On this episode of Music Business Worldwide's Talking Trends, MBW founder, Tim Ingham, is once again joined by Charlie D'Atri, to discuss two key recent headlines from the world of entertainment: 

(1) A battle between Concord and financial giant Blackstone to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund – the UK-listed bundle of music rights accumulated by Merck Mercuriadis; 

(2) Spotify's decision to re-categorize its Premium subscription tiers as 'bundles' – including audiobooks – that will materially lessen the royalty rate paid to songwriters in the US.

People and companies mentioned on this Talking Trends podcast include: Spotify, Daniel Ek, Blackstone, Merck Mercuriadis, Concord, NMPA, David Israelite, EQT, Shot Tower Capital, BMG, Citrin Cooperman, and more.