The Weekly Headline Roundup is back!
This week we’re looking at rewriting copyright law, New York Music Month, Spotify and Universal’s big AI music deal, Spotify reserved tickets, Live Nation, and more.
This may be the “moment” to rewrite copyright law, says US Copyright Office boss
The boss of the US Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, has told American lawmakers that they might want to consider rewriting US copyright law in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement in the major labels v Cox case. Internet service provider Cox Communications ultimately defeated the major labels’ lawsuit, which said the ISP should be held liable for its customers’ music piracy.
– Chris Cooke, Complete Music Update
Perlmutter’s comments will be welcomed by the majors which, despite insisting that the reach of the Cox ruling was “narrow”, are fully aware that the Supreme Court’s judgement has greatly hindered their ongoing efforts to combat music piracy.
New York Music Month Q&A: AI, Job Seeking, Mental Health & What Else to Expect This Year
For the past nine years, the New York City mayor’s office of media entertainment (MOME) has gotten on board with New York Music Month (NYMM), and Shira Gans, MOME’s senior executive director of policy and programs, is busy laying out the schedule for this year’s programming, which includes more than 40 talks and more than 20 performances in 30 days across all five boroughs.
– Ariel King, Billboard
Spotify and Universal Music Group strike landmark deal to let fans create AI covers and remixes – as a paid Premium add-on
Spotify and Universal Music Group have announced licensing agreements enabling fans to create AI-powered covers and remixes of songs from participating artists and songwriters.
– Tim Ingham, Music Business Worldwide
The new tool will launch as a paid add-on for Spotify Premium users, the companies said on Thursday (May 21), creating what they described as an additional revenue stream for artists and songwriters on top of existing Spotify royalties.
The new UMG-Spotify agreements span both recorded music and music publishing. All Spotify users will be able to play the created tracks.
Spotify’s Head of Music Announces ‘Reserved’ Ticketing Initiative: ‘As AI Proliferates, Real World Experiences Mean That Much More’
Spotify’s global head of music, Charlie Hellman, took the stage at the streaming service’s Investor Day on Thursday (May 21) to announce the launch of Reserved, a ticketing initiative that identifies an artist’s most dedicated fans and holds two tour tickets for them.
– Kristin Robinson, Billboard
This is a service designed to reward Spotify premium subscribers for their dedication to their favorite artists and to combat the rising challenges associated with ticket buying in a time when scalpers, bots and endless queues have become commonplace.
US No Fakes Act returns – and this time it includes music-streaming
Since 2023, American politicians have been trying to tackle unauthorized AI deepfakes with a piece of legislation called the No Fakes Act.
– Stuart Dredge, Music Ally
It was originally unveiled as a draft in 2023, then formally introduced in the US Senate in 2024. However, it ran out of time to become law before US elections that year, so was reintroduced in April 2025. Now it’s back in a revised version.
Live Nation should be forced to sell Ticketmaster and a bunch of amphitheaters, say the states that pursued antitrust litigation
The US states that successfully sued Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary for breaches of US competition law have submitted their sanctions wishlist to the judge overseeing the case. They insist that the judge should now order Live Nation to sell off Ticketmaster and a bunch of its amphitheater venues to bring to an end the live music giant’s unlawful, and surely unfair and unscrupulous, monopoly.
– Chris Cooke, Complete Music Update