UMG, Splice Team on AI Music Creation Tools for Artists; Classical Music Is Making a Comeback… Or Did It Ever Leave?
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Midia Research says Spotify leads ad-supported music market
It claimed that Spotify is now the biggest ad-supported audio service by monthly active users, with 442.2 million of them at the end of June 2025, helping it to overtake Chinese DSP Tencent Music.
Classical Music Is Making a Comeback… Or Did It Ever Leave?
Every few years, headlines resurface claiming that ‘classical music is making a comeback’. But for those within the industry, it never really left. Instead, it’s been quietly evolving by reshaping itself to stay relevant in a fast-evolving musical and digital landscape.
UMG and Splice team on AI-powered music creation tools for artists
the major’s partnership with the music creation platform will provide a pathway for UMG and Splice to “create advanced commercial AI tools that can deliver high fidelity and precise expression of artistic intent”.
Openstage Puts Artists in Control of Fan Relationships by Uniting Once Fragmented Data
Fan information is scattered across ticketing platforms, social networks, streaming services, and ecommerce tools, none of which were built to give artists direct access or meaningful insight. Artists don’t control the channels where most fan interactions happen.
Musicful Launches New Feature: AI Music Video Generation
This AI music video update not only meets the demand for festive music videos but also fulfills users’ desire to create independent AI music channels! Musicful is no longer just an AI music generator — it’s now a complete suite of services designed to cater to the needs of all music enthusiasts.
Billboard just made ‘free’ streams worth more on its US charts. YouTube is still not happy – and is pulling its data.
In other words: paid streams will still be weighted more favorably than ad-supported plays, but by a smaller margin than before.
PPL payouts to artists and rightsholders total £277.7m in 2025
Good news for musicians in the UK who’ve been hanging on for their final payouts of the year before going Christmas shopping.
Live Nation expands in Thailand with Impact Arena deal
The deal gives Live Nation control of operations at the 40,000-square-meter venue with a seating capacity of 12,000.
3 Little Words
But my sense is the time may be right for the planets to line up for these trends that just might help us understand what the heck is happening in radio—and the larger media world in 2026.
Spotify roundtable identifies areas of government support for the music industry
The roundtable followed two similar events in October 2024 and March this year that brought together government leaders, artists, and music industry professionals in the capital to explore matters such as the export of Indian artist-first music globally.
How Many AI Artists Have Debuted on Billboard’s Charts?
AI music is no longer a fantasy or niche curiosity among internet sleuths — it’s here, and it’s already beginning to have an impact on Billboard’s charts.
I Like the Way You Stream It— Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” Bags 1 Billion+ Spotify Streams
After signing with XOXO Entertainment earlier this year, Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” has crossed one billion streams on Spotify—earning the song a spot on the Billions Club playlist.
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