Digital Music News – studio recording, publishing, streaming, live concerts, talent development

The latest music news from Digital Music News, affecting recording industry, music publishing, mp3 streaming, concert industry, talent development, venture capital, and music technology, with reporting on artists new releases and where to get new mp3 songs.

1. TikTok Is Dramatically Overhauling Its Artist Compensation Rules In 2026 — And This Time, It’s Good News for Music Creators and IP Owners

   TikTok is one of the most notoriously artist-unfriendly platforms on the planet. But according to DMN’s latest intel, the UGC giant is now overhauling its payout methodology to something slightly more reasonable. Spotify is notorious for its paltry paychecks to artists. But sadly, there’s way, way worse out there. Irving Azoff has repeatedly blasted YouTube […]

2. Suno Exec Goes On a Lengthy Rant Against ‘Walled Gardens’ After Marathon Music Industry Meetings — Is This Going to the Bad Place?

   Artificial intelligence licensing deals are continuing to pour in, and according to many, the music world is steadily positioning itself to benefit from yet another disruptive technology. But beneath all the optimism, is there a fundamental disconnect between AI giants and leading industry players? Right off the bat, one might be inclined to answer in […]

3. Actually, Make That $11.02B in 2025 Funding: Aria’s Late-2025 $15M Raise to Turn IP into Fungible Blockchain Assets Further Highlights Unprecedented Levels of Industry Funding Last Year

   In September, Aria secured $15 million in seed and strategic funding. That brings the total of 2025 funding across the industry to an unprecedented $11.022 billion. In September, Aria Protocol announced securing $15 million in combined seed and strategic funding to help accelerate its ecosystem of turning revenue-generating IP into fungible blockchain liquid assets. That […]

4. Oakley Meta Makes Super Bowl Debut With Travis Scott Soundtrack + Spike Lee, Marshawn Lynch, iShowSpeed

   Oakley Meta is debuting a new campaign at the Super Bowl, starring sports icons and culture makers like Marshawn Lynch, Spike Lee, and iShowSpeed. In its Super Bowl debut, Oakley Meta is bringing a high-octane campaign to the stage that positions performance wearables as the next big thing in sports. The campaign, titled, Athletic Intelligence […]

5. New York Times Walks Back Bad Bunny Article After NFL Player Survey Goes Sideways

   The New York Times issues an apology following an NFL player’s harsh comment on Bad Bunny in its anonymous survey of players ahead of the big game. The Athletic, now the sports-focused subsidiary of The New York Times, issued an apology after an NFL player ragged on Bad Bunny’s upcoming Super Bowl halftime show performance […]

6. Live Nation Scoops Up Italy’s ForumNet Group in $100 Million+ Deal

   Live Nation’s aggressive international expansion isn’t finished yet. Now, the promoter’s acquired Italy’s ForumNet Group, which owns and operates multiple venues in Milan. The Ticketmaster parent just recently disclosed its ForumNet buyout – albeit without shedding light on the financials thereof. But on the opposite end of the transaction, it’s holding company Bastogi S.p.A. that’s […]

7. Live Music Society Gives Over $5 Million to Support Small Venues — With a New ‘Music in Action Grant’ Opening

   Live Music Society is now opening applications for its fourth annual Music in Action grant; the foundation has given over $5 million to small venues since 2020. Non-profit foundation Live Music Society, whose mission is to uplift and protect small venues and listening rooms across the United States, has announced the opening of applications for […]

8. Mark Cuban’s Fireside and Radio.com Acquired by Consumable, with Multi-Million-Dollar Indie Musician Fund Attached to the Deal

   Radio.com and Mark Cuban’s creator platform Fireside were acquired by ad tech company Consumable, with an indie musician fund attached to the deal. Mark Cuban’s creator platform Fireside and Radio.com have been acquired by ad tech company Consumable, with plans to develop a next-gen streaming platform for “an AI-driven, creator-first media landscape.” Financial details of […]

9. Spotify Tweaks Lyrics Feature with More Translations, Offline Lyrics for Premium Subscribers

   Spotify announces some upgrades to its song lyrics feature, including globally available translations and the ability to view lyrics while offline. On Wednesday, Spotify announced three upgrades to its song lyrics feature. These include globally available lyrics translations, the ability to view lyrics while offline, and relocating the feature directly beneath the album artwork. The […]

10. NVIDIA Claps Back Against Authors’ Expanded Copyright Infringement Claims Amid Dismissal Push

    NVIDIA has fired back against authors’ updated copyright class action – including a claim that the chip-making giant pirated books via Anna’s Archive. The defendant company just recently took aim at the infringement complaint with multiple dismissal arguments. As we broke down last month, when the authors supersized their action in an amended filing, the […]

11. EU Legislators Call for an End to ‘Coercive Rights Buy-Outs’ by American VOD Giants Like Netflix

    European policymakers gather to discuss how to end so-called “coercive buy-out practices” in a broader move to balance the copyright framework. On Tuesday, European songwriters and composers, along with representatives of their collective management organizations, came together with key EU policymakers to address the long-standing and growing phenomenon of so-called “coercive buy-out practices”...

12. Grammy Viewership Slumps Another 6.4% to 14.4 Million Viewers, With a Double-Digit Drop Among Younger Viewers

    In its final telecast on CBS, the Grammy Awards saw a drop in viewership of more than 6% from the 15 million-plus who watched the show in 2025. Sunday night’s broadcast of the 68th Grammy Awards on CBS, the final Grammy Awards show to air on the network before it heads to Disney in 2027, […]

13. Time for a $3.1 Billion (and Change) Mega-Case? Court Considers Consolidating Concord v. Anthropic Infringement Lawsuits

    Is it time to consolidate music publishers’ monster copyright lawsuits against Anthropic? Now seeking over $3 billion in damages across two distinct cases, Universal Music and Concord have raised the question in an administrative motion. We initially covered the first of those cases soon after its October 2023 kickoff. And as many already know, the […]

14. Fred Armisen Delves into UMG’s Vaults in New CNN-Helmed Docuseries

    Fred Armisen will lead a new CNN original docuseries unearthing UMG’s vaults, with behind-the-scenes stories from the world’s largest music archive. Award-winning comedian, musician, and multi-hyphenate Fred Armisen had been spotted rubbing elbows at Universal Music Group’s Grammy parties over the weekend, and now we have additional details as to why. The “Portlandia” star will […]

15. Pink Pony Club Comes to Fortnite with Chappell Roan as Festival Season 13 Icon

    After weeks of rumors and leaks, Fortnite confirms Chappell Roan as the Fortnite Festival Season 13 headliner with three skins and more goodies. Rumors circulated for weeks after a leak revealed Chappell Roan as the next Fortnite Festival headliner. Now, Epic Games has finally confirmed the rumors to be true. Chappell Roan is bringing the […]