Our clients Angry Mob Music, LyricFind, SourceAudio, and Symphonic Distribution have put together incredibly insightful and timely panels to vote on for SXSW and you can view all of them in one place on our website. Don’t forget to vote by visiting the link below each panel and clicking the heart next to the title to let the organizers know you want to see it!

Over the past few weeks, a growing list of indie bands have decided to leave Spotify, the most prominent being Deerhoof and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (a partial list has been compiled by Fader). The main point of contention is Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s recent investments into AI military defence company Helsing, but several of these artists have also taken the opportunity to throw broader criticism at Spotify – noting that they are not earning much from the platform, anyway.

– Tatiana Cirisano, MIDIA

The music subscription business will continue to grow through 2026 thanks to customer acquisition, price increases and the launch of high-priced superfan tiers, according to a new report by Guggenheim analysts who cover public music companies.

– Ed Christman, Billboard

The way we talk about mental health is changing (as it should be!), and more and more artists are opening up about going to therapy. Not just after a breakdown, but as part of staying grounded, protecting their creativity, and actually enjoying the careers they’ve worked so hard for. This shift is making real waves in the industry, slowly replacing the “just push through it” mindset with one that values rest, self-awareness, and sustainability.

– Randi Zimmerman, Symphonic

Earlier this year, young Americans’ listening habits reached a tipping point that doesn’t bode well for legacy media companies.
In the second quarter, AM/FM and podcasts both had a 14% share of time spent listening to audio in the 18- to 29-year-old age group. But just 11 years ago, AM/FM radio had a seemingly insurmountable lead: In 2014, Edison Research found that AM/FM listening held a seven-to-one margin over podcast listening in the same age group.

– Glenn Peoples, Billboard

The music publishers suing AI company Anthropic have asked if they can amend their lawsuit in response to the recent ruling in another case involving Anthropic and a group of authors.
The music companies want to highlight that Anthropic originally downloaded their lyrics from dodgy piracy sites, something they discovered via the other case, and which has become super relevant because of the judge’s ruling in that other dispute.

– Chris Cooke, Complete Music Update

The only sure thing in this earnings season is unpredictability. While the global economy remains resilient in the face of U.S. tariffs, and U.S. gross domestic product grew 3% in Q2, stocks took a hit from a weak U.S. jobs report on Aug. 1, and some experts believe a constant drip, drip, drip of negative developments will cause “death by a thousand cuts.”
Music companies’ early results also offered mixed signals.

– Robert Levine, Billboard