Business
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CAA’s global touring division has made its first major hire since announcing new leadership earlier this month, bringing veteran music agent Cheryl Paglierani and her A-list clients Post Malone, rapper 21 Savage, Flo Milli, Jessie Murp and Dominic Fike to the agency. Paglierani joins CAA from UTA, where she served as a partner. She previously […]
A filmmaker is suing Warner Music over the 2021 Tom Petty documentary Somewhere You Feel Free, calling the movie a “brazen exploitation” that used nearly an hour of his copyrighted film footage without permission.
In a lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles federal court, Martyn Atkins says he never gave the Somewhere producers consent to use hours of footage he filmed of the music legend during the 1990s but that the movie nonetheless contained “a shocking 45 minutes” of his materials.
“Atkins did not provide consent, did not otherwise license any of the footage, and was not compensated in any manner for the Film’s unauthorized, brazen exploitation of the works Atkins created and owns,” his attorneys wrote in a June 18 complaint.
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Released in March 2021, Somewhere You Feel Free promised viewers “never-before-seen footage” of Petty as he worked on his 1994 album Wildflowers. Much of the footage was filmed by Atkins, who served as art director for the album and says he often documented the proceedings with a 16mm camera. Later, Atkins says he and the music legend watched the footage and discussed eventually using it to create such a documentary.
But after Petty’s tragic death in 2017, the project didn’t come together until 2020, when Atkins says he was invited to a meeting with Petty’s daughter and other reps from his estate. After they promised him the job of directing the upcoming documentary, Atkins says, he provided them with a detailed breakdown of where he had stored the original footage at Warner Music’s storage facility.
But after that first encounter, he says he was “never asked to another meeting.”
“Atkins had been conned into believing he would produce and direct the film so that Atkins would reveal the location of his footage to defendants,” his lawyers write. “He was then cut out completely — in every imaginable respect. He was not even told as a courtesy that his works would be misappropriated and featured, let alone asked his consent.”
When he saw the movie, Atkins says he says he was shocked at what he saw: Roughly half of the movie’s 90-minute runtime was composed of his footage, including some of the “most compelling and iconic shots of Petty” in the movie. “Atkins simply could not believe it.”
A likely defense argument from Warner Music is that Atkins produced the footage as a so-called work-for-hire — a legal term meaning he created it at the request of someone else. If true, that would mean that even though Atkins filmed the footage, the rights to it were retained by Petty or the label. After all, he was the art director on Petty’s album and stored the film in Warner’s facilities.
But in his lawsuit, Atkins specifically aimed to preempt that argument: “The footage Atkins shot … was not subject to a work-for-hire or other such agreement. Atkins did not license the footage to Petty, Warner Records, any Warner Records affiliate, or anybody else. He was not acting as an employee of Petty or Warner Records, or any other party [and] here is no agreement in existence relating to any of the film footage.”
Beyond simply using the footage, the lawsuit claims that Somewhere‘s producers have “repeatedly misrepresented” that the footage was “magically and unexpectedly discovered” before the documentary was shot. “The film’s producers have systematically implemented this false narrative to manipulate the viewing public and bolster the marketing of the film,” the complaint reads.
In technical terms, the lawsuit names Warner Music unit WMG Productions LLC, as well as the film’s production company, Girl On LSD LLC. The lawsuit includes counts of direct and secondary copyright infringement and a claim that the defendants effectively stole his property.
Read the entire lawsuit here:
The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday (June 24) that CEO Bill Kramer will continue in his role through July 2028. Kramer’s contract, up for renewal in 2025, was approved one year early due to what the Academy calls “his exceptional leadership and significant contributions.” “Bill […]
Last July, more than 70 country songwriters and producers filtered into Sony Music Publishing’s Nashville office to hear a presentation from Beatstars, the popular website that allows artists to buy or lease full instrumentals for their own use. Seth Mosley, whose recent co-writes include songs recorded by Tim McGraw and Gabby Barrett, was in attendance that day, and he was compelled by the company’s pitch. He started posting beats on the platform regularly in December, hoping it could provide him with a new income stream — and another source of exposure.
But this way of working is unusual in country music. Beatstars was initially popularized by rappers and singers in R&B and pop, genres where it’s common for vocalists to use a fully-formed track as a jumping-off point. Music-making in Nashville is often more traditional, with ace session musicians recording in revered studios — a world away from the fast-moving online beat economy.
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With time, though, Beatstars’ success stories have become more varied, spreading to realms that were once ruled by bands playing instruments. ThxSoMch and Wisp found post-punk and neo-shoegaze instrumentals, respectively, on the platform, added their own vocals, and scored breakout moments and major-label deals. And country could be the next frontier.
Beatstars is noticing heightened interest in the genre as it surges in the U.S., says Greg Mateo, the platform’s president of music and publishing. In Mosley’s six months on Beatstars, he’s learned that “anything that’s got a Morgan Wallen spin to it is in high demand.”
That demand is growing on other music-making platforms as well. Bandlab, a mobile music creation app that now has more than 100 million users, has also seen excitement for country elevate in the U.S., according to CEO Meng Ru Kuok.
On top of that, statistics from Splice, which provides producers with a massive library of samples, indicate that its 8 million-strong user base is incorporating country flavors with greater frequency this year. User searches for “country” have more than doubled compared to 2023. And their interest in samples of instruments associated with the genre has soared, including banjo (searches are up 75%), mandolin (66%), pedal steel (113%) and fiddle (131%).
Producer BachBeats, who sells country instrumentals online, predicts that this enthusiasm on music creation platforms is only going to increase: The recent release of Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s collaboration “I Had Some Help,” which landed one of the biggest streaming debuts in history, “is going to bring a bunch of people from the hip-hop world into country.”
Beyoncé‘s recent references to the genre helped too, according to Xzaviar, another producer who sells country instrumentals. He says downloads of his productions “ticked up” after she released Cowboy Carter in March.
But importantly, the phenomenon appears larger than any single act or album: Xzaviar has quadrupled his income from beat sales on YouTube and Beatstars since August, with instrumentals in the style of Wallen or Zach Bryan performing especially well. It’s notable that, even though country music is most beloved in America, only 65% of Xzaviar’s sales come from the U.S.
Beatstars is trying to capitalize on this interest — and fan the flames. In June, they launched a new playlist to highlight their top country producers. “They’re really focused on country and getting a lot of country creators on the platform,” says Kenley Flynn, vp of creative for Sony Music Publishing Nashville. (The publisher and Beatstars first formed a partnership in 2020.)
Still, the rise of country in the online music-making economy may not be immediately felt in Nashville. Even though pre-programmed tracks aren’t uncommon in contemporary country, this model of working — buying a beat on a website — flies in the face of the industry’s longtime system for songwriting and producing. “The biggest hurdle for us is just it’s so not how the Nashville creative community operates,” Flynn acknowledges. “These writers are used to creating from 11a.m. till 3 p.m. in a room with two or three others,” often people they know.
And when it comes to producers, artists often find one they like and rely on that person to “cut everything,” Mosley says. In pop or hip-hop, every song on an album might be overseen by someone different, and each track could contain elements from a beat-maker that neither the artist nor the producer has met in person. That grab-bag approach remains rare in country music.
Norms are shifting in the genre, though — adaptations that are increasingly necessary since a country hit can now come from anywhere. More coastal record companies are signing country artists directly instead of relying on their Nashville office, for example. And country labels are increasingly taking part in the signing conversations around artists who go viral.
In other genres, the hits that explode on social media platforms are often cobbled together with help from places like Beatstars or Bandlab. It’s not a stretch to imagine the next Priscilla Block or Tucker Wetmore buying a “Morgan Wallen type beat” on YouTube before embarking on a savvy social media campaign that sparks a viral trend. As a “new generation of artists and songwriters comes in [to the music industry] they’re going to use the modern tools,” says Corey McAfee, who serves as director of global copyright for Sony Music Publishing Nashville.
The economics of these music creation platforms also position them to help would-be country stars. “If you’re bartending to make money and work on your music part-time, it can be very expensive to get in a room with a full band,” says David Morris, a Nashville-based rapper and singer who works with BachBeats and other country producers on Beatstars. “You need to be able to explore your sound or write to music, and you can lease some of these beats for less than $100.” (A lease comes with only limited rights, so if a song becomes a hit an artist has to make a new deal with the producer; acts also have the option to buy out beats from the start, though that is slightly more expensive.)
Band members might be able to benefit from offering their work online as well. “It’s not just so-called beat-makers on these platforms,” McAfee notes. “Maybe you’re an amazing guitar player, which we know this city is full of, and you’re making guitar loops” that can be used by vocalists around the world.
For Flynn, the math is simple. “Big songs have come from Beatstars, and there are producers on the platform that are earning tons of money by just selling their beats,” he says. For country artists and producers, “there’s a huge opportunity.”
AEG Presents and Tim Hinshaw’s Free Lunch have entered into a strategic partnership, Billboard can exclusively report. Under the terms of the partnership, Hinshaw will be responsible for securing and marketing hip-hop, R&B and gospel tours for AEG’s global touring division.
The alliance follows in the wake of Kendrick Lamar’s “The Pop Out — Ken & Friends.” The Juneteenth concert at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. was presented by pgLang and Free Lunch. Streamed to fans around the world on Amazon Music — Hinshaw’s current client — the event broke the record for the most minutes watched of any Amazon Music production.
In announcing the partnership, AEG Presents president of global touring Rich Schaefer said, “Tim’s connection to hip-hop and R&B — whether it’s the music, the artists or the culture — is unmatched. I’m excited to bring someone of Tim’ stature on to help our team expand in an area we’ve already had so much success in. His spirit and energy will be a great addition to the touring team, and we look forward to learning from him as we help build our business together.”
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Free Lunch founder and CEO Hinshaw added, “I am honored that this chapter started with Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Pop Out — Ken & Friends,’ an iconic moment for L.A. and hip-hop. Partnering with AEG is a natural next step for Free Lunch. I have been very fortunate in my career to play a role in delivering some of the most unforgettable live music experiences for the culture and look forward to continuing that success with Rich and the whole AEG team moving forward.”
Formerly Amazon Music’s head of hip-hop and R&B, Hinshaw launched Free Lunch in 2023. As noted in a release announcement, the multifaceted creative shop is principally focused on “authentically bridging the gap between culture and corporate America.” During Hinshaw’s five-year tenure at Amazon, he oversaw the streaming service’s industry strategy and partnerships across both genres, inclusive of the global flagship brand Rotation. Among the various projects he brokered was 2022’s exclusive livestream of The Big Steppers Tour: Live from Paris via Amazon Music and Prime Video. The event not only spotlighted Kendrick Lamar’s second performance in Paris, it also celebrated the 10th anniversary of his second studio album, good kid, m.A.A.d city.
Hinshaw also helmed artist negotiations for Amazon Music Live, a livestreamed concert series on Twitch and Prime Video that aired following Thursday Night Football. Among artists featured on the series were Lil Baby, A$AP Rocky and 21 Savage. Additional livestream projects under Hinshaw while at Amazon Music included: Tyler, The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost Live concert in his hometown of Los Angeles; Kanye “Ye” West’s #FreeLarryHoover benefit concert in L.A.; J. Cole’s Dreamville Festival from Raleigh and Summer Walker’s homecoming show in Atlanta for Black History Month.
Prior to joining Amazon Music, Hinshaw established the urban music division at Fender Guitars. He also worked in music marketing for Vans. Honored as executive of the year in 2022 for Billboard’s annual R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players issue, Hinshaw began his music industry career as co-manager of his songwriter brother, Charles “Prince Charlez” Hinshaw. That endeavor led to a joint venture label deal with Island Def Jam and a global co-publishing agreement with Rondor/Universal Music.
AI has incredible promise and music creators are first in line exploring just how far these tools and innovations can take us.
At the same time, like every new technology, AI has risks and music creators are also first in line working to ensure it develops in lawful, responsible ways that respect individual autonomy and extend human creativity and possibility.
Yet today, a year and a half after the first mass market AI services were released, we still don’t know whether the promise or the peril of AI will win out.
Too many developers and investors seem to see a zero sum game – where AI behemoths scrape artists’ and songwriters’ life’s work off the internet for free and without any opportunity for individual choice, autonomy, or values. Where most of us see music, art, and culture to be cherished, they see soulless data to copied, “tokenized,” and exploited. Where most of us look to collaborate and reach for new horizons, they prefer to exploit art and culture for their own narrow gains. On the road to society’s AI future, it’s their way or no way.
At the top of the list of irresponsible developers are two music generation services, Suno and Udio, who claim to offer the ability to generate “new” music based on simple text prompts – a feat that’s only possible because these models have copied and exploited human-created music on a mass scale without authorization. Both have clearly chosen the low road of secretive, unconsented scraping and exploitation of copyrighted creative works instead of the high road of licensing and partnership.
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To address this egregious conduct, a group of music companies have today filed lawsuits against Suno and Udio in federal court in Boston and New York City, respectively. These lawsuits seek to stop the companies’ industrial scale infringement and steer generative AI back onto a healthy, responsible, lawful path.
Suno and Udio clearly recognize the business risks they are taking, going to extreme lengths to avoid transparency and refusing to disclose even the most obvious facts about how they have exploited copyrighted works or to even show us what works they have copied and used. If they really believed their own “fair use” rhetoric, if they really believe what they are doing is legal, would they work so hard to hide the ball?
The worst part is, these are multi-million dollar companies funded by the deepest pockets in the world who know the long term value music brings to their projects and who can well afford to pay fair rates for it; they just don’t want to. They willingly invest mass sums in compute and engineering, but want to take the most important ingredient – high quality human creativity – for free.
It’s a deeply shortsighted gamble – and one that has a track record of failing to deliver. Early internet services who relied on similar arguments and failed to get permission before launching are the ones who flamed out most spectacularly. Meanwhile digital streamers that partnered with artists and rightsholders to gain permission and innovate a healthy, sustainable marketplace together are today’s leading global music services.
And it’s totally unnecessary. Music creators are reaching out and leaning into opportunities in AI that support both innovation and the rights of artists and songwriters and have extended the hand of partnership and licensing to responsible AI companies.
In the last year, Sony, Warner and Universal have used creative AI tools to deliver breathtaking new moments with iconic artists including The Beatles, Roberta Flack, and David Gilmour and the Orb, all with appropriate partnership and consent. Music companies have partnered with ethical cutting-edge AI firms like BandLab, Endel and SoundLabs. And singer/songwriter Randy Travis used AI to record his first new song since largely losing his voice after a 2013 stroke.
But AI platforms should not mistake the music community’s embrace of AI as a willingness to accept continuing mass infringement. While free-market partnerships are the best path forward, we will not allow the status quo scraping and copying of artists’ creative legacies without permission to stand unchallenged. As in the past, music creators will enforce their rights to protect the creative engine of human artistry and enable the development of a healthy and sustainable licensed market that recognizes the value of both creativity and technology.
Generative AI has extraordinary promise. But realizing it will take collaboration, partnership, and genuine respect for human creativity. It’s time for AI companies to choose – go nowhere alone or explore a rich, amazing future together.
Mitch Glazier is Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The three major music companies filed lawsuits against AI music companies Suno and Udio on Monday, alleging the widespread infringement of copyrighted sound recordings “at an almost unimaginable scale.” The lawsuits, spearheaded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), arrive four days after Billboard first reported the news the labels were seriously considering legal action against the two start-ups.
Filed by plaintiffs that include Sony Music, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group, the lawsuits allege that Suno and Udio have unlawfully copied the labels’ sound recordings to train their AI models to generate music that could “saturate the market with machine-generated content that will directly compete with, cheapen and ultimately drown out the genuine sound recordings on which [the services were] built.”
“Building and operating [these services] requires at the outset copying and ingesting massive amounts of data to ‘train’ a software ‘model’ to generate outputs,” the lawyers for the major labels explain. “For [these services], this process involved copying decades worth of the world’s most popular sound recordings and then ingesting those copies [to] generate outputs that imitate the qualities of genuine human sound recordings.”
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“Since the day it launched, Udio has flouted the rights of copyright owners in the music industry as part of a mad dash to become the dominant AI music generation service,” the lawsuit against Udio reads. “Neither Udio, nor any other generative AI company, can be allowed to advance toward this goal by trampling the rights of copyright owners.”
The lawsuit is seeking both an injunction to bar the companies from continuing to train on the copyrighted songs, as well as damages from the infringements that have already taken place. Neither Suno nor Udio immediately returned requests for comment on Monday.
Suno and Udio have quickly become two of the most advanced and important players in the emerging field of generative AI music. While many competitors only create instrumentals or lyrics or vocals, Suno and Udio can generate all three in the click of a button with shocking precision. Udio has already produced what could be considered the first AI-generated hit song with the Drake diss track “BBL Drizzy,” which was generated on the platform by comedian King Willonius and popularized by a Metro Boomin remix. Suno has also achieved early success since its December 2023 launch, raising $125 million in funding from investors like Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix, Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross.
Both companies have declined to comment on whether or not unlicensed copyrights were part of their datasets. In a previous interview with Billboard, Udio co-founder David Ding said simply that the company trained on “good music.” However, in a series of articles for Music Business Worldwide, founder of AI music safety nonprofit Fairly Trained, Ed Newton-Rex, found that he was able to generate music from Suno and Udio that “bears a striking resemblance to copyrighted music. This is true across melody, chords, style and lyrics,” he wrote.
The complaints against the two companies also make the case that copyrighted material was used to train these models. Some of the circumstantial evidence cited in the lawsuits include generated songs by Suno and Udio that sound just like the voices of Bruce Springsteen, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michael Jackson and ABBA; outputs that parrot the producer tags of Cash Money AP and Jason Derulo; and outputs that sound nearly identical to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” The Beach Boys’ “I Get Around,” ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” The Temptations’ “My Girl,” Green Day’s “American Idiot,” and more.
In a recent Rolling Stone profile of Suno, investor Antonio Rodriguez admitted that the start-up does not have licenses for whatever music it has trained on but added that it was not a concern to him. Knowing that labels and publishers could sue was just “the risk we had to underwrite when we invested in the company, because we’re the fat wallet that will get sued right behind these guys… Honestly, if we had deals with labels when this company got started, I probably wouldn’t have invested in it. I think that they needed to make this product without the constraints.”
Many AI companies argue that training is protected by copyright’s fair use doctrine — an important rule that allows people to reuse protected works without breaking the law. Though fair use has historically allowed for things like news reporting and parody, AI firms say it applies equally to the “intermediate” use of millions of works to build a machine that spits out entirely new creations.
Anticipating that defense from Suno and Udio, the lawyers for the major labels argue that “[Suno and Udio] cannot avoid liability for [their] willful copyright infringement by claiming fair use. The doctrine of fair use promotes human expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyrighted works in certain, limited circumstances, but [the services] offe[r] imitative machine-generated music—not human creativity or expression.”
News of the complaints filed against Suno and Udio follow up a previous lawsuit that also concerned the use of copyrighted materials to train models without a license. Filed by UMG, Concord and ABKCO in October against Anthropic, a major AI company, that case focused more specifically on copied lyrics.
In a statement about the lawsuits, RIAA CEO and chairman Mitch Glazier says, “The music community has embraced AI and we are already partnering and collaborating with responsible developers to build sustainable AI tools centered on human creativity that put artists and songwriters in charge. But we can only succeed if developers are willing to work together with us. Unlicensed services like Suno and Udio that claim it’s ‘fair’ to copy an artist’s life’s work and exploit it for their own profit without consent or pay set back the promise of genuinely innovative AI for us all.”
RIAA Chief Legal Officer Ken Doroshow adds, “These are straightforward cases of copyright infringement involving unlicensed copying of sound recordings on a massive scale. Suno and Udio are attempting to hide the full scope of their infringement rather than putting their services on a sound and lawful footing. These lawsuits are necessary to reinforce the most basic rules of the road for the responsible, ethical, and lawful development of generative AI systems and to bring Suno’s and Udio’s blatant infringement to an end.”
After scoring a Hot 100 No. 1 single with Kendrick Lamar for “Not Like Us” last month, Mustard partners with BMG for his forthcoming studio album, Faith of a Mustard Seed.
“I’m happy to join forces with BMG, a company known for its dedication to nurturing artistic independence, integrity, and innovation,” Mustard tells Billboard. “Together, we’ll continue to push the boundaries of creativity and deliver groundbreaking music that resonates with audiences worldwide.”
On Friday (June 21), Mustard kicked off the rollout to his fourth studio by releasing a first single, “Parking Lot,” featuring Travis Scott. Slated to drop July 26, Faith of a Mustard Seed follows Mustard’s 2019 release Perfect 10, which featured Hot 100 charting hits “Pure Water,” “100 Bands” and “Ballin.” Upon its release, the effort debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and included an all-star lineup with Migos, Young Thug, Gunna, Roddy Ricch, Future, A$AP Rocky, Playboi Carti, and more.
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“Mustard’s approach, coupled with a proven track record of chart-topping hits, delivers unparalleled musical experiences to audiences worldwide,” says Dan Gill, BMG’s executive vp of recorded music, West Coast. “We look forward to supporting and working alongside him as we continue to elevate his artistry and the impact of his music.”
Adds Tim Reid, BMG senior vp of repertoire & marketing: “Mustard’s anthems have consistently orchestrated the soundtrack to the Culture. Partnering with Mustard and the 10 Summers Team on his next movement is an exciting opportunity for the BMG Team to help propel his brand and turn the ordinary into extraordinary.”
Mustard recently featured at Lamar’s Juneteenth Concert celebration, which honored the West Coast. During his set, he brought out Tyler, The Creator, Steve Lacy, Ty Dolla $ign, Roddy Ricch, Blxst, Dom Kennedy, and 310 Babii. He also joined Lamar for his performance of “Not Like Us,” where the Compton rapper performed the song five times.
Weeks after teaming with Oak View Group to acquire Canadian Music Week, Loft Entertainment has made another strategic partnership to expand its reach. The Toronto-based music company is joining forces with one twenty eight, a talent booking and cause marketing “impact agency” that focuses on connecting artists and influencers with social causes. The agency has […]
Rimas Entertainment has announced new corporate appointments, adding two key executives to its leadership team, Billboard has learned.
Rodrigo Prichard has been named general manager of Rimas Entertainment, and will begin July 1, reporting directly to the company’s chief operating officer, Jorge Bracero. Kristen Quintero-Garriga has been named vice president of brand partnerships under RIT.MO, Rimas’ new division that acts as a creative consultancy and sales force.
“I am thrilled to welcome Rodrigo Prichard and Kristen Quintero-Garriga to our corporate leadership team,” Bracero said in a press statement. “Their deep knowledge and experience in the music industry and in creating strategic alliances are invaluable to us at this time of growth and evolution. I am confident that their leadership will be crucial in further driving Rimas’ success in the future.”
Prichard, who was vp of legal and business affairs at Universal Music Latin before joining Rimas, will oversee all departments of the record labels within the Rimas conglomerate (Rimas Music, Sonar, Nain Music) in Puerto Rico, the United States and all other markets.
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Prior to joining Rimas, Quintero-Garriga was market manager at Puma Energy LATAM, Burger King and Advice Global. In her new role, she will lead brand partnerships, offering her expertise to Rimas, Habibi, Rimas Sports, Fundación Rimas and Rimas Nation, among others.
“Rimas is what all other brands aspire to be right now: agile, smart and passionate,” Prichard expressed. “I am honored to join this family of visionary professionals and look forward to contributing to the brand’s success.”
Quintero-Garriga added: “The speed and efficiency with which each business line under Rimas Entertainment has developed have created great opportunities to forge strategic alliances with local and international brands, which we will capitalize on. We are focused on creating unparalleled collaborations with brands and our world-class artists, athletes and events that we are bringing to Puerto Rico.”