Streaming’s real innovation wasn’t just access, it was the playlist as the primary unit of consumption, which has a cost in context collapse. A song’s meaning shrinks to whatever sits before and after it in an algorithmically assembled sequence.
Compare that to the relationship between an artist and a radio programmer. Getting a song onto a show implied editorial investment. A host might build a session around a specific track, bring the artist in for an interview, and create a narrative. The song arrives with context attached. Streaming, for all its reach, stripped that away. What we’re seeing now is a consumer response to that absence: an appetite for someone else doing the choosing.

– Laura Fisher, MIDiA

A group of state attorneys general has asked a federal court to authorize discovery into the US Department of Justice‘s antitrust settlement with Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
The states want to examine both whether the settlement does enough to restore competition and how it was negotiated, including communications between Live Nation, the DOJ, and the White House.
In a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian on Thursday (July 16), which you can read in full here, they said they have “significant concerns that the Settlement is not in the public interest.”

– Mandy Dalugdug, Music Business Worldwide

The first half of 2026 was a lot.
In Billboard‘s midyear report on the biggest deals of 2025, we highlighted five transactions, three of which were worth more than $1 billion. At the same point this year, we’re highlighting a baker’s dozen of deals — and the top five mergers, acquisitions and capital raises in the first half alone were worth more than $16 billion combined.

– Elizabeth Dilts Marshall, Billboard

The volume of fully AI-generated music being uploaded to streaming services has surged yet again.
According to eye-opening new stats revealed by Paris-headquartered streaming service Deezer today (July 21), fully AI-generated music accounted for more than half of all new tracks uploaded to its platform for the first time in June.
Deezer says it was receiving nearly 90,000 fully AI-generated tracks every day in June.
On peak days, that content made up more than 50% of all new music delivered to the service.

– Murray Stassen, Music Business Worldwide

Sony Music has filed a second lawsuit against music AI company Udio, mainly because the judge overseeing the first lawsuit, Alvin K Hellerstein, wouldn’t let the major expand the list of allegedly infringed recordings that was included in its original legal filing.
By boosting that list from 333 to 30,442 recordings, the potential statutory damages Sony could seek if it wins this case exceed $4.5 billion. And while there remain lots of legal uncertainties over the copyright obligations of AI companies like Udio, if there’s any chance of facing a damages bill of $4.5 billion at some point in the future, that provides a strong incentive for Udio to negotiate a licensing deal now.

– Chris Cooke, Complete Music Update

If you still think Spotify is strictly an audio streaming platform, it’s time to update your marketing strategy. Spotify is expanding its video ecosystem, giving independent artists and marketers new tools to upload full-length videos, pitch for editorial consideration, and track global video hits.
Just in case you’re unsure if spending time and money on longform video, Spotify released compelling data demonstrating that video isn’t just a visual extra – it directly drives audio streaming and catalog discovery.

– Bruce Houghton, Hypebot