Welcome to our Weekly Headline Roundup!
This week, we’re looking at U.S. recorded music revenue, RIAA updates, the latest trends in AI-generated tracks, and more.
RIAA Switches Key Revenue Metrics From Retail to Wholesale: What to Know
After decades of reporting revenue numbers in retail terms, the RIAA has switched its main metric to wholesale figures. Here are two charts tracking the difference.
– Dan Rys, Billboard
Which Music Companies Had the Best Stock Returns in the Last Three Years?
The post-COVID boom in demand for music has been a financial boon for the industry. Some, however, have benefited more than others.
– Glenn Peoples, Billboard
Stock returns over the last three years (the period ended Aug. 29) show that a trio of music streaming companies, some K-pop agencies and a few live music companies have taken a majority of the spoils. Spotify, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) and NetEase Cloud Music have given investors an average return on investment of 408% over that period. Meanwhile, South Korea’s SM Entertainment’s 105.3% gain — coming entirely in the last 12 months — makes it the only other company to exceed a 100% return. In addition, as fans clamored for live music and sidelined artists resumed touring, concert promoters Live Nation and CTS Eventim gained 85.8% and 50.5%, respectively.
U.S. Recorded Music Revenue Hits $5.6B in First Half of 2025 as Paid Subscriptions Top $100 Million: RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America announced Tuesday that U.S. recorded music revenue reached $5.6 billion across all formats in the first half of 2025, marking a modest 1% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Streaming remained the dominant force in the market, generating $4.68 billion and accounting for 84% of total revenue, with paid subscriptions leading the way — growing 6.4% to 105 million accounts and contributing $3.2 billion, a 5.7% year-over-year increase.
– Marc Schneider, Billboard
Twenty One Pilots Sues Temu for Trademark Infringement Over ‘Blatant Copies’ of Merch
In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday (September 9), lawyers for Twenty One Pilots alleged that Temu “manufactures and sells a myriad of items that are counterfeit or blatant copies of plaintiff’s artwork, trademarks, and intellectual property.”
– Daniel Tencer, Music Business Worldwide
Nearly A Third Of All Tracks Uploaded To Deezer Are Now Fully AI-Generated, Says Platform
Deezer says it now receives over 30,000 fully AI-generated tracks daily, marking a sharp increase from the 20,000 figure it reported in April and the 10,000 it disclosed in January when it first launched its proprietary AI detection tool.
– Tim Ingham, Music Business Worldwide
According to the platform, up to 70% of plays for these fully AI-generated tracks have been detected as fraudulent, with the company filtering these streams out of royalty payments.
On…The China Paradox
China’s top two music streaming providers, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) and NetEase Cloud Music (NCM), counted around 171 million paying users between them at the close of 2024.
– Tim Ingham, Music Business Worldwide
That’s nearly double the volume of subscription streaming accounts in the US at the same juncture: 100 million (source: RIAA).
What’s more, China is growing way faster than the USA.