In today's CMU Daily: Although Live Nation has settled lawsuits filed by the families of those who died at the 2021 Astroworld festival, legal action continues involving those who were injured. CEO Michael Rapino has been ordered to sit for a deposition, but the live giant is working hard to stop that from happening

One Liners: Today’s deals round-up and industry news in brief including CKay + Salubi’s Boyfriend Music Ltd, Tingly Ted’s x Toikido, Kobalt, Prescription Songs, Reservoir Media, Picklejar x Thompson Square, Virgin Music Group, Warner Music Nashville, GR6 x Sonar, Warner Chappell, TEG Dainy x acta, Pip Labs, Aptos Labs x Mereo, Fancircles, new ERA chair + more

Also today: Playboi Carti and Universal Music did not break US copyright rules when they issued a takedown against a track that used the same beat as one of the rapper’s songs. The takedown was invalid - because the artist behind the other track had licensed the beat - but it was not malicious, says the court

Michael Rapino knew about Travis Scott’s “dangerous concert antics” says court filing as Live Nation desperately tries to avoid CEO’s deposition in Astroworld case

Live Nation’s lawyers are due to make another filing with the Supreme Court in Texas today as they work extra hard to try to stop CEO Michael Rapino from having to sit for a deposition as part of the ongoing Astroworld litigation. 

The lawyers are responding to a recent court filing that again set out arguments for why Rapino should be forced to answer questions under oath in relation to the fatal crowd surge at the 2021 edition of Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas. That filing outlines Rapino’s personal role in securing Live Nation’s business relationship with Scott, and in decision making and communications in the immediate aftermath of the Astroworld tragedy. 

He also knew about Scott’s reputation for encouraging reckless behaviour at his live shows, the filing claims. From the off, “Rapino knew of Scott’s dangerous concert antics, which include inciting crowds, encouraging concertgoers to disregard security and attack concertgoers he identifies in the crowd, and encouraging fans to attempt to attend his concerts without a ticket”.

Account Director // DIABOLICAL (London)

Project Manager // Full Time Hobby (London)

Bars & Duty Manager // Islington Assembly Hall (London)

Advancing & Touring Assistant // terrible* (London)

Senior PR Manager/Publicist // Infectious PR (Bristol Hybrid)

Paid Media Manager // Playliveartist (London)

DSP Editorial & Partnerships Manager // IDOL (London)

Horizon is CMU's new weekly newsletter - published each Friday - that brings you a hand-picked selection of early-stage career opportunities from across the music industry.

Whether you're looking for your first job in music or you're ready to take a step up, Horizon is here to help you find your dream job faster.

👉 Click through to see the current selection.

ONE LINERS

Deals

• Boyfriend Music Ltd has launched in Lagos, Nigeria, founded by emo-afrobeat artist Chukwuka ‘CKay’ Ekweani and long-time friend and manager Joseph Salubi to help artists, songwriters and producers collect their royalties and unlock their creative potential.
• Toikido has announced a strategic licensing partnership with Tingly Ted's, the hot sauce brand created by Ed Sheeran, to launch a range of Tingly Ted's-branded consumer products including fashion, accessories, toys and collectibles. 
• Kobalt has signed a worldwide publishing deal with producer Atmyamil.
• Prescription Songs has extended its publishing deal with Grammy-nominated artist, producer and songwriter Fridayy. 
• Reservoir Media, Inc has acquired the publishing rights to the catalogue of the late Billy Strange, including hit songs such as Elvis Presley's 'A Little Less Conversation', 'Memories' and 'Clean Up Your Own Back Yard'. 
• PickleJar Entertainment Group Inc has announced a promotional partnership with country music duo Thompson Square which will incorporate PickleJar's fan club technology into upcoming tours.
• Jacqie Rivera has signed a global deal with Universal Music’s Virgin Music Group.
• William Beckmann has signed with Warner Music Nashville. 
• GR6 Music, a Brazilian funk music production company, has acquired a 33% stake in Sonar, a competitor based in Osasco, for R$15 million ($2.65 million)
• Warner Chappell Music has renewed its worldwide administration deal with Chilean singer-songwriter Mon Laferte. 
• Paul Dainty, President of Australian live event promoter TEG Dainty, and Bohm Presents co-founders Seb and Adrian Bohm, have backed acta, a new talent booking platform that has launched in Australia.

Appointments

• ERA, the UK trade body for entertainment retailers and digital platforms, has appointed Linda Walker, former SVP Commercial Partnerships & Analytics at Warner Music UK, as its Chair effective 1 Sep.

Stats & Earnings

• Pro-Música Brasil’s latest figures show that the Brazilian recorded music market grew by 21% year-on-year in the first half of 2024, with streaming accounting for the vast majority of the R$1.442 billion ($256.2 million) in revenue.  

Legal

• Jack White has threatened legal action against Donald Trump for using his music without permission. 
• A court in the Dominican Republic has issued an international arrest warrant for Daniel Hernández, aka 6ix9ine, which enables Dominican authorities to request cooperation froml organisations such as Interpol. 

Streaming, Digital, Broadcast & Retail

• PIP Labs, the core developer of intellectual property-focused blockchain Story Protocol, has raised $80 million in a Series B funding round led by venture capital firm a16z crypto, the blockchain-focused arm of Andreessen Horowitz to grow what it describes as “the programmable intellectual property layer for the age of generative AI”.
• Aptos Labs has invested in fan engagement platform Mereo to address asset scalping and enhance artist-fan connections in the music industry. The partnership hopes to use blockchain technology to create a fairer system for rewarding fan loyalty. 
• Instagram has introduced new text tools for its reels and stories features, allowing users to personalise their content with unique fonts, animations and effects.
• Superfan platform FanCircles says that it has raised $2 million “from several angel investors” in its latest funding round.  

Live

• Basel has been selected to host the 69th Eurovision Song Contest in 2025, with the Grand Final taking place on 17 May at St Jakobshalle. 
• Cosmic Roots has cancelled its 2024 festival, originally scheduled for 5 to 8 Sep in Hampshire, due to "unpredictable ticket sales and a rise in production costs". 
• Morrissey has claimed he agreed to a Smiths reunion tour offer for 2025, but Johnny Marr did not respond. 

Other Industry News & Events

• Network Rail has announced plans to protect the Grade-II listed Twemlow Viaduct near Harry Styles' home village in Cheshire from damage caused by fans. 
• UK record label trade group BPI has released the second episode of its Innovation Podcast series featuring Chantal Epp from ClicknClear and Olivier Parfait from Sony Music.

Playboi Carti didn’t issue malicious takedown in beat beef, court rules

A US court has ruled that Playboi Carti and Universal Music did not knowingly issue an improper copyright takedown notice against a video on Twitter because the rapper was annoyed that another track had used the same beat as a song on his debut album. 

An invalid takedown notice was submitted on behalf of the rapper, real name Jordan Carter. However, the Universal employee who submitted it didn't know that the claim was invalid, the court ruled. 

And while Carter “may well have been aware of and displeased with” the track contained in that video, the lawsuit against him “failed to establish that Carter had any part in the takedown notices”. In fact, it’s “undisputed” that Carter never “communicated with or met” the relevant Universal exec. 

RELEASES & TOURS

• Strandz and Unknown T have collaborated on new single ‘They Wish’.

• Coco & Clair Clair have released their new album ‘Girl’.
• Niko B has released his new single ‘Why's This dealer?’.
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have released their new album ‘Wild God’. His debut album ‘COYOTE’ is out 27 Sep.
• Tommy Richman has released his new single ‘THOUGHT YOU WERE THE ONE’.
• Rizzle Kicks have released their new single ‘Javelin’.
• Native James has released his new single ‘Field’. His debut album ‘Rebirth’ is out 6 Sep.
• Paris Paloma has released her new album ‘Cacophony’.

Op-ed: Cyanite CEO Markus Schwarzer on why keywords still matter for music data

As the use of prompt-based AI-driven search algorithms becomes more widespread, many AI companies are talking up the end of keywords. But in the context of music search, are keywords actually obsolete? Should we be abandoning keywords and allowing AI to execute searches instead? 

In an environment where catalogues frequently change hands and marketing strategies become less focused on individual national campaigns and more focused on a unified global approach, keywords are more important than ever.

Cyanite’s Markus Schwarzer takes a look at how we should think about music data, catalogue management and search when everything is a prompt-based AI.