From Dua Lipa’s copyright lawsuit win to Harmony’s Stem acquisition… it’s MBW’s Weekly Spherical-Up

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Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we be certain you caught the 5 largest tales to hit our headlines over the previous seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their earnings and scale back their touring prices.


This week we acquired affirmation that Harmony is buying LA-headquartered music distribution platform Stem, in what sources informed MBW was a excessive eight-figure greenback deal someplace above $50 million.

In one other important deal, Chappell Roan producer Daniel Nigro‘s Amusement Information has expanded its partnership with Common Music Group. Amusement will now function as a “central label enterprise” inside UMG, with new artist signings capable of associate throughout UMG’s household of labels.

Elsewhere this week, Dua Lipa received a copyright lawsuit over her megahit Levitating, with a US federal choose ruling summarily that the plaintiffs failed to indicate substantial similarity between Levitating and a 1979 disco music.

Additionally this week, Kakao Leisure, whose father or mother firm is a significant shareholder in Okay-pop firm SM Leisure, debuted superfan platform Berriz, a direct competitor to HYBE‘s Weverse.

Lastly, MBW founder Tim Ingham laid out the case for why Spotify and different DSPs ought to elevate their subscription costs this yr. Trace: It has to do with a metric referred to as common income per content material hour.

Right here’s what occurred this week…


1) CONFIRMED: CONCORD ACQUIRES STEM

Harmony has, as anticipated, totally acquired Los Angeles-based music distribution platform Stem.

MBW’s sources informed us earlier this month that Harmony was shopping for the distribution platform, suggesting a excessive eight-figure greenback deal someplace above $50 million.

The official announcement of the acquisition on Monday (March 24) revealed that in addition to shopping for Stem, Harmony is making a further funding into Tone, a royalty accounting and monetary instruments platform launched by Stem’s administration group in 2023.

“We are actually probably the most well-funded, well-supported unbiased participant within the distribution house,” Stem founder and CEO Milana Lewis informed MBW


Photograph: Warner/Hugo Comte

2) DUA LIPA WINS COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT OVER HIT SONG LEVITATING (WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM ED SHEERAN)

It’s been a very good couple of weeks for well-known songwriters preventing off lawsuits accusing them of copyright infringement. First Mariah Carey beat a long-running swimsuit accusing her of ripping off parts of her enduring smash All I Need For Christmas Is You.

Now, information breaks that Dua Lipa has been victorious in one other landmark case, this time pertaining to her megahit Levitating.

A federal choose in New York has dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit towards the Warner Information-signed act, ruling that Levitating, launched in 2020, didn’t illegally copy a 1979 disco music.

In an opinion and order issued Thursday (March 27), U.S. District Choose Katherine Polk Failla granted abstract judgment in favor of Lipa and her co-defendants, discovering that the plaintiffs did not exhibit substantial similarity between protectable parts of the works…


Kakao Leisure

3) You’ve heard of superfan app Weverse. Now the father or mother firm of HYBE’s arch-rival has launched a direct competitor. Meet Berriz.

Kakao Leisure, a outstanding participant within the Korean leisure business and a rival to HYBE, has formally entered the superfan platform house.

Kakao has launched a brand new app referred to as Berriz, described as “a cutting-edge international fan platform designed to revolutionize the consumer expertise.” The transfer from Kakao locations it in direct competitors with Weverse.

Kakao, along with its father or mother Kakao Corp., holds a 40.28% stake in Okay-Pop firm SM Leisure. It additionally owns South Korean Music streaming service Melon.

Notably, in 2023, Kakao and HYBE engaged in a months-long company battle to take management of SM Leisure…


Photograph: Taylor Hornecker

4) CHAPPELL ROAN PRODUCER DANIEL NIGRO’S AMUSEMENT RECORDS TO OPERATE AS ‘CENTRAL LABEL VENTURE’ WITHIN UNIVERSAL AS PART OF EXPANDED PARTNERSHIP WITH UMG

Common Music Group has expanded its partnership with Grammy-winning producer Daniel Nigro’s Amusement Information label.

Based on the official announcement, below the brand new settlement, Amusement will function as a “central label enterprise” inside UMG, with new artist signings capable of associate throughout UMG’s “international household of labels.”

The enlargement follows the success of Chappell Roan’s debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, which was signed to Amusement and launched by way of Island Information.

UMG’s newly-expanded partnership with Nigro additionally builds upon his long-term relationship with Olivia Rodrigo, a Geffen/Interscope artist. (Island and Geffen/Interscope are each UMG labels.)…


Picture: Netflix

5) THE BEST ARGUMENT WHY SPOTIFY (AND OTHER MUSIC STREAMING PLATFORMS) NEED TO INCREASE THEIR PRICES IN 2025.

Communicate to just about any senior determine on the world’s largest music rightsholders, and also you’ll discover it’s a bone of competition for all of them.

How come a regular music streaming subscription within the US prices USD $11.99 monthly, when – over within the land of movie and TV – Netflix costs $17.99 monthly for its equal service?

The reply, after all, is the consistency of Netflix’s value hikes over the previous decade.

As not too long ago as 2016, a person subscription to Netflix’s Commonplace tier within the States value shoppers precisely the identical quantity monthly ($9.99) as an Particular person Premium sub to Spotify…


MBW’s Weekly Spherical-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their earnings and scale back their touring prices.Music Enterprise Worldwide

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