Midweek Music Update: Wednesday 8 April 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
US Supreme Court sides with Cox Communications in landmark music piracy case brought by record labels (Music Business Worldwide)
Elon Musk’s X seizes on Supreme Court’s landmark Cox ruling in bid to derail music publishers’ copyright case (Music Business Worldwide)
Spotify wants $300 million in damages from Anna’s Archive, and for court to go after piracy site’s service providers (Complete Music Update)
Salt-N-Pepa file appeal brief urging court to revive master recordings case against UMG (Music Business Worldwide)
Major music publishers buy into termination rights lawsuit to take fight to Supreme Court (Complete Music Update)
UMG fires back at Drake appeal over ‘Not Like Us’ case dismissal: 3 takeaways from response brief (Music Business Worldwide)
Taylor Swift sued for trademark infringement over 'Life of a Showgirl' (Reuters)
Cardi B wins dismissal of copyright lawsuit over ‘Enough (Miami)’ (Music Business Worldwide)
In the news
Bill Ackman's Pershing Square proposes $64 billion merger deal with Universal Music Group (Reuters)
Bangkok to host Eurovision’s first Asia song contest (The Guardian)
Wireless Festival cancelled after Kanye West blocked from coming to UK (BBC News)
Universal Music Group kicks off €500 million share buyback program (Music Business Worldwide)
Warner Music Acquires B2B Indie Distributor Revelator (Digital Music News)
Features and Commentary
Vicky Foxcroft MP on why class is one of the last barriers to a career in music (Music Week)
Association For Electronic Music CEO Finlay Johnson talks UK exports, club brands & regional scenes (Music Week)
Why the Mobo awards matter more than ever, 30 years on (The Guardian)
Industry changes/developments
Government and EU pledge "full commitment" to solving touring crisis (NME)
