It’s the weekly headline roundup!
This week we’re looking at unlicensed social media syncs, blocks on AI-generated music in DSPs, the new Music Tourism Bill, AI-music labeling, And proposed songwriter royalties from major DSPs.
Warner Music Sues Ray-Ban Owner for $64 Million Over Unlicensed Social Media Ad Synchs
Warner Music Group (WMG) claims in a new lawsuit that Ray-Ban’s parent company has used hundreds of its works in social media advertisements without paying for the rights.
– Rachel Scharf, Billboard
The legal complaint, filed on Friday (Oct. 9) and obtained by Billboard, accuses Italian eyewear conglomerate EssilorLuxottica of infringing 427 copyrights owned by WMG. The music company is seeking the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per work, adding up to a total of $64 million.
Deezer to let users block AI-generated music from search results
Deezer says it is introducing an on/off toggle that will let users exclude fully AI-generated music from their search results.
– Murray Stassen, Music Business Worldwide
The French streaming service said on Tuesday (October 13) that the feature will roll out globally before the end of 2026.
Deezer already removes tracks it detects as fully AI-generated from algorithmic recommendations and keeps them out of editorial playlists.
With the toggle switched on, AI-generated tracks, albums, and their related artists will not appear when users search for music on Deezer.
Bill Aimed at Promoting Music Tourism in U.S. Signed Into Law by President Trump
The American Music Tourism Act, a federal bill designed to support music tourism across the U.S., was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Wednesday (Oct. 14).
– Chris Eggertsen, Billboard
The legislation, which drew broad bipartisan support in Congress, was introduced in 2024 and revived last year. It requires the U.S. assistant secretary of commerce for travel and tourism to execute a plan to increase music tourism for both domestic and international visitors and submit a report to Congress on the “successes and vulnerabilities” of their goals.
Here’s exactly what Amazon, Spotify, Apple and other streaming services want to pay songwriters for 2028–2032
Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Pandora, and Google have filed their rate proposals in Phonorecords V, the US Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) proceeding that will set the mechanical royalty rates on-demand streaming services pay songwriters and music publishers for the five years starting January 1, 2028.
– Murray Stassen, Music Business Worldwide
The proposals were filed on October 5, and public, redacted versions followed on October 7.
Four of the five services want to keep the current deal largely in place for another five years. Amazon wants lower rates, and the publishers want a lot more.
YouTube Music to label AI-generated tracks using its own system
YouTube Music is the latest of the big streaming services to reveal how it plans to label AI-generated music. Its labels went live yesterday (14 October) for songs “created primarily using generative AI.”
– Stuart Dredge, Music Ally
“For example, this includes using a generative model to create the composition and vocals. These new music labels will also expand to the main YouTube app,” noted YouTube Music’s blog post.
The label takes the form of an ‘AI’ button that can be tapped to pop up more information about how a song wad made.