It’s the weekly headline roundup!
This week we’re looking at the proposed new mechanical rates, Spotify bundle analysis, the recent Suno hack, and more.
US Copyright Royalty Board Proposes Extending Physical and Download Mechanical Rates Through 2032
The US Copyright Royalty Board has published a proposed settlement that would govern mechanical royalty rates for physical music, permanent downloads, ringtones, and music bundles in the United States from 2028 through 2032.
– Mandy Dalugdug, Music Business Worldwide
The deal would leave the existing rate structure in place through 2032, save for annual adjustments in line with inflation.
The Board is now accepting comments and objections on the proposal, which are due by August 10, according to a notice in the Federal Register.
Report predicts $56.8bn of annual recorded-music sales by 2030
Research firm Omdia has published its latest predictions for the growth of the global recorded-music market.
– Stuart Dredge, Music Ally
The figures cover ‘retail sales’ which Omdia defines as spending on physical and digital music plus trade revenue from advertising, performance rights and sync.
Here are the big figures: a predicted $48.3bn of retail sales in 2026, growing to more than $50bn in 2027 and $56.8bn by 2030.
How much have Spotify bundles decreaed the mechanical per-stream rate? (Analysis)
In June, National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) executives reported at the organization’s annual meeting that U.S. music publishers and their songwriters have missed out on nearly $500 million in mechanical royalty payments since Spotify and Amazon rolled all of their paid music subscribers into bundled plans. In the wake of that announcement, Billboard analyzed Spotify’s reports to the Mechanical Licensing Collective for the fourth quarters of 2023 and 2025 and found that the blended per-stream mechanical rate from its subscriber tiers decreased by about 51%, while overall dollar payments for that license declined about 45%.
– Ed Christman, Billboard
Suno scraped YouTube, Deezer to train AI, hacked code reveals – potentially strengthening UMG and Sony’s legal case
Hacked source code from AI music company Suno lists YouTube Music, Deezer, and Genius among the platforms it scraped to build its AI models, according to a report from 404 Media on Wednesday (July 15).
– Mandy Dalugdug, Music Business Worldwide
The code was obtained by a hacker who breached Suno and shared it with the publication.
The same hacker also accessed information on hundreds of thousands of Suno customers, including emails and/or phone numbers, and Stripe payment details, according to the report.
Record Companies Push to Label AI Songs on Streaming Platforms
A coalition of record-label and artist groups is pushing streaming giants to label music generated with artificial intelligence, as the industry grapples with how AI is changing the business.
– Katherine Sayre, The Wall Street Journal
The group said it plans to work with streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music to add labels on tracks indicating when AI was used to produce them. AI usage is flagged voluntarily by artists, record labels and distributors.