Midweek Music Update: Wednesday 6 May 2026
Welcome to this fortnight's round-up of news, commentary and industry announcements that you may have missed from the past few weeks.
If you are looking for advice in relation to any of the issues mentioned, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Legal updates
Live Nation says Court ruling supports the company’s bid to dismiss BOTS Act lawsuit (MBW)
Udio admits to scraping YouTube audio to train AI models in Sony Music lawsuit (DMN)
Canadian musician sues Google for defamation after AI Overview wrongly claimed he was a sex offender (Guardian)
Arbitration motion for Spotify in New York lawsuit (MBW)
In the news
Sony in negotiations to purchase Recognition Music Group Assets from Blackstone (Billboard)
YouTube creators can now replace tracks with AI to avoid music copyright claims (MBW)
Taylor Swift seeks to protect voice and likeness from AI through Trademark filing (Variety)
Spotify to launch ‘Verified’ checkmarks to distinguish human artists from AI (BBC)
iHeartMedia and SiriusXM are in early talks about a potential merger (Music Ally)
Suno reveals ambitious plans to take formal control of Songkick with AI (Digital Music News)
Shindig festival, headlined by Bob Vylan, may face licence review (BBC)
Brazil’s prominent Christian music distribution platform, OniMusic, acquired by The Orchard (MBW)
US government global IP report flags AI concerns for music industry (CMU)
France's AI bill could force AI platforms to prove no use of copyright content (MBW)
Features and commentary
How music festivals are adapting to withstand rising costs (BBC)
The future is uncertain for indie music companies (Guardian)
Industry changes and developments
43% registration fee increase for US copyright protection (MBW)
BMG and Concord merge to 'create the leading independent music company' (Music Week)
UMG to sell 50% of its Spotify stake, generating approximately $1.4 billion (MBW)
Primary Wave successfully raises a further $2.2 Billion for catalogue investments (Billboard)
