CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including the lawsuits filed against Pandora by three comedians - and the estates of comedy legends Robin Williams and George Carlin - over allegations the American streaming service is streaming comedy routines by those performers without all of the proper licences in place, and the RIAA's legal letter to music NFTs website HitPiece that was both a cease-and-desist on behalf its members and a demand for information about all of the outfit’s activities and revenues to date.






SECTION TIMES

01: Pandora (00:10:22)

02: HitPiece (00:23:12)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



STORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK

• Comedians sue Pandora in dispute over literary work licences

• RIAA sends stern legal letter to controversial music NFTs site HitPiece






ALSO MENTIONED

• AWAL

• BRITs power up for fully-fledged return






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Comedians sue Pandora over joke copyrights

SETLIST is the music business podcast from CMU

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On this week's show we discuss the battle between music publishers and Spotify over it’s plans to reclassify its subscriptions as bundles of music, audiobooks and podcasts, and commercial media companies hit out at the BBC’s plan to sell advertising on its podcasts.



SECTION TIMES

01: Spotify (00:03:48)

02: News in brief (00:15:20)

03: BBC (00:17:48)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES

• The MLC is suing Spotify over audiobook bundling

• Publishers accuse Spotify of licensing gaps in letter the streaming service has dubbed a “misleading press stunt”

• US music publishers ramp up the rhetoric against Spotify's royalty reducing bundling trick

• Media companies hit out at plan for BBC to sell ads alongside its podcasts



NEWS IN BRIEF

• TICKET Act passed by US House Of Representatives

• Universal removed as defendant on explosive Diddy lawsuit

• TikTok creators file lawsuit against US sell-or-be-banned law

• Utopia swings the axe again with significant job losses across remaining non-UK operations

• ATC takes majority stake in Raw Power



ALSO MENTIONED

• Sony Music tells 700+ AI companies to respect its copyrights


Music publishers go to war with Spotify

On this week's show we discuss the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee recommending that a levy on ticket sales for large scale shows be implemented by September and that the government should instigate a VAT cut for grassroots music venues, plus the concerns surrounding the launch of a new SXSW festival in London.



SECTION TIMES

01: Grassroots venues report (00:06:50)

02: News in brief (00:14:18)

03: SXSW London (00:17:38)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES

• MPs set September deadline for ticket levy to support grassroots venues and shows

• SXSW London could disrupt delicately balanced music ecosystem and should reconsider its date



NEWS IN BRIEF

• TikTok sues the US government over sell-or-be-banned law

• Goldman Sachs analysts upbeat about music industry after a “turning point” year

• Lucian’s lunch money under threat as shareholder pressure mounts over “excessive” pay packet

• Nine of the ten wrongful death Astroworld lawsuits now settled, says Live Nation

• OfCom should use Online Safety Act powers to force Facebook to act on ticket scams, says Which?

• Music Venue Properties announces purchase of The Ferret in Preston

• Apple finds out the hard way that not everyone thinks destruction is a form of creation


Arena ticket levy by September, MPs demand

On this week's show we discuss the calls on both sides of the Atlantic for new AI laws to protect creators, the big love-in between Universal and TikTok as they finally resolve their differences, and more.



SECTION TIMES

01: AI laws (00:07:00)

02: News in brief (00:20:29)

03: Universal x TikTok (00:23:20)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES

• MPs call on UK government to create “a pro-creative industries AI bill”

• FKA Twigs and Warner boss tell Senators about the urgent need for a US-wide law to regulate deepfakes

• Universal and TikTok are best buds again

• Universal boss Lucian Grainge talks up the new TikTok deal which “will protect the integrity and value of human artistry”



NEWS IN BRIEF

• EU TikTok ban “is not excluded” says European Commission President, as FCC Commissioner says US ban won’t be scuppered in the courts

• CEO of NewJeans label Ador refuses to convene board meeting as parent company HYBE tries to push her out

• R Kelly fails to overturn Chicago conviction

• Astroworld victims want first trial to be livestreamed

• Taylor Swift and Record Store Day push UK vinyl sales reach highest level since 1994



ALSO MENTIONED

• Could Co-op Group terminate Manchester arena naming rights deal? Fury mounts as safety incident forces yet more Co-op Live show cancellations


Calls for urgent new AI laws in UK and US

On this week's show we discuss the bidding war compounding the latest in a long line of dramas at Hipgnosis, the faltering start for Manchester’s new Co-op Live arena and more. 



SECTION TIMES

01: Hipgnosis (00:04:59)

02: News in brief (00:18:48)

03: Co-op Live (00:12:15)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES

• Hipgnosis debacle might be over as Concord offers to acquire entire share capital of SONG - but there’s a catch…

• Blackstone tops Concord offer for SONG, hints at invoking call option

• The state of Hipgnosis

• To the moon! Concord reaches for the high notes as it ups its SONG bid to $1.25

• Co-op Live GM says grassroots venues are “poorly run”, before cancelling thousands of tickets to test event at the very last minute

• Manchester’s new Co-op Live arena cancels launch shows as power issues delay opening



NEWS IN BRIEF

• The clock is now TikTokking as US Senate votes through sell-or-be-banned law

• Amazon AI employee claims she was told to breach copyright rules because “everyone else is doing it”

• Moving BBC radio to an ad-funded model would be a disaster, says Radiocentre

• Drake threatened with legal action over AI Tupac in Kendrick diss track



ALSO MENTIONED

• AI and music one year later: What happened? And where are we at? (Spot Festival, 3 May, 1pm)

• Dissecting The Digital Dollar: What’s changed? (Spot Festival, 4 May, 11.45am)

• The new pay-out models: What are the consequences for you as an artist and as a songwriter? (Spot Festival, 4 May, 1.15pm)

• The great streaming swindle: That’s how much money is swindled every year in the music industry (Spot Festival, 4 May, 2.15pm)

Hipgnosis v Hipgnosis - the saga continues…

On this week's show we discuss the warning from UK politicians that there need to be “tangible steps to improve musicians’ remuneration and performer rights” by this time next year, and Blur drummer Dave Rowntree’s class action lawsuit against PRS For Music over songwriter royalties, and more.



SECTION TIMES

01: Performer remuneration report (00:05:39)

02: News in brief (00:14:53)

03: Dave Rowntree v PRS (00:19:23)

(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)



THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES

• “Fundamental reform of music streaming” must come soon, say MPs

• Blur’s Dave Rowntree leads class action lawsuit against PRS For Music seeking “hundreds of millions of pounds” for songwriters



NEWS IN BRIEF

• WIN renews shared values of the independent music community

• GEMA says German song right income is booming, but digital growth is lacking

• Timeline for TikTok law in Senate still to be confirmed, though Minority Leader says its deserves "urgent attention"

• Universal relaxes TikTok boycott - but only if your name is Taylor Swift

• Have a playlist idea but don’t know what songs to put on it? Spotify’s AI bot can help with that

• Spotify planning tools to allow users to remix tracks



ALSO MENTIONED

• Westway Lab






Comedians sue Pandora over joke copyrights

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