (WCM) has officially signed “visionary creative” Diplo to a global admin deal.   Warner Music’s publishing unit and 46-year-old Diplo formally announced that high-profile pact this morning. In the appropriate release, Warner Chappell took the opportunity to emphasize the Major Lazer member’s commercially prominent catalog, with a particular focus o

For some time now, it has been eagerly anticipated in this music blog that Ukrainian pop sensation Max Barskih would fulfill his promise of releasing an English-speaking album. Despite numerous challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, exciting developments are finally emerging. With the recent release of the captivating track “Stomach Butterflies” and the equally impressive new song “Someone New,” it’s clear that the long-awaited album project is back on t

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: HBO The latest episode of HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ has caused a 1,005% streaming spike for the Ashley Johnson & Chris Rondinella song “Through the Valley.” Hit shows integrating classic or lesser-known songs into pivotal scenes can often result in a sync explosion—with the song finding a new audience from the feature. With massive increases in streaming numbers and chart positions for the songs, many of these hits find new cultural relevance among an entirely new generation. H

The heated debate over the controversial Spotify stream minimum is showing few signs of resolving. Photo Credit: Shutter Speed Let the debate over Spotify’s 1,000-stream royalties threshold continue: A distribution exec is firing back against the service’s defense of the controversial minimum. As many know, that much-criticized model went into effect at the behest of the majors last year. Now, audio uploads must rack up 1,000 annual streams on Spotify in order to accrue recording royalties.

Photo Credit: Live Nation Lil Wayne announces his first-ever headlining show at Madison Square Garden on June 6. The performance coincides with the release of his latest album, Tha Carter VI. For the first time, Lil Wayne will headline New York’s Madison Square Garden in a special performance on Friday, June 6. The show celebrates and coincides with the release of the rapper’s highly anticipated new album, Tha Carter VI. Tha Carter VI is the follow-up to Wayne’s 2020 release, Funeral, and the

Etsy has inked a Reverb sale agreement with Creator Partners and Servco. Photo Credit: Oberon Copeland Almost six years after acquiring Reverb, Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) is selling the instruments marketplace to Fender investors Creator Partners and Servco Pacific. Reverb reached out with a formal announcement about its sale – and its return to private ownership – this morning. Meanwhile, Etsy confirmed the divestment in a regulatory disclosure, chalking up the move to a “focus on driving growth in

Photo Credit: Mike Mushok by Craig Noce / CC by 3.0 Staind guitarist Mike Mushok says he’s never received a royalty payment from Atlantic Records — but the band did receive “large advances.” Staind guitarist Mike Mushok sat down for an interview on The KiddChris Show, which airs on the WEBN station in Cincinnati. There, he weighed in on Chevelle frontman Pete Loeffler’s 2021 claim that the band hadn’t received any money from record sales despite selling six million albums for Epic Records. It

Photo Credit: YouTube Music Google is working to close the feature gap between YouTube Music and its most popular rivals—Spotify and Apple Music. Now you can directly share lyrics from the YouTube Music app. Here’s how. Lyric sharing is a feature that has long been available on Spotify and Apple Music, making it possible to share pertinent lyrics on social media and elsewhere. Not only does this help with music discovery among influencers’ fans, but it also raises awareness of the music servic

Photo Credit: Bluefest Australia’s Bluefest 2025 drew a record 109,000 attendees—the third-highest in its history. It’s also the largest attendance record for any Australian festival since the pandemic. Despite organizers’ stating ‘festivals are back’, the live music scene in Australia is still struggling. Bluefest’s success has been attributed to its loyal fan base and due to the fact that the festival was marketed as potentially the last Bluefest—driving ticket sales. A look at the data show

Hayashi International Promotions head Kaori Hayashi, whose company has sold to Live Nation. Photo Credit: Live Nation Live Nation’s aggressive international buildout has officially reached Japan, where the promoter has acquired Hayashi International Promotions (HIP). The Ticketmaster parent announced its newest buyout in a brief release. Founded some four decades back and currently led by the namesake Kaori Hayashi, Hayashi International has, of course, organized concert series for a variety

Photo Credit: Karol G by La Prensa Gráfica Noticias de El Salvador / CC by 3.0 Karol G launches the trailer for her Netflix documentary feature, “Karol G: Tomorrow Was Beautiful,” releasing on May 8 from director Cristina Constantini. After wrapping up her Mañana Será Bonito World Tour last summer, Colombian superstar Karol G has hardly slowed down. The trailer for her upcoming Netflix documentary feature launched today, alongside an official release date: May 8. A documentary from This Machi

Following an extraordinary 2024, where they dazzled audiences as the supporting act for Kylie Minogue at British Summer Time Hyde Park and furthermore clinching the prestigious Samsung Rising Star award at Glamour’s Women of the Year awards. The rising girl band Say Now will raise the excitement even further in 2025. They made significant strides as the opening act for Omar Rudberg‘s “Every Night Fantasy UK tour” in February 2025. Now, as they gear up for their highly anticipated headline perfor

Photo Credit: Lil Durk by Daniel X. O’Neil Lil Durk and his legal team are looking to get his murder-for-hire case tossed, claiming prosecutors have misled the jury about the facts of the case. Chicago rapper Lil Durk is accused of being the mastermind behind the 2022 attempted murder of Quando Rondo by putting a bounty on his head in revenge for the death of King Von. He has been behind bars since his arrest in October and has been denied bail, despite his attorneys proposing a bond package o

Photo Credit: Rajiv Perera Just says after Fyre Festival 2 was ‘postponed’ and all tickets refunded, the Fyre Festival name has been licensed to a media entrepreneur for a new streaming service. Fyre Music Streaming Ventures LLC was officially formed in the state of Ohio. The new company will be spearheaded by Shawn Rech, President & Co-Founder of Chris Hansen’s TruBlu Crime Network. Rech says he has spent years seeking the right partners and platform to bring a truly fan-curated music net

SoundExchange president and CEO Michael Huppe. Photo Credit: SoundExchange Ahead of related CRB Web VI hearings, SoundExchange and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) have unveiled a rates agreement covering 2026 through 2030.    SoundExchange and the radio rep just recently put out a joint release about the deal, which was actually finalized closer to April’s beginning. Meanwhile, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) set the overarching Web VI wheels in motion early last year. Unsurp