It might not be a very scalable approach, but as so many stakeholders in the music business rely on our numbers for business and investment strategy, it is a responsibility we take very seriously. As tempting as it would be just to say ‘CAGR is…’ and populate across the 39 different markets, we know from experience that short cut approaches almost always result in short comings. Perhaps most important of all is the thinking and industry expertise that goes into the numbers. There are no facts about the future, so forecasts are always a mathematical representation of human thought (and, no, I am not opening the AI can of worms).

– Mark Mulligan, Midia

Amid global economic uncertainty and fluctuating markets, the Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) surged to a remarkable 46.7% gain in the first half of 2025, driven by strong performances from streaming giants Spotify and Chinese leaders NetEase Cloud Music and Tencent Music Entertainment.

– Glenn Peoples, Billboard

The Help Independent Tracks Succeed (HITS) Act, the long-in-the-works legislation that would allow musicians to deduct 100% of their production expenses in the year they’re incurred, passed in Congress as part of President Trump’s tax and spending cuts bill on Thursday (July 3). The milestone was quickly celebrated by multiple organizations that have long lobbied for the bill to become law.

– Chris Eggersten, Billboard

Two fictional K-pop groups from Netflix’s animated film KPop Demon Hunters are seeing significant streaming success, with their songs occupying multiple spots in global music charts.
The film’s chart performance extends beyond Saja Boys and Huntr/x’s individual songs. The soundtrack for the Kpop Demon Hunters debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, marking this year’s strongest debut for a film soundtrack, with Golden serving as the most-streamed track from the soundtrack globally.

– Mandy Dalugdug, Music Business Worldwide

The letter follows a call for public comment from the two agencies in the wake of an executive order by President Trump earlier this year aimed at addressing long-standing consumer complaints about the event ticketing business. While both Live Nation and NIVA submitted lengthy responses urging Congress to pass a slate of reform packages targeting often criticized practices in the ticket resale business, NIVA officials also included several criticisms of Live Nation in its letter, calling for the company to be broken up and forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars annually in legal settlements.

– Dave Brooks, Billboard

There are two primary threats to the future of live entertainment that the US government needs to tackle according to the country’s National Independent Venue Association: an “unregulated secondary ticketing market” and “Live Nation’s vertically integrated monopoly”.
Therefore, the trade group says in a submission to the government’s ongoing review of the American ticketing market, the Trump administration should do two things: introduce and enforce tough new regulation targeting tickets touts and scalpers, while also forcing the “structural divestiture of Live Nation into four separate companies: ticketing, promotion, advertising/sponsorship and artist management”.

– Chris Cooke, Complete Music Update

The ticketing giant’s proposal calls for a cap on resale prices at 20% above face value, Variety reported Tuesday (July 8), citing Live Nation’s submission.
Live Nation is also proposing expanding artist control of ticket resales and strengthening government action against bad actors through enhanced website monitoring and stricter enforcement of the BOTS Act from 2016. The BOTS Act bans the use of automated systems to buy tickets.

– Mandy Dalugdug, Music Business Worldwide