Music

Indie Music Subreddit Bans ‘Anonymous’ Record Label Accounts

Independent music subreddit r/indieheads issues a ban on accounts run by record labels posing as regular users to promote artists on their roster. An independent music community on Reddit, the subreddit r/indieheads, has announced that an internal investigation by the moderation team found a surge...

Digital Music News 5h ago
Met Gala Backlash

We could handle Jeff Bezos as a nerd… It’s one thing to get a divorce, it’s quite another to get involved with the wife of your good friend. That’s a bad look, but even worse is HIS look and his now wife’s look! If there’s anyone who likes Lauren Sánchez, they must be related to […]

Lefsetz Letter 8h ago
Pussycat Dolls Cancel North American Tour After Sagging Ticket Sales

After a broad stroke of tour cancellations across the industry due to weak ticket sales, the Pussycat Dolls pull the plug on their North American run. Just moments after Post Malone pushed back the start of his tour with Jelly Roll and cancelled the first few shows in the process, The Pussycat...

Digital Music News 10h ago
M.I.A. Claps Back After Getting Kicked Off Kid Cudi’s ‘Rebel Ragers Tour’

M.I.A. got booed for her remarks during her set in Dallas, leading Kid Cudi to remove her from his Rebel Ragers Tour. Now she’s speaking out. Over the weekend, M.I.A. had the crowd booing during her set in Dallas on Kid Cudi’s “Rebel Ragers Tour.” The “Paper Planes” singer and rapper claimed she...

Digital Music News 10h ago
Babydoll

This Dominic Fike song from 2018 is only 1:38 long. All the focus is on how this eight year old number suddenly gained traction on social media, blasting “Babydoll” to the top of the Spotify chart both globally and in the U.S. If you do research, you cannot figure out why.

Lefsetz Letter 10h ago
Taylor Swift Trademark Applications

Trademark law is evolving to address nontraditional sensory marks amidst advancements in AI. Taylor Swift's recent trademark filings aim to protect her voice and image from AI-generated imitations.

MUSIC • TECHNOLOGY • POLICY 14h ago
RCN’s Long-Running Legal Battle Against UMG, Sony, WMG Hits the Pause Button

Internet provider RCN’s legal battle against the major labels seems to be winding down, with proceedings officially paused until June 29. The long-running legal battle between internet provider RCN and the big three (Universal, Sony, and Warner) has been put on pause, with proceedings set to resume...

Digital Music News 16h ago
Britney Spears Pleads Guilty to DUI, Will Avoid Jail Time

Britney Spears has pleaded guilty in her DUI case at an arraignment that took place on Monday morning. The pop singer entered her plea to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, meaning she will avoid jail time, reports the New York Times.

Variety 18h ago
Eagles Extend Las Vegas Sphere Residency With Six Shows in Fall 2026

The Eagles have extended their multi-year residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, announcing on Monday an additional six shows later this year: Friday, September 18, Saturday, September 19, Friday, November 13, Saturday, November 14, Friday, November 27 and Saturday, November 28.

Variety 20h ago
Barry Manilow Postpones Vegas Residency Due to Cancer

Barry Manilow is making great progress with his cancer treatment, but postpones the start of his Vegas residency as a result. He’ll be back in July. Over the weekend, legendary singer Barry Manilow announced that while he’s “making great progress” with his cancer treatment, he has to cancel his...

Digital Music News 1d ago
Introducing Achordion: The Missing Online Community of the Open Music Stack

For a while now, when I’ve talked about Parachord, I’ve described it as one half of something. The other half just shipped: it’s called Achordion, it lives at achordion.xyz, and it’s the user experience I’ve wanted on top of ListenBrainz data since the first time I logged in.

Parachord Blog 1d ago
Dave Mason-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in Saturday May 2nd to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West. Phone #: 844-686-5863 If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz

Lefsetz Letter 3d ago
Stiff Tours

KID ROCK – FREEDOM 250 TOUR He hasn’t had a hit in eons. Even for the show tonight, at the Dos Equis Pavilion, it’s a sea of blue dots on the Ticketmaster app. I’d put it at around 30% unsold. Now it is an amphitheatre, with its attendant bonus charges…i.e.

Lefsetz Letter 3d ago
Kanye Concert in Albania Given the Go-Ahead Amid European Cancellations

The Albanian Prime Minister confirms that a Kanye West concert will go ahead in the country, despite several cancelled shows in Europe and Australia. On Thursday, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced on social media that a Kanye West concert will go ahead as planned in the country on July 11...

Digital Music News 3d ago
USTR Special 301 Report Upholds Intellectual Property as US Trade Priority

RIAA SVP International Policy George York Lauds Findings WASHINGTON, DC (May 1, 2026) – The US Trade Representative (USTR)’s annual Special 301 Report stresses the critical importance of intellectual property rights and underscores the vital contributions of American creators to US economic growth,...

RIAA 3d ago
Charli XCX is planning ‘conversations’ with fans in New York

Fancy a chat with Charli XCX? If you’re in New York, you may have to join a long queue… With fans eagerly awaiting her next post-Brat move, the British star’s latest Instagram post reveals plans for something called ‘Conversations’ to be held in New York this month.

Music Ally 3d ago
Financials roundup: Apple, Roblox and Reddit Q1 2026 trends

Q1 financial-results season is up and running, so much so that we’re having to bundle some of the key announcements together today for reasons of space. We’ll start with Apple, which enjoyed a bumper $111.2bn quarter – its fiscal Q2 – including $30.98bn of revenues from its services: music, TV,...

Music Ally 3d ago
TuneCore will not distribute AI tracks made on ‘pirate studios’

Believe and its TuneCore subsidiary have adopted a new policy when it comes to AI-generated music: they will not distribute tracks made using “pirate studios”. Note the small ‘p’ and ’s’ – this isn’t an unexpected crusade against the popular network of self-serve recording studios.

Music Ally 3d ago
Hip-hop trends: Genre-blends, fan communities, discovery worries

Online hip-hop community Rap Fame has been surveying its independent artists – 1,595 of them to be specific – to uncover some current trends in the genre. Among the findings: genre boundaries are “seriously fluid” with more than 83% of respondents saying they flit between different sub-genres.

Music Ally 3d ago
PRS for Music reveals its collections grew by 7.7% in 2025

UK collecting society PRS for Music has published its annual financial results, revealing that its collections grew by 7.7% to £1.24bn in 2025. £1.07bn of that was paid out to songwriters, composers and music publishers, up 4.9% year-on-year.

Music Ally 3d ago
TikTok launches new feature for audience reach

TikTok has just announced a new optimisation reminiscent of YouTube tags, which could be beneficial for artists reaching their intended audience. As app researcher Jonah Manzano posted to Threads, in addition to TikTok’s automatically-added keywords to posts based on popular searches, the feature...

Music Ally 3d ago
Vine is (kinda) back, baby

Big news for any wistful former Vine users in the house – the app is getting a reboot, under the new name Divine. Divine is offering access to roughly 500,000 restored Vine videos from the original service, as well as offering creators the floor to post new Vines, which has attracted the attention...

Music Ally 3d ago
Behind “Turn The Lights Off” by Justė

The 2025 revival of “Turn The Lights Off” is a textbook example of how a 15-year-old catalogue hit can be translated into a modern one. By pairing a nostalgic track with a high-intensity artist development program for the Lithuanian newcomer, the team achieved 1 billion radio plays and 37m Spotify...

Music Ally 3d ago
Ann Says Vote!

It's that time again. Make sure you vote.

MUSIC • TECHNOLOGY • POLICY 4d ago
Sandbox Guide :: The perfect pivot

“An artist is usually ready for a brand evolution when they’ve exhausted the current version of themselves” Sandbox Guides are for music marketers: They explain how you can use new platforms, create new strategies, and build new audiences.

Music Ally 4d ago
Roblox, social media, and the future of AI integration

The AI race is well underway, with social media companies going all-in. Meta’s triple-digit-billion investment in the space has pushed its AI developments across the board, from a recent partnership with Overview Energy to power servers with satellite solar (per Social Media Today ), to...

MIDiA Research Blog 4d ago
Verified by Spotify badge lets you know this artist isn’t AI

Spotify is launching a new verification program to combat spam, fakes, and AI. Some artists will now have a "Verified by Spotify" badge and a green checkmark on their profile, indicating that the company has confirmed a real person is behind the music and the profile.

The Verge 4d ago
YouTube ads were a $9.88bn business in first quarter of 2026

Alphabet was another tech giant announcing its latest quarterly financial results this week – including the latest update on YouTube’s advertising business. That generated $9.88bn of revenues in the first quarter, up 10.7% year-on-year.

Music Ally 4d ago
Meta blames Iran and Russia for decline in daily active users

Red alert, red alert, klaxon klaxon! Meta had 3.56 billion daily active people across its apps in March 2026, down from 3.58 billion people in December 2025. Clear the decks for How It All Went Wrong For Meta hot takes! The flight has begu… Alright, maybe not.

Music Ally 4d ago
The Business Side Of Singing With Patrice Peris On My Latest Podcast

What separates a talented singer from an artist who can actually build a career? On this week’s podcast episode, I talk with vocal coach, singer, songwriter, and artist developer Patrice Peris about contemporary vocal technique, emotional performance, artist branding, music business fundamentals,...

Music 3.0 Music Industry Blog 5d ago