Warner Music Group and AI music generator Suno surprised the worldwide music trade this week with the announcement of a “landmark” deal, which additionally settled earlier litigation between the businesses.
In the meantime, Spotify is reportedly planning to lift its Premium costs within the US as quickly as Q1 2026, because the streaming large works to show sustained profitability.
Elsewhere, Common Music Group obtained a Assertion of Objections from the European Fee over its proposed $775 million acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings.
Additionally this week, the property of Johnny Money sued Coca-Cola over the alleged use of a sound-alike singer in a nationwide promoting marketing campaign.
Listed here are a number of the greatest headlines from the previous few days…
1. WARNER MUSIC GROUP STRIKES ‘LANDMARK’ DEAL WITH SUNO; SETTLES COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT AGAINST AI MUSIC GENERATOR
Warner Music Group and AI music generator Suno have struck what they name a “first-of-its-kind partnership”.
They declare the deal will “open new frontiers in music creation, interplay, and discovery, whereas each compensating and defending artists, songwriters, and the broader artistic neighborhood”.
The deal additionally settles earlier litigation between the businesses.
The deal, in line with a press launch, “brings collectively Suno’s best-in-class AI capabilities with WMG’s artist growth management and experience on the intersection of music and know-how”. (MBW)
2. SPOTIFY PLANS TO HIKE US SUBSCRIPTION PRICES IN Q1 2026 (REPORT)
Spotify plans to lift its Premium costs within the US as quickly as the primary quarter of 2026.
That’s in line with the Monetary Occasions, which reported on Monday (November 24), citing three individuals accustomed to the matter, that the transfer comes as Spotify works to show sustained profitability.
A US Spotify Premium subscription at the moment prices $11.99 per thirty days, up from $9.99 when the service launched within the nation 14 years in the past. The US, the world’s largest recorded music market, final noticed a worth rise from Spotify in July 2024… (MBW)
3. UMG RECEIVES STATEMENT OF OBJECTIONS FROM EU REGULATOR OVER $775M DOWNTOWN DEAL
The European Fee has formally despatched a Assertion of Objections to Common Music Group over its proposed $775 million acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings.
The Assertion of Objections (SO) issued on Monday (November 24) represents a proper escalation within the EC’s investigation into the transaction, which UMG’s Virgin Music Group introduced in December 2024.
The arrival of the SO confirms experiences from final week that the EC was getting ready to concern a ‘formal warning’ over the proposed deal.
The EC opened its in-depth Part II investigation into the proposed acquisition in July, following a 25-day preliminary Part I evaluate… (MBW)
4. JOHNNY CASH ESTATE HITS COCA-COLA WITH ELVIS ACT LAWSUIT OVER SOUND-ALIKE SINGER IN AD
The property of Johnny Money has sued Coca-Cola, accusing the beverage large of utilizing an impersonator who mimicked the late singer’s voice in a nationwide promoting marketing campaign with out permission.
The criticism, filed in US District Courtroom in Nashville, alleges Coca-Cola employed a tribute singer to file vocals for a school football-themed business that began airing in August 2025. The John R. Money Revocable Belief, which controls the singer’s publicity rights, is searching for damages and an injunction to cease Coca-Cola from “exploiting the infringing advert.”
The belief alleges within the lawsuit that Coca-Cola commissioned the Go the Distance business as a part of its Fan Work Is Thirsty Work marketing campaign for the NCAA soccer season… (MBW)
5. RESERVOIR LAUNCHES CATALOG-BUYING JOINT VENTURE WITH JAMAICA’S SKATTA BURRELL AND PUBLISHER ABOOD MUSIC
Reservoir Media has struck up a brand new three way partnership with Jamaican star Cordell “Skatta” Burrell and reggae and dancehall writer Abood Music. Collectively, they plan to each purchase catalogs and signal and develop Jamaican artists and songwriters, aimed toward “additional advancing the brand new technology of Jamaica’s music scene”.
Began by Jamdown Information founder Othman Mukhlis in 2001, Abood Music is a long-established writer of Jamaican and worldwide music.
With a catalog spanning “many years”, Abood Music has an intensive historical past of worldwide hits, with greater than 220 million albums offered and over 120 Jamaican purchasers… (MBW)
Accomplice message: MBW’s Weekly Spherical-up is supported by BMI, the international chief in performing rights administration, devoted to supporting songwriters, composers and publishers and championing the worth of music. Discover out extra about BMI right here. Music Enterprise Worldwide
