In today's CMU Daily: Spotify has asked a US court to dismiss the lawsuit filed against it by The MLC as part of the big bundling discount dispute. By claiming that the audiobooks access that is now part of Spotify Premium doesn’t have more than token value, the MLC is disrespecting book authors, Spotify argues

One Liners: Turntable Labs, Inc, Seat Unique, Nickleby Capital, The Black Label, Notting Hill Music, Roblox, IMG Artists, Warner Music Brazil, ADOR, OpenSea, YG Entertainment, fabric, Primary Wave, James Brown Estate, End Of The Road Festival + more

Also today: The Scottish government is under fire over funding for the music community following the closure of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund for individuals; The RIAA has published revenue figures for the US recorded music market in the first half of the year - retail revenues were up 4% to $8.7 billion

The MLC’s lawsuit is “nonsensical”, “meritless and wasteful” and “denigrates” authors and the entire audiobooks industry, says Spotify’s latest filing in bundling dispute

Spotify is now positioning itself as a champion and defender of book authors from “literary luminaries” to “up-and-coming writers who are finding their audience”. Or at least that is the implication of a new court filing from the streaming platform as it formally seeks dismissal of the lawsuit filed against it by US mechanical rights collecting society the MLC. 

Spotify says that the arguments the MLC has presented in its lawsuit as part of the big bundling discount dispute are not only “nonsensical and factually unsupportable”, but also “devalue the contributions of the tens of thousands of book authors” whose work is now available on the streaming platform. 

The MLC began legal action in May after Spotify decided to reclassify its standard premium music streaming subscription product in the American market as a music + audiobooks bundle. 

That reclassification allowed Spotify to take advantage of a bundling provision that is part of the US compulsory licence for mechanical rights which is administered by the MLC, and significantly reduce how much money it has to pay to songwriters and music publishers when their music is streamed.

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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

• Turntable Labs, Inc, the company behind the new social music platform Hangout, has secured $8.2 million in an extended seed round ahead of its public launch later this year.
• Seat Unique has raised £14.5 million in an extended Series A funding round led by Nickleby Capital.
• The Black Label's new girl group Meovv has signed a partnership deal with Universal Music's Capitol Records.
• Notting Hill Music has signed The K's to an exclusive publishing deal. 
• Universal Music’s Virgin Music Group has partnered with Splash, creators of Splash Skate and Music on Roblox, to create an experience for electronic music duo SOFI TUKKER on the gaming platform.
• IMG Artists has signed Nicaraguan-American soprano Gabriella Reyes for general management. 

Appointments

• Warner Music Brazil has unveiled a new structure aimed at increasing its presence in domestic music genres. 
• HYBE has replaced Min Heejin as CEO of its sublabel ADOR, appointing Kim Juyoung as the new chief executive. 

Legal

• OpenSea has announced it may face legal action from the US Securities And Exchange Commission over its NFT marketplace. 
• A federal judge has postponed the auction of Damon Dash's one-third stake in Roc-A-Fella Records until 21 Sep, with the minimum bid increased from $1.2 million to $3 million to cover unpaid taxes and child support.
• SM Entertainment has announced that Taeil has left NCT following allegations of a "sexual offence", saying it and Taeil "learned about the indictment around the middle of this month".
• Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones has claimed he is in hiding due to threats received after filing a $30 million sexual harassment lawsuit against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in February.

Streaming, Digital, Broadcast & Retail

• Apple Music has introduced a new feature allowing users to transfer playlists to and from YouTube Music. 
• Meta has announced it will shut down its Spark platform for third-party augmented reality effects on 14 Jan 2025. 

Live

• Yelp has shut down its secondary ticketing platform integration with TicketNetwork following a letter from the National Independent Venue Association calling for an end to "deceptive ticket sales practices".Other Industry News & Events
• Annie Macmanus and Huw Stephens have been announced as hosts for the 'Mercury Prize 2024: Album Of The Year' TV programme. 
• SPIN magazine has returned to print after a twelve year hiatus, with country music artist Lainey Wilson featuring as the cover star for the first issue. 
• YG Entertainment has announced the liquidation of its dance management and academy subsidiary YGX. 
• London nightclub fabric has donated a sign to the London Museum for its upcoming permanent installation 'Hanging Out'.
• Modest Mouse has announced the launch of a Reverb shop on 5 Sep, featuring over 500 pieces of gear and memorabilia from their three-decade career.
• Primary Wave Music and the James Brown Estate have partnered with the Center For Common Ground to launch initiatives aimed at mobilising black voters ahead of the November 2024 US election. 

Artist News

• Fever Ray have cancelled their headline performance at End Of The Road Festival due to lead singer Karin Elisabeth Dreijer's recovery from pneumonia. 
• ABBA and their label Universal Music have requested that former Donald Trump cease using the band's music at his events. 

Releases & Tours

• Allie X has released her new single ‘Galina’, featuring Empress Of. 
• BIG WETT has released her new single ‘HOLD UP UR BODY’.
• SOPHIE has posthumously released her new single ‘Exhilarate’, featuring Bibi Bourelly. Her self-titled final album is out 27 Sep.
• The Smile have released two new singles ‘Zero Sum’ and ‘Foreign Spies’. Their new album ‘Cutouts’ is out 4 Oct.
• Tess Parks has released her new single ‘Crown Shy’. Her new album 'Pomegranate' is out 25 Oct.
• Jamie xx has collaborated with Kelsey Lu, John Glacier and Panda Bear on new single ‘Dafodil’. His new album ‘In Waves’ is out 20 Sep.
• Surf Gang leader Evilgiane has collaborated with Nourished by Time and producer Goner on new single ‘Instant Death’.
• Bryan Ferry has released his new single ‘Star’, featuring Amelia Barratt. His new album ‘Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023’ is out 25 Oct.
• Wasia Project have released their new EP and short film ‘Isotope’.
• Better Lovers have released their new single ‘Future Myopia’. Their debut album ‘Highly Irresponsible’ is out 25 Oct.
• TOKiMONSTA has released her new single ‘On Sum’, featuring Anderson .Paak and Rae Khalil. Her new album ‘Eternal Reverie’ is out 22 Nov.
• Manu Chao has released his new single ‘Tu Te Vas’, featuring Laeti. His new album 'Viva Tu' is out 20 Sep.
• Emily Burns has released her new single ‘Die Happy’. Her debut album ‘Die Happy’ is out 8 Nov.
• Gov’t Mule front man Haynes has released his new single ‘This Life As We Know It’. His new solo album ‘Million Voices Whisper’ is out 1 Nov.
• FAZER have released their new single ‘Apex’. Their new album ‘Yamaha’ is out 27 Sep.
• Cordae has collaborated with Anderson .Paak on new single ‘Summer Drop’.
• Frankie Archer has released her new single ‘Barbara Allen’. Her new EP 'Pressure And Persuasion' is out 4 Oct.
• Swedish House Mafia have released their new single ‘Finally’, featuring Alicia Keys.

Crisis for Scottish music industry as government pauses critical funding schemes

The Scottish Music Industry Association has warned of an impending “cultural catastrophe” caused by the closure of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund for Individuals, and the delayed reopening of other music funds. In an urgent call to artists, industry professionals and the wider music business in Scotland and across the UK, the SMIA says that the Scottish government’s “failure to confirm the release of previously allocated funding” is a “rapidly unfolding crisis” and will “lead to both direct and consequential job losses across an already underfunded sector”.

In an attempt to head-off what SMIA CEO Robert Kilpatrick describes as “a cultural emergency of unprecedented scale”, the organisation has published an open letter to Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney, asking the government to confirm the previously committed £10.7 million in funding, to re-open the Open Fund For Individuals, as well as opening applications for Creative Scotland’s Access To Music Making and Strengthening Youth Music funding schemes.

Urging artists, industry professionals and music businesses to add their signature to the open letter and “stand in solidarity to prevent the collapse of Scotland’s cultural sector”, Kilpatrick says, “The time to act is now. We need every voice to unite and demand that the Scottish government fulfils its commitments. Our sector’s survival – and Scotland’s cultural future – depends on it. Culture funding must be deemed essential”. 

US recorded music revenues continue to grow, latest RIAA stats confirm

US recorded music retail revenues increased by 4% year-on-year to a total of $8.7 billion for the first half of 2024, according to new figures from trade group the RIAA. Wholesale revenues for the same period were up by 3% to $5.5 billion.

Streaming continues to power the industry, with all streaming services combined generating 84% of total US revenues. Although by far the fastest growing revenue stream at the moment is vinyl, where sales were up 17% in the first half of the year. 

“Revenues from physical music formats continued to outpace all other major forms of recorded music”, the RIAA's latest stats summary notes. “Total physical revenues of $994 million were up 13% versus the prior year”. 

Vinyl, up 17% to $740 million, now accounts for three quarters of physical product income. CDs make up most of the rest, with revenues from that format, the RIAA adds, being “relatively flat at $237 million in 2024”.

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.