Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.
It was a week of dramatic developments in the field of AI.
The Trump administration fired the US’s Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, shortly after Perlmutter issued a report asserting that using copyrighted works to train AI likely exceeds the limits of “fair use” under copyright law.
Meanwhile, SoundCloud felt the heat from artists over a change to its terms of service regarding AI. Following the backlash, CEO Eliah Seton said the company would be changing the T&Cs.
This was also a week of significant changes in the music industry. First, we got word that Jeremy Sirota will be stepping down as CEO of Merlin at the end of this year. Merlin, the digital licensing partner for indie labels and distributors, says it has developed a transition plan.
Then we got word that Bill Ackman is no longer on the board of Universal Music Group.
Elsewhere, a group of scholars wrote to the judge adjudicating Drake‘s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group, arguing that treating the lyrics of Kendrick Lamar‘s Not Like Us as factual would be a “dangerous” move.
Here’s what happened this week…
1) DONALD TRUMP FIRES TOP US COPYRIGHT OFFICIAL – SENDING CONCERNING MESSAGE OVER MUSIC AND AI
Donald Trump’s administration has fired a top public servant at the United States’ Library of Congress.
So far, so 2025.
Yet the sudden removal from office of US Register Of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, last weekend brings with it context that could be of great importance – and concern – to the global music business. On Friday (May 9), Perlmutter and her team, via the US Copyright Office, issued a pre-publication version of a new report on copyright and artificial intelligence.
The balanced report seems to take a stance that some tech titans won’t appreciate: training AI on copyrighted songs without licensing likely exceeds ‘fair use’ definitions in the United States…
Photo: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy
2) BILL ACKMAN RESIGNS FROM UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bill Ackman is no longer on the board of Universal Music Group.
The surprise news was confirmed Wednesday morning (May 14) by UMG via an investor announcement.
It reads: “Universal Music Group N.V. (EURONEXT: UMG) announced that Non-Executive Director Bill Ackman has notified the company of his intention to resign from its Board of Directors effective today due to new executive and board obligations arising from his recent investments. The Board is very grateful for Mr. Ackman’s contributions to the Company…”
Photo: Caitlin Mitchell
3) JEREMY SIROTA TO EXIT AS MERLIN CEO AT END OF 2025
Jeremy Sirota will step down as CEO of Merlin, the digital music licensing partner for independent labels and distributors, effective December 31, 2025, the organization announced Tuesday (May 13).
The Merlin Board and Sirota said they have developed a transition plan as the organization searches for his successor.
“Jeremy has been an extraordinary CEO for Merlin, bringing great focus, tremendous energy and brilliant thinking to one of the most important and challenging roles within the independent community,” said Darius Van Arman, Chairperson of Merlin and co-founder of Secretly Group…
4) SOUNDCLOUD ‘FIXES’ AI POLICY FOLLOWING BACKLASH; CEO ELIAH SETON SAYS ‘AI SHOULD SUPPORT ARTISTS, NOT REPLACE THEM’
SoundCloud was at the center of an online storm over the weekend after critics spotted an update to the platform’s T&Cs regarding AI training.
The policy update, which was added in February 2024, stated: “You explicitly agree that your Content may be used to inform, train, develop or serve as input to artificial intelligence or machine intelligence technologies or services as part of and for providing the services”.
On Wednesday (May 14), SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton stepped forward to tackle what he calls “confusion” created by his company’s choice of language in its terms of service regarding AI.
Most importantly, Seton has confirmed that SoundCloud is now updating the troublesome text in its Terms of Use…
Photo: Jacob Giampa/Shutterstock
5) COURT SHOULD REJECT DRAKE’S ‘DANGEROUS’ ASSUMPTION THAT RAP LYRICS ARE FACTUAL IN CASE AGAINST UMG, SCHOLARS ARGUE
A group of academics are urging the court to dismiss Drake’s defamation case against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us, arguing that taking rap lyrics as factual threatens freedom of speech and risks a miscarriage of justice.
In a proposed amicus brief sent on Wednesday (May 14) to federal court judge Jeannette A. Vargas, the four scholars, all linked to the University of California–Irvine, warned of “the harms that arise when courts treat rap lyrics as confessions or factual representations.”
“Drake’s defamation claim rests on the assumption that every word of Not Like Us should be taken literally, as a factual representation,” they wrote in their proposed brief.
“This assumption is not just faulty—it is dangerous…”
MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.Music Business Worldwide
