This week, a coalition of artist representatives published an open letter titled ‘Say No to Suno,’ calling on the music community to reject the AI music generator.
In other Suno news, the company’s CEO and co-founder Mikey Shulman revealed that the firm has reached 2 million paid subscribers and $300 million in annual recurring revenue.
Also this week, GoldState Music, the investment firm founded by music industry veteran Charles Goldstuck, confirmed it has entered a strategic partnership with Bridgepoint Group, the London-listed mid-market investor.
Meanwhile, news broke this week that Primary Wave is in advanced talks to potentially acquire Kobalt Music Group.
Elsewhere, it was revealed that Grammy-winning rap duo Salt-N-Pepa have filed a notice of appeal against the dismissal of their lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the copyrights to their master recordings.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…
1. ARTIST REPRESENTATIVES LAUNCH ‘SAY NO TO SUNO’ CAMPAIGN: ‘AI SLOP DILUTES THE ROYALTY POOLS OF LEGITIMATE ARTISTS FROM WHOSE MUSIC THIS SLOP IS DERIVED.’
A coalition of artist representatives has published an open letter calling on the music community to reject AI music generator Suno.
In an open letter titled ‘Say No to Suno’, the artist reps described the company as a “brazen smash and grab” platform, accusing it of using “unauthorized AI platform machinery trained on human artists’ work”.
Published Monday (February 23) on the Music Technology Policy blog, the letter was signed by figures including Ron Gubitz, Executive Director of the Music Artist Coalition; Helienne Lindvall, songwriter and President of the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance; and Chris Castle of the Artist Rights Institute.
Other signatories included artist David C. Lowery; artist and Artist Rights Alliance board member Tift Merritt; Blake Morgan, artist, producer, and President of ECR Music Group; and Abby North, President of North Music Group… (MBW)
2. SUNO: WE’VE HIT 2M PAID SUBSCRIBERS AND $300M ANNUAL REVENUE
AI music generator Suno has reached 2 million paid subscribers and $300 million in annual recurring revenue.
That’s according to CEO and co-founder Mikey Shulman, who shared the figures in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday (February 25), two years after the platform’s launch.
He also noted that over 100 million people have now used Suno.
“We launched Suno 2 years ago to let the world feel the joy of making music,” Shulman wrote. “Since then, over 100M people all over the world have used Suno, from music lovers to Grammy winners.”
The $300 million ARR figure represents a significant jump from the $200 million in annual revenue previously reported by The Wall Street Journal in November, when Suno closed a $250 million Series C funding round at a $2.45 billion post-money valuation… (MBW)
3. CHARLES GOLDSTUCK’S GOLDSTATE SECURES ‘SIGNIFICANT’ BRIDGEPOINT INVESTMENT FOR GROWTH EQUITY FUND TARGETING MUSIC COMPANIES
GoldState Music, the investment firm founded by music industry veteran Charles Goldstuck, has entered a strategic partnership with Bridgepoint Group, the London-listed mid-market investor.
Under the deal, announced on Thursday (February 26), Bridgepoint has committed what the two parties describe as “a significant investment” as lead investor in GoldState’s Growth Strategy – a dedicated fund focused on building and scaling music-oriented businesses globally.
The partnership marks a notable evolution for GoldState.
The company’s two previous fundraises – a partnership with private equity firm Flexpoint Ford in late 2023, and a USD $500 million raise co-led by Northleaf Capital Partners and Ares Management last April – were focused primarily on the acquisition of music rights, including catalogs, master recordings, and publishing assets… (MBW)
4. PRIMARY WAVE IN TALKS TO POTENTIALLY ACQUIRE KOBALT MUSIC GROUP
Primary Wave is in advanced talks to potentially acquire Kobalt Music Group.
MBW understands that Larry Mestel-led Primary Wave is among a number of potential suitors who have been in discussions with Kobalt’s majority owner, private equity firm Francisco Partners (FP), in recent months.
The latest intel is that Primary Wave now stands alone as a would-be buyer trying to agree on a sale price with Francisco.
For FP, a sale of Kobalt at this stage would be surprisingly early compared to a more typical private equity time horizon of holding an asset for 5-7 years before cashing out… (MBW)
5. SALT-N-PEPA FILE NOTICE OF APPEAL OVER UMG LAWSUIT DISMISSAL, WITH ‘BLURRED LINES’ LAWYER AS COUNSEL
Grammy-winning rap duo Salt-N-Pepa have filed a notice of appeal against the dismissal of their lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the copyrights to their master recordings.
The notice, filed on February 4 and docketed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on February 5, challenges the January 8 ruling by District Judge Denise Cote that dismissed both of the duo’s claims against Universal.
A judge ruled in January that the artists never owned the copyrights to their sound recordings and therefore cannot reclaim them.
The filing, obtained by MBW, also appears to reveal that Salt-N-Pepa (Cheryl James and Sandra Denton) have added prominent music industry lawyer Richard S. Busch of Nashville-based King & Ballow to their legal team… (MBW)
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