APRA AMCOS and PPCA Set Up “Easy” Public Performance Licensing System — Just Don’t Read the Fine Print on “Scalable” Fees

Doesn’t APRA AMCOS’ new ‘simple licensing system’ merely fix a problem the Australian music industry itself has created?  So, why the celebration? Australian music rights organizations APRA AMCOS and PPCA have unveiled a new single public performance l…

Major Labels Accuse Charter Communications of “Earning Millions” from Pirate Subscribers

Over the past year and a half, the music industry – mostly led by the notorious RIAA – has launched lawsuits against multiple ISPs in the U.S. Decades into this war, the RIAA is finally winning some battles. Thanks to the major label trade group, for e…

Following a Record $5.7 Million Fine In America, TikTok’s Faces a British Investigation Over Child Privacy Violations

TikTok hasn’t exactly had the best year. Near the end of 2018, the ByteDance-owned company beat YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram in total mobile downloads.  In the U.S. alone, the short-form video sharing app grew 25%. It seemed things would get better…

Thanks to Led Zeppelin, a Federal Judge Puts Ed Sheeran’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ Lawsuit on Hold — Possibly Until 2020

For years, singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran has faced multiple copyright infringement lawsuits. Three years ago, music publisher HaloSongs filed a $20 million lawsuit against Sheeran on behalf of songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard.  Both alle…

Apple Music Dramatically Expands ‘Up Next Live’ With Bad Bunny, Lewis Capaldi, and Khalid

Apple Music has unveiled the lineup for its upcoming Up Next Live tour. Scheduled for this summer, Up Next Live – a series of ‘intimate’ performances from Apple Music Up Next artists – will feature Bad Bunny, Daniel Caesar, Khalid, Ashley McBryde, King…

Social Community Music Startup Unitea Raises $2.3 Million in Funding

Unitea has confirmed a new fundraising round. The social music community app has raised $2.3 million in the startup’s latest investment round. Unitea raised $200,000 in its first investment round five years ago.  Then, the startup received $1.2 million…

LAPD Internal Affairs Opens New Investigation Into Nipsey Hussle’s Murder

Last month, a Los Angeles judge ordered the release of 515 pages of grand jury testimony surrounding Nipsey Hussle’s murder. Deputy District Attorney John McKinney revealed Eric Holder had shot and killed the rapper after he cautioned Holder about snit…

Defending Taylor Swift, Sky Ferreira Claims the Music Industry Forces Underage Singers Into Exploitative Contracts

Over the weekend, Taylor Swift blasted both Scooter Braun and Big Machine Label Group’s (BMLG) Scott Borchetta. Overdramatizing Braun’s acquisition of her former label, she called the move “my worst-case scenario.” “This is what happens when you sign a…

Chance the Rapper Couldn’t Clear the Sample in ‘Juice’ — So He Turned the Problem Into a Charitable Cause

On Friday, Chance the Rapper released two of his earliest mixtapes – 10 Day and Acid Rap. Across multiple streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, and Deezer, old and new fans alike could enjoy the rapper’s works. This comes ahead of …

Vladimir Putin Defends Russia’s Homophobic Censorship of Elton John’s ‘Rocketman’

Several weeks ago, ahead of Rocketman’s release in the country, Russian distributors removed scenes depicting homosexual sex and drug use in the Elton John biopic. At the Moscow premiere, for example, critics found that distributors had cut five minute…