From the ‘fair use’ win for Reuters to ByteDance building an AI music beast… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up
Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.
Copyright holders in the US got some good news this week when a federal court ruled that scraping copyrighted content without permission to train AI models doesn’t count as “fair use.” However, the ruling might not apply to generative AI, the kind that music companies are suing AI companies over.
Also in the world of AI, MBW reported this week on TikTok parent ByteDance‘s ongoing work in the field of AI music.
Elsewhere, Sony Group Corp reported its calendar Q4 earnings this week. Sony’s global music rights operation – across recorded music and music publishing – generated USD $2.70 billion in the three months to end of December 2024.
Also, some notable news out of Warner Music Group this week, as the company steps up its M&A efforts by strengthening its Corporate Development team led by Michael Ryan Southern. According to a press release, Warner is seeking to “turbocharge its growth” via M&A.
Speaking of M&A, Universal Music Group announced today (February 14) that it has acquired a majority stake in A-Sketch, a Japan-based artist management business and record label.
Here’s what happened this week…
II.studio / Shutterstock
1) USING COPYRIGHTED CONTENT TO TRAIN AI WITHOUT PERMISSION IS NOT ‘FAIR USE’, US COURT RULES IN THOMSON REUTERS CASE
For the first time, a US court has ruled on whether using copyrighted material without permission to train AI amounts to “fair use” under copyright law, and the news is mostly good for copyright holders: The judge in the case has ruled against the AI company.
However, there is one big wrinkle: The judge noted in the ruling that it does not necessarily apply to generative AI, the kind of AI over which music companies are suing AI developers.
The case pitted media and news conglomerate Thomson Reuters, owner of the Reuters news service, against Ross Intelligence, a now-defunct service that offered users access to a database of court cases compiled through machine learning (AI) technology…
2) BYTEDANCE HAS BEEN BUILDING AN AI MUSIC BEAST… WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THE BEATLES AND MICHAEL JACKSON
TikTok’s $300 billion-valued parent company, ByteDance, is one of the world’s busiest AI developers. It plans to spend billions of dollars on AI chips this year, while its tech gives Sam Altman’s OpenAI a run for its money.
ByteDance’s Duobao AI chatbot is currently the most popular AI assistant in China, with 78.6 million monthly active users as of January.
It can also generate music.
In September, ByteDance added an AI music generation function to the Duobao app, which apparently “supports more than ten types of music styles and allows you to write lyrics and compose music with one click”.
Photo: Press
3) SONY GENERATED $2.70 BILLION FROM RECORDED MUSIC AND PUBLISHING IN CALENDAR Q4, AS ATEEZ TOPPED FIRM’S GLOBAL SALES CHART
Sony’s global music rights operation – across recorded music and music publishing – generated USD $2.70 billion in the three months to end of December 2024.
That’s according to MBW’s calculations based on Sony Group Corp’s calendar Q4 2024 (fiscal Q3) results, as announced by the Japanese firm on Thursday (February 13).
The $2.70 billion figure was up 7.1% year-on-year (on the figure Sony reported in calendar Q4 2023) at US dollar-converted constant currency.
However, the calendar Q4 figure was boosted by Sony changing the way it reports quarterly recorded music streaming sales from one digital platform, from a net basis to a gross basis. The precise impact of this change was unstated by Sony…
4) ALFONSO PEREZ-SOTO AND MICHAEL LOBIONDO JOIN MICHAEL RYAN SOUTHERN’S M&A TEAM AT WARNER MUSIC GROUP
Warner Music Group is getting serious about M&A.
On Monday (February 10), WMG revealed that it is strengthening its Corporate Development team led by Michael Ryan Southern. According to a press release, Warner is seeking to “turbocharge its growth” via M&A.
The move sees Alfonso Perez-Soto named EVP, Corporate Development, focusing on Recorded Music, and Michael LoBiondo appointed SVP, Corporate Development, focusing on Publishing.
The pair report to Michael Ryan Southern (EVP, Chief Corporate Development Officer), who said in a statement today that, with these two appointments, the company now has “a strong M&A machine working together to find opportunities for the entire WMG group”…
5) UNIVERSAL ACQUIRES MAJORITY STAKE IN JAPANESE MUSIC COMPANY A-SKETCH
Universal Music Japan (UMJ), a division of Universal Music Group (UMG) has acquired a majority stake in Japanese music company A-Sketch.
A-Sketch operates as both an artist management business and record label. It is home to popular Japanese artists, including Saucy Dog, Flumpool, and Ayumu Imazu.
Japan is the world’s second-largest recorded music market, behind the United States.
A-Sketch will operate as a label division within Universal Music Japan, under the continued leadership of Nobuyuki Soma, Representative Director and President, A-Sketch, who will report to Universal Music Japan’s President & CEO, Naoshi Fujikura…
MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.Music Business Worldwide
