{"id":221685,"date":"2025-01-24T18:38:53","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T18:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=221685"},"modified":"2025-01-24T18:47:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T18:47:24","slug":"from-suno-being-sued-by-gema-to-weverses-150m-lifetime-downloads-its-mbws-weekly-round-up12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/from-suno-being-sued-by-gema-to-weverses-150m-lifetime-downloads-its-mbws-weekly-round-up12\/","title":{"rendered":"From Suno being sued by GEMA to Weverse’s 150m lifetime downloads… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to\u00a0Music Business Worldwide<\/a>\u2019s weekly round-up \u2013 where we make sure\u00a0you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW\u2019s round-up is supported by\u00a0<\/i>Centtrip<\/i><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0which helps over 500 of the world\u2019s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.<\/i><\/p>\n

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This week, rumors about a possible sale of audio tech company Sonos<\/strong> made a comeback.\u00a0Bloomberg News<\/em>\u00a0speculated that\u00a0Amazon<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0Spotify<\/strong> are the likeliest suitors for the firm if its board decides to sell, following a fallout over <\/span>a problem-plagued software rollout.<\/p>\n

In copyright lawsuit news, we learned that Mike Caren<\/strong>‘s APG<\/strong> is suing Create Music Group<\/strong>, alleging that Create claimed the copyrights on YouTube<\/strong> videos of APG songs, and entered into “bogus contracts” with APG-signed artists.<\/p>\n

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We also learned that AI music generator Suno<\/strong>, after being sued by the majors last year, is now facing another lawsuit, this one from German collection society GEMA<\/strong>, accusing it of training its AI models on copyrighted works without permission.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, HYBE<\/strong>‘s superfan platform Weverse<\/strong> released a new report, showing it had passed the 150 million<\/strong> downloads mark while attracting top-tier talent like Dua Lipa<\/strong> and Megan Thee Stallion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Finally, a\u00a0Netflix<\/strong> price hike highlighted the widening gap between the video streaming giant’s pricing and that of Spotify’s<\/strong><\/span>. With Netflix’s new pricing in the US, a Netflix Standard subscription\u00a0now costs $72 more per year<\/strong> than an individual Premium Spotify account.<\/p>\n

Here’s what happened this week…<\/p>\n

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Eric Glenn \/ Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>1) SONOS TAKEOVER SPECULATION GROWS, WITH SPOTIFY OR AMAZON TIPPED AS POTENTIAL SUITORS (REPORT)<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

Could an acquisition bid soon be made for audio technology company Sonos<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

The fallout from its app rollout in 2024 and the company\u2019s recent leadership shakeup, which saw CEO Patrick Spence<\/strong> and Chief Product Officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin<\/strong> depart last week, have intensified speculation about potential buyers if the company\u2019s board decides to sell.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s recent struggles have pushed its market value down to $1.7 billion<\/strong> from over $5 billion<\/strong> during its pandemic peak.<\/p>\n

Bloomberg<\/em>\u2019s Mark Gurman<\/strong> points to Spotify<\/strong> and Amazon<\/strong> as the most probable suitors, each offering distinct advantages for a potential acquisition…<\/p>\n

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T. Schneider \/ Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>2) $500M-VALUED SUNO HIT WITH NEW COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT FROM GERMANY\u2019S GEMA<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

AI music generator Suno<\/strong> continues to be one of the most controversial entities in the music business today.<\/p>\n

In June, the $500 million<\/strong> company was sued by the major record companies, along with fellow AI firm Udio<\/strong>, for allegedly training their systems using the majors\u2019 recordings without permission \u2013 an accusation they pretty much admitted to in court filings in August.<\/p>\n

Now Suno is also being sued for copyright infringement by German collection society and licensing body\u00a0GEMA<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

GEMA represents the copyrights of around 95,000<\/strong> members in Germany (composers, lyricists, music publishers) as well as over 2 million<\/strong> rightsholders worldwide…<\/p>\n

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Phanphen Kaewwannarat\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/a><\/figure><\/span>3) APG SUES CREATE MUSIC GROUP FOR ALLEGED \u2018MASSIVE WILLFUL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT\u2019<\/a><\/h6>\n

Mike Caren<\/strong>\u2019s indie music company APG<\/strong> has sued Create Music Group<\/strong>, claiming that Create engaged in \u201cbrazen thievery<\/strong>\u201d of APG\u2019s songs and recordings.<\/p>\n

In a complaint filed with the US District Court for the Central District of California on Tuesday (January 21), publisher Artist Publishing Group<\/strong>, label Artist Partner Group<\/strong>, and distributor Release Global LLC<\/strong> alleged that Create Music Group claimed the copyrights on YouTube<\/strong> videos of works owned or licensed by APG.<\/p>\n

The complaint also alleges that Create has \u201cmade a weak and unavailing attempt to justify their copyright infringement of [APG\u2019s] recordings and compositions by entering into bogus \u2018contracts\u2019 with certain artists who created these recordings and compositions\u201d \u2013 knowing they were already signed to APG…<\/p>\n

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Press\/UMG\/Katia Temkin<\/figcaption><\/figure>4) WEVERSE HIT 150M LIFETIME DOWNLOADS, SAW 19% USER GROWTH IN 2024, AS ARIANA GRANDE, DUA LIPA JOIN SUPERFAN PLATFORM<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

HYBE<\/strong>\u2019s superfan platform, Weverse<\/strong>, hit the milestone of 150 million<\/strong> cumulative global downloads in 2024.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to Weverse\u2019s 2024 Global Fandom Trend Report<\/strong>, where the company revealed that the number of artist communities on the platform grew 30% YoY<\/strong> to 162<\/strong> in 2024.<\/p>\n

The report also reveals that the platform\u2019s user base grew consistently across all continents, with an average growth rate of 19%<\/strong> last year.<\/p>\n

Sixteen separate global artist teams joined Weverse during the year, with high-profile international stars like Ariana Grande<\/strong>, Dua Lipa<\/strong>, Megan Thee Stallion<\/strong>, and Conan Gray<\/strong> driving double-digit user growth across North America, Europe, and Asia…<\/p>\n

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Venti Views\/Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>5) WITH LATEST PRICE INCREASE, NETFLIX\u2019S STANDARD SUBSCRIPTION NOW COSTS $72 MORE PER YEAR THAN SPOTIFY PREMIUM IN THE US<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n

Netflix<\/strong> has raised its subscription prices in the US for the first time in nearly a year-and-a-half, further widening the price gap between the video streaming giant and music streaming leader Spotify<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Under its latest US pricing, Netflix is increasing the cost of its ad-free Standard plan, which allows for two simultaneous HD streams, by $2.50 per month, to $17.99<\/strong> from $15.49.<\/p>\n

The Premium tier, meanwhile, now costs $24.99<\/strong>, up $2 from $22.99.<\/p>\n

As a result, subscribing to Netflix\u2019s Standard tier will now cost you approximately $72 more per year<\/strong> than subscribing to Spotify\u2019s individual Premium (at $11.99 per month)…<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>MBW\u2019s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world\u2019s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The biggest stories from the past week \u2013 all in one place\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":111195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[839,2458,5103,193,1295,940,108,131536,130640],"class_list":["post-221685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-artist-partner-group","tag-create-music-group","tag-gema","tag-netflix","tag-sonos","tag-spotify","tag-suno","tag-weverse"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}