Music Business Worldwide

The latest music news from Music Business Worldwide, News, jobs and analysis for the global music industry and on artists new releases and where to get new mp3 songs.

1. Lucy Dickins, long-time agent for Adele and Mumford & Sons, to exit WME after seven years

   Current Co-Head Kirk Sommer will continue to lead WME's Contemporary Music division.

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2. From Sir Lucian Grainge on AI and Downtown, to Create raising $450M at a $2.2B valuation… it’s MBW’s weekly round-up

   The biggest headlines from the past few days...

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3. Kobalt inks worldwide sub publishing and admin deal with the UK’s Sync Music Global

   Kobalt will oversee global administration for the independent publisher’s catalogue and roster.

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4. Suicideboys sued in the UK by Rough Trade and Beggars Music over alleged unauthorized sample (report)

   The song in question has amassed over 115 million Spotify streams.

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5. Sir Lucian Grainge talks AI strategy, Downtown, D2C, superfans, and more on UMG’s latest earnings call

   MBW listened in to UMG's latest earnings call. Here's what we learned.

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6. UMG puts US listing plans on hold

   Company confirmed the decision as part of its Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings announcement on March 5

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7. Spain’s recorded music market grew 13.7% in 2025… with subscription streaming revenues up 19.2% YoY

   The latest reading marks the industry’s strongest performance since 2003, although revenues remain roughly 26% below the 2001 peak.

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8. Universal Music generated $4.19B in Q4, up 10.6% YoY – driven by Taylor Swift, KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, Olivia Dean, and more

   The music company's fresh set of quarterly results, published today (March 5).

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9. Robert Kyncl talks Suno, AI, the value of music and more at Morgan Stanley event

   Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl used an appearance at Morgan Stanley’s conference this week to make an expansive case for why artificial intelligence represents an opportunity for WMG — and for the music industry at large. The WMG CEO’s remarks came on the heels of a shareholder letter in which he argued that AI …...

10. Spotify says it paid out $213M to Australian music rightsholders in 2025, up 7% YoY

    Australian listeners streamed domestic artists 223 million more times in 2025 than the year prior.

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