It’s the weekly headline roundup!
This week we’re looking at more unlicensed social media syncs, copyright reclaims and the US Supreme Court, AI impact, AI licensing, and more.
Majors and BMG lose Supreme Court fight over songwriters’ worldwide copyright reclaims – on a technicality
The majors and BMG have lost their bid to get the US Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that lets songwriters reclaim their copyrights worldwide.
– Tim Ingham, Music Business Worldwide
Their challenge ended on Monday (October 19) without the court ruling on its merits, after four of its nine justices sat the case out.
The court’s order states that Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson “took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.” It does not give a reason.
That left the court short of the six justices it needs to act on a case.
New studies explore AI expectations, jobs impact and gender gap
Beyond the AI-music debates that have been gripping our industry, there’s a lot to think about in terms of the other ways AI will affect our jobs and wider society. Several studies published in recent days offer new perspectives on that.
– Stuart Dredge, Music Ally
Goldman Sachs Raises Music Industry Growth Forecast for First Time in 3 Years
For the first time in three years, the closely watched Goldman Sachs “Music in the Air” report raised its growth forecast for certain areas of the music industry economy, as music shifts from a reliance on subscriber growth and streaming penetration to a mature era based on monetization.
– Elizabeth Dilts Marshall, Billboard
The report’s authors said the global recorded music market in 2025 beat its prior expectations by growing 6.4% to $31.7 billion in constant currency compared to 2024 — a beat of 60 basis points.
Kroger and LG sued by Puppy Songs creator over alleged unlicensed use of TikTok hit ‘Cheese Tax’
The Kroger Co. and LG Electronics U.S.A. have each been sued for allegedly using the TikTok song Cheese Tax in promotional videos without a license.
– Mandy Dalugdug, Music Business Worldwide
The two lawsuits were filed by Georgia-based musician Matthew Michael Hobbs, known as Matt Hobbs. He is the creator of Puppy Songs, which the complaints describe as “a collection of nearly 200 original songs that tell stories about life with a dog.”
Major labels are getting “massive corporate payouts” for AI licensing but “paying musicians zero”, says AFM’s ‘Human Made Human Paid’ campaign
The American Federation Of Musicians has launched a new campaign around AI under the banner Human Made Human Paid. It is calling for “musician consent, credit and compensation” whenever “human art is used for AI development” and it’s part of the performer union’s ongoing attempts to “secure guardrails in upcoming negotiations with the major labels”.
– Chris Cooke, CMU
The union is currently negotiating with the majors to agree a new Sound Recording Labor Agreement for its members, which is particularly important for session musicians in the US. AFM says it has “negotiated throughout the year to secure the best possible contract”, but “after four rounds of bargaining sessions, negotiations remain ongoing and stalled as the union pushes for contractual guardrails” in relation to AI.
Will the next social media competitor be social at all?
With Meta in the regulatory hotseat and western “social” apps becoming increasingly entertainment-first, a natural question arises: is the opportunity ripe for a new competitor?
– Hanna Kahlert, MIDiA
Few saw TikTok coming, but the short-form video app – boosted by the Covid pandemic – has reshaped the social media landscape dramatically. Now, the social marketplace is seemingly at maturity again, with a bifurcation emerging between entertainment-first platforms (e.g., YouTube and TikTok) versus peer-to-peer apps (e.g., WhatsApp and Discord). Facebook and Instagram still straddle the middle of an increasingly widening divide in how audiences engage with the platforms, with the most-cited main reason for using social media now “entertainment” over “connecting with friends” (as per MIDiA Q2 2026 consumer survey).