Spotify Dethroned, Suno Breached, AI Lawsuits Advance — July 23

Apple Music has quietly dethroned Spotify among US premium subscribers, Suno confirmed a massive data breach exposing 55 million users, and the American Federation of Musicians is pushing its AI licensing lawsuit against the two biggest majors forward. Meanwhile, Sony's $1.27B Queen deal gets its first financial confirmation, and a landmark Anthropic copyright settlement clears final approval. Deals & M&A • Sony's Rock Bidco filings confirm the Queen catalog acquisition at GBP £1.079 billion, generating £26.8M in royalties. • Nothing Standard launches publishing JV with UMPG UK and a new label via Virgin Music Group. • Reservoir Media acquires Nacional Records' catalog and publishing arm, adds Latin artist JV. Lawsuits & AI • AFM urges court to let its lawsuit against UMG and WMG over Suno/Udio AI deals proceed. • Concord v. Anthropic narrows to direct infringement claims, sharpening stakes ahead of a ruling. • Suno confirms November 2025 data breach exposing personal data of 55.3 million users. • Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement — largest known in US history — receives final court approval. Streaming & Tech • Apple Music overtakes Spotify in US premium subscribers after Spotify's $12.99 price hike. • YouTube ads hit $11.06 billion in Q2 2026, up 12.9%, but subscriptions are growing even faster. • Instagram lets creators swap music on published posts without deleting and re-uploading content. Live & Touring • Massachusetts' Great Divide Act would cap resale tickets at 110% face value, backed by RIAA, NIVA, and others. Artists & Releases • Johnny Cash's personal archive will be permanently housed at Belmont University in Nashville. International • UK recorded-music exports hit a record £800.3 million in 2025, led by Olivia Dean and Lola Young. • France becomes first EU nation to ban under-15s from social media, with music discovery implications. Five minutes, six categories, zero fluff.

Transcript

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Today's Thursday, july twenty third, twenty twenty six. First up, deals and MA. Sony Music's acquisition of Queen's Catalog is now officially on the books. The company used a vehicle called RockBidCo to buy the catalog for roughly $1.27 billion. Court filings show RockBidco received just over $1.79 billion from its US parent company in the first 13 months, and in that same period, the Queen Catalog generated £26.8 million in royalties. Meanwhile, a UK sync agency called Nothing Standard launched two new ventures this month. They created Nothing Standard Publishing, a joint venture with UMPG UK, plus Nothing Standard Recordings, distributed through Virgin Music Group. Both are built around sync placements for TV, film, and ads. And Reservoir Media acquired the entire catalog of independent Latin label Nacional Records, along with its publishing arm Canciones Nacionales. Reservoir also struck a joint venture with Nacional to develop new Latin artists and songwriters, though financial terms weren't disclosed. Next, lawsuits and AI. The American Federation of Musicians, the union representing session players, is fighting to keep its lawsuit alive against Universal and Warner Music Group. The AFM argues that the majors AI licensing deals with Suno and UDIO triggered what's called a new use clause in their collective bargaining agreement, meaning musicians should get extra compensation. A New York federal court is weighing whether to dismiss the case. Separately, direct infringement claims are now front and center in the Concorde versus anthropic litigation. Most of the contributory infringement claims have been shed, which narrows but sharpens the legal stakes moving forward. And AI music generator Suno confirmed it suffered a data breach last November. Breach notification service Have I Been Pwned obtained a copy of the breached dataset, reportedly exposing personal information of 55.3 million users. Finally, on July 20th, a federal judge granted final approval to Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement, the largest known U.S. copyright settlement on record. It resolves claims that the AI company unlawfully acquired books. Publishers like Bloomsbury plan to split their share 50-50 with authors. On to streaming and tech. Apple Music just overtook Spotify to become the streaming service with the most US premium subscribers. A decisive shift driven by Spotify's price hike to $12.99 a month back in January. Apple Music held its price steady at 1099. YouTube's parent company Alphabet reported that ads generated $11.06 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up nearly 13% year over year. But Alphabet executives told analysts that YouTube's subscription business, YouTube Music and Premium combined, is growing faster than ads. And Instagram rolled out a new feature this week. Creators can now swap out music on posts and carousels without deleting and re-uploading the content. It's a quality of life win for music promotion on the platform. On to live and touring. Massachusetts Governor Mora Healy is advancing legislation called the Great Divide Act, named after Noah Kahan's album, aimed at controlling the resale ticket market. The bill would cap resale prices at 110% of face value, limit secondary platform fees to 10%, and ban speculative and ghost tickets. It's gained backing from the National Independent Venues Association, the Recording Industry Association of America, the Music Artist Coalition, and others. Now Artist News. Johnny Cash's personal archive will be permanently housed at Belmont University in Nashville, in a partnership with the Cash Family and the John R. Cash Revocable Trust. Finally, International. The British phonographic industry reports that UK recorded music exports hit an all-time high of 800.3 million pounds. That's $1.07 billion in 2025. The spike was driven by international breakthroughs from artists like Olivia Dean, Lola Young, and Pink Panthers. But growth has slowed to just 0.8% as competition intensifies from the US, South Korea, and Latin America. And France became the first European nation to pass a law banning children under 15 from social media. A move with ripple effects for music discovery and how young audiences connect with artists on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. That's your music industry rundown. See you tomorrow.