It’s the Weekly Headline Roundup!
This week we’re highlighting our new Biz & Beyond Interview Series, the TICKET Act, streaming numbers, Loud and Clear, Live Nation’s settlement with the US DOJ, and more.
The Biz & Beyond: Celebrating Women’s History Month – Featuring Liz Garner
Ashley Friedman talks to music publishing and copyright law expert Liz Garner about her mentors in the copyright space, major career milestones like coordinating a project for Michael Jackson, and a massive recent win as she served as the copyright administrator to the Estate of Isaac Hayes in its lawsuit against President Trump over the use of his song, “Hold On, I’m Comin.’” We also get into some of Liz’s favorite women-owned businesses, her experiences with farming and sustainable living, and much more!
The Biz & Beyond: Celebrating Women’s History Month – Featuring Deborah Mannis-Gardner
Ashley Friedman talks to the “Queen of Sample Clearances” Deborah Mannis-Gardner, about forging a different career path from the rest of her family, what it truly means to be a mentor, and the lengths she has sometimes gone to in order to clear the most obscure samples. Deborah is also fresh off of her recent win at the Guild of Music Supervisors Awards, where she took home Best Music Supervision in a Docuseries for her work on Hip Hop Was Born Here Season 1, and we talk about why it was so important to pay homage to sampling through this project.
Music industry groups push US Senate to tighten TICKET Act, cap resale fees at 10%
A group of music and live entertainment organizations is pressing the Senate to toughen federal ticketing legislation, arguing that the current version of the TICKET Act is insufficient in protecting fans.
– Mandy Dalugdug, Music Business Worldwide
The Fix the Tix coalition, led by the National Independent Venue Association, wrote an open letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation calling for changes to the TICKET Act (S. 281).
U.S. Music Streaming Hits Record 130 Million Subscribers: New MusicWatch Study
The saturation point for music streaming in the U.S. continues to be a moving target. According to a new study from MusicWatch, the number of paid music streaming subscribers in the United States reached 130 million in 2025.
– Bruce Houghton, Hypebot
This marks 10% jump from 2024, proving that despite price hikes and a mature market, Americans still view their music subscriptions as an “essential” utility.
Live Nation confirms settlement with the US Department of Justice; sets aside $280M for damages claims from states
Live Nation Entertainment has confirmed details of its settlement with the US Department of Justice in the antitrust lawsuit that had threatened to break up the company. The deal allows Live Nation to retain ownership of its ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster.
– Murray Stassen, Music Business Worldwide
The settlement, first reported by Politico on Monday (March 9), comes around a week into a trial that had been expected to last five to six weeks.
The company said in a press release on Monday that the settlement “resolves all remaining matters with the DOJ, without any admission of wrongdoing”, and will be reflected in a final proposed judgment submitted to the court for approval. Live Nation noted that a portion of the original claims were dismissed by the court before trial began.
Google had every opportunity to train its AI legally, but chose to do it on the cheap instead, say indie musicians in new lawsuit
A group of independent artists are suing Google over its Lyria music AI model, which they claim has been trained on tens of millions of recordings without the necessary licences from the music industry.
– Chris Cooke, Complete Music Update
In a filing with the Illinois courts, the musicians acknowledge that their legal action joins a long list of copyright lawsuits filed by creators and rightsholders against generative AI companies, some of which also relate to music AI. However, they insist, “Google’s conduct is different”.
TikTok Teams With Apple Music to Allow Users to Stream Full Songs
Apple Music and TikTok have joined forces to launch a product that allows TikTok users to play full songs on the platform without having to leave the app.
– Steven J. Horowitz, Variety
The companies announced on Wednesday that they will launch “Play Full Song,” which gives Apple Music subscribers the option to hear a full song they might discover while browsing on TikTok. The “Play Full Song” button can be found on the For You page or the Sound Detail page for any given song, and users can save those songs to Your Music and add them directly to their Apple Music playlists.
Spotify Loud & Clear Report 2026: $11B Paid as Global Musical Middle Class Expands
Spotify’s 2026 Loud & Clear report is out, and if you look closely at the numbers, the story isn’t just about who’s at the top of the charts. It’s about who owns the foundation of the new music economy.
– Bruce Houghton, Hypebot
For the second year running, independent artists and labels generated roughly half of all royalties on Spotify, accounting for a massive chunk of the $11 billion paid out in 2025.
And according to Spotify, streaming success is also turning into ticket sales.