And The Update Is… Rap Lyrics Banned in Court, AI Deals Stalling, and a $64B UMG Bombshell

(upbeat music) Ladies and gentlemen, we are back. And the writer is used to release a weekly news update. And so we are bringing it to you. Some news around the music industry this week of April 6th. The most important news, of course, was that my birthday was April 8th. So happy birthday to me. But actually breaking news this morning, Maryland has passed a law, the RAP Act, that would make it illegal for prosecutors to use rap lyrics against defendants that should hopefully set a stage for a federal law that would follow that. Congratulations, Dean of LePolt and the team who pushed for that. The biggest news of the industry this week that people are talking about is Pershing Square submitted a $64 billion bid for a universal music group. What's most interesting about that is that it shows how the company is highly undervalued and despite their strong performance. So I think there are still outside investors looking at the music industry as a distressed asset fascinating to watch what happens there. Sooner's licensing negotiation with major labels has stalled. They, of course, did their deal warner, but they have not progressed their deals with Sony and Universal, which leaves a lot of key questions about how their royalty system is unresolved. We will see how that pans out as they say with AI that it's like olympic. Everyone uses it. Just people don't want to admit it out loud. So Tick a Master teamed up with cash or trade on face value resale integration. Fascinating because this is what artists have been pushing for is that to reduce scalping and bots to bring it back to the cost of a ticket. This is about fans, this is about fans, but artists is not about bots making more money and scalpers outside of the United States and other regions trying to sell you tickets against the will of the artists. Other news that's interesting is that Hybe is doing an audition for a new Indian girl group. If you aren't watching the biggest streamers on DSPs are Indian and Asian. So this makes sense to continue to move West as music has done since the middle of the 18th century. So that is fascinating in and of itself. Other news to talk about this week. Let's talk about Miles Gersh. Getting, he's, he got a promotion. Miles Gersh signed Zach Bryan amongst others. Warner is making some moves over there. They are, they are moving, they are moving. Leyve also resigned with Warner Chapel. That's not a surprise, she's very close to her team. Lasso in my Chicago accent. Lasso, Lasso. Anyway, she signed to inner scope records. Obviously following her big hits that is a big move over there as well. So thank you guys so much for listening. We will try to give you a news update every week and stay tuned. Go check out our latest episode, which is with Dermott Kennedy. We got a new good one coming out on Tuesday. Talk to you soon, subscribe and we'll see you soon. [BLANK_AUDIO]