HarbourView Buys Max Martin Catalog, Live Nation–Trump Filings Drop — June 25

Music Industry Daily

HarbourView's nine-figure acquisition of Max Martin and Shellback's catalog leads a deal-heavy Thursday, while explosive court filings reveal Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino's direct communications with President Trump ahead of the DOJ's antitrust settlement. Meanwhile, indie advocates are pushing back hard on YouTube's AI training claims, and Spotify's superfan ticket program goes live.

Deals & M&A

• HarbourView acquired select Max Martin + Shellback compositions — covering Swift, Grande, and Weeknd hits — for a low-nine-figure sum.
• Canada's ICM Crescendo Music Royalty Fund is rumored for sale at $500M+, with Carlyle-backed Litmus Music among reported suitors.
• Sony Music Publishing Scandinavia acquired Sound Pollution Songs' roughly 5,000-work catalog.
• Core music industry funding topped $3.2 billion in Q2 2026, one of the most capital-intensive quarters on record.

Lawsuits & AI

• Court filings show Live Nation CEO Rapino spoke with Trump in February and maintained White House Counsel contact before the $200M DOJ settlement.
• Anthropic — facing a $3B+ suit from UMG, Concord, and ABKCO — now accuses Alibaba of cloning Claude via fake accounts to train a rival AI.
• Entertainer Maren Flagg filed an amended trademark complaint against Taylor Swift, UMG, and Bravado over the Life of a Showgirl album brand.
• A2IM, Music Artists Coalition, and Ed Newton-Rex condemned YouTube's claim that its terms of service permit using uploads to train Lyria 3.

Streaming & Tech

• Spotify launched Reserved by Spotify in the US, giving Premium superfans pre-sale access to two tickets per tour, starting with Role Model.
• Spotify's Istanbul office officially opened June 18 as Turkish music surpassed 294 billion all-time streams, up 190% in five years.
• The Atlantic published a searchable database exposing 20M+ tracks across four undisclosed AI training datasets.
• Spotify now lets artists upload full-length music videos directly, bypassing distributors entirely.

Live & Touring

• 30+ state AGs who proceeded to trial against Live Nation won a monopoly verdict; a remedy ruling — potentially ordering a Ticketmaster breakup — is still pending.

Artists & Releases

• The Leonard Cohen Estate formally objected to Hallelujah being performed at Trump's Freedom 250 celebration; the warning was publicly ignored.
• NASCAR and The Rolling Stones announced a collaboration spanning merchandise, vinyl, and driver integrations.

International

• Over 200 artists — including Coldplay, Brian Eno, Massive Attack, Robert Smith, and Michael Stipe — signed a letter urging world leaders to back a global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Five minutes, six categories, zero fluff.

Transcript

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Today is Thursday, june twenty fifth, twenty twenty six. First up, deals and MA. Harborview Equity Partners has acquired the publisher's share of select compositions from Max Martin and Shellback's Wolf Cousins Collective, a low nine figure deal that includes songs by Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and The Weekend. Meanwhile, Canada-based ICM Crescendo Music Royalty Fund is the subject of growing sale rumors with a reported $500 million plus price tag. Carlisle-backed Litmus Music is said to be among potential acquirers. And Sony Music Publishing Scandinavia has acquired the rights to Sound Pollution Songs catalog of approximately 5,000 works. Moving to lawsuits and AI, cord filings have revealed that Live Nation CEO Michael Rupino personally spoke with President Trump in February and had ongoing White House counsel communications before the DOJ's surprise antitrust settlement, which included a $200 million payment and venue concessions. Separately, Anthropic, already facing a $3 billion plus copyright suit from UMG, Concorde, and AB Casio over alleged unlicensed song lyric training, has now accused Alibaba of running what it calls a distillation attack. That's essentially cloning an AI model's behavior using fake clawed accounts to train a rival AI. An entertainer Marin Flagg, performing as Marin Wade, filed an amended trademark complaint against Taylor Swift, UMG, and Bravado over the life of a Shogirl album brand after Swift's team moved to dismiss the original suit on jurisdictional grounds. Indie artist advocates, including A2IM CEO Ian Harrison, have also publicly condemned Alphabet's claim that YouTube's terms of service permit using uploaded music to train its Liria 3 AI model, calling the position outrageous. Next up, streaming in tech. Spotify has launched Reserved by Spotify in the US, a feature that holds two pre-sale concert tickets for premium superfans based on streaming engagement in an exclusive multi-year partnership with Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Role Model is the first artist tour participant. Meanwhile, Spotify officially opened its Istanbul office, fulfilling a 2025 commitment made to Turkish regulators. Turkish music has now surpassed 294 billion all-time streams on the platform, up 190% in five years. On to Live and Touring. The Live Nation DOJ Antitrust Settlement, announced mid-trial in March, involved White House council meetings. Thirty plus state attorneys general have proceeded to trial, won a monopoly verdict, and now await the judge's remedy ruling, which could still order a live nation ticketmaster breakup. Now artist news. The Leonard Cohen estate formally objected to Hallelujah being performed at Trump's Freedom 250 celebration in Washington on Wednesday. The warning was publicly ignored. NASCAR and the Rolling Stones announced a bespoke collaboration spanning merchandise, vinyl, and the drivers themselves. And Madonna confirmed her long-developed biopic was shelved after budget disagreements with Universal Pictures, and a planned rework as a Netflix series also stalled due to rights and creative hurdles. Finally, International. Over 200 artists, including Coldplay, Massive Attack, Brian Eno, Robert Smith, and Michael Stipe, signed an open letter calling on world leaders to support a global fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty. That's your music industry rundown. Have a good Thursday.