Episode 646 – The Latest Music Business News With AI Lawsuits and Royalty Cuts Coming For Indie Artists

On this week’s Inner Circle Podcast episode, the latest music production and business news, featuring AI copyright lawsuits, royalty disputes, and how changing listener habits are reshaping the music industry right now.

I cover how US recorded music revenue hitting $6 billion in the first half of the year, with CDs up 59%.

And also explain what a San Jose Sharks arena crowd rejecting an AI goal song tells independent artists. . .

Universal Music Group is suing DistroKid for up to $150 million over undisclosed AI-generated tracks. . .

And a proposed mechanical royalty settlement would drop songwriter pay below the current 13.1 cents per song rate.

You can hear it at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Mixcloud, Spotify, Deezer, and TuneIn Radio.

Also, a video version of this podcast is now available on YouTube as well.

Enjoy the show!

Chapters:

00:00:00 – Coming up…

00:01:08 – Universal Sues DistroKid Over Unauthorized AI Tracks

00:02:56 – Suno Launches V6 Models, Then Gets Sued Again

00:04:37 – How AI Companies Got Their Training Data: The Fair Use Question

00:05:56 – Musicians Fight for a Cut of AI Licensing Deals

00:06:48 – The San Jose Sharks Drop Their AI Goal Song

00:07:39 – Mechanical Royalty Rates Are Going Backwards for Songwriters

00:08:40 – Physical Media Surges: CDs Up 59%, Vinyl Up 17%

00:09:42 – The Global Superstar Shift: Who Is Rising Outside the US and UK

00:10:34 – Spotify Gives Listeners Direct Control Over Their Algorithm

00:11:38 – Why Younger Listeners Are Turning Back to Radio

00:13:43 – Fender Walks Back Its Stratocaster Copyright Fight

00:14:53 – AutoTune Advanced Promises to Preserve Natural Vibrato

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