State Champ Radio Business
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Since subscribing to Spotify in 2023, Genevieve Capolongo says she’s mostly listened to “lesser-known artists” like Próxima Parada, Julia Cooper and Brusco. But she says the streamer’s recommendation tools keep serving her “mainstream, major-label tracks” by Drake, Zach Bryan and Justin Bieber.
According to her lawyers, that’s because Spotify was paid to do so.
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In a lawsuit filed last week, Capolongo claims the streamer’s Discovery Mode and editorial playlists amount to a “modern form of payola,” allowing labels to secretly boost their tracks with a “deceptive pay-for-play” program. She says she wouldn’t have subscribed if she knew that Spotify’s recommendations had been sold “to the highest bidder.”
The case is sometimes light on specifics, like citing unnamed “industry insiders” about alleged illicit payments or “disproportionate” rates of major-label music. Spotify, for its part, called the lawsuit “nonsense” and said it was “riddled with misunderstandings and inaccuracies.”
But it targets a program that has raised eyebrows for years — and comes at a time when Spotify has faced multiple accusations about manipulation on the platform. For more, go read our full story here.
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Other top stories this week…
DRAKE’S APPEAL – As Drake asks an appeals court to revive his lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” I asked legal experts what his lawyers might argue — and whether it’ll work.
TAYLOR V. TRUMP? – Taylor Swift fans want her to sue the Trump administration after it used “The Fate of Ophelia” in a TikTok video. She probably could, but almost certainly won’t.
DISJOINT VENTURE – 10K Projects, the Warner-owned label founded by Elliot Grainge, is facing a lawsuit claiming it owes millions to Taz Taylor’s Internet Money Records under a joint venture.
FAST & FREE SONGS – How did New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani get clearance to use Bob Dylan’s iconic anthem “The Times They Are A-Changin’” in a campaign ad? It turns out he didn’t.
MJ LITIGATION – Michael Jackson’s estate is locked in a legal battle over abuse allegations from the Cascio siblings, who spent much of their childhoods with the King of Pop.
GORDIAN SLIPKNOT – Slipknot’s lawsuit against a group that has owned slipknot.com for decades has hit an unexpected snag: The shadowy entity has hired a lawyer and is fighting back.
ATLANTA ARREST – Rod Wave was arrested in Atlanta on weapon and drug charges. His lawyer — star defense attorney Drew Findling — says Wave was “unjustly profiled and unlawfully arrested.”
NAME REVEAL? – A “Jane Roe” woman who accused Garth Brooks of sexual assault is refusing to concede defeat in her fight to remain pseudonymous, filing an appeal to avoid disclosing her real name.
NOVEMBER LITIGATION – An ex-manager of Guns N’ Roses is suing the band, claiming it has unfairly blocked the release of his memoir by threatening to sue him and his publisher over a decades-old NDA.
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Spotify and the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) have joined forces to create a new opt-in license for NMPA members to enter into a direct license agreement for “expanded audiovisual rights” in the U.S., according to a press release about the deal. NMPA members can sign up using a portal, and the deal is said to increase the royalty-earning potential of participating publishers and writers by offering them a new audiovisual royalty stream.
News of the deal comes during a time of great tension between Spotify and the NMPA. In March 2024, Spotify began paying music publishers and songwriters a discounted royalty rate for streams on its premium tiers. Spotify explained that by adding audiobooks to its premium offerings, these subscriptions could be reclassified as “bundles,” a type of plan that qualifies for a discounted rate on U.S. mechanical royalties, given that multiple products are offered under one price tag.
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The NMPA and its allies have fought this assertion ever since, spearheading a multi-faceted attack against Spotify soon after. This included the Mechanical Licensing Collective filing a lawsuit against Spotify over the matter, and the NMPA filing a legislative proposal, an FTC complaint and cease-and-desist notices over allegedly hosting lyrics, videos and podcast content that contained their members’ copyrighted works without proper licenses.
This deal, at least, potentially creates a pathway for any alleged unlicensed videos on Spotify to become licensed. According to a source close to the deal, the NMPA does not plan to back down from its other pushes against Spotify, given that this deal does not address bundling.
News of the agreement comes after a series of announcements from NMPA members — including Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Kobalt and their parent companies — each of which came to direct deals with Spotify throughout 2025. Little is known about the nature of the deals beyond what is disclosed in the press release, but each was said to improve remuneration for songwriters and offer multi-year agreements for the companies, often covering both publishing and recorded music.
“This new partnership with the NMPA will increase revenue for songwriters and independent publishers who are the heart of the industry,” says Alex Norström, co-president and chief business officer, Spotify. “We look forward to continuing to work with the NMPA to create new value and opportunities for their members.”
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“We are pleased that this deal offers indie publishers the chance to enter into direct deals with Spotify in regard to audiovisual streaming functionality on the platform alongside the recently announced larger publishing companies,” says David Israelite, president and CEO, NMPA. “This new income stream reflects the growing value of songs as digital platforms offer new capabilities to consumers.”
The NMPA Opt-In Portal is open to eligible publishers beginning today, Nov. 11, with onboarding continuing through Dec. 19.
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iHeartMedia struck a new partnership with TikTok that will see TikTok creators featured in long-form audio and video content across iHeart platforms, it was announced on Monday (Nov. 10).
The deal includes the launch of the TikTok Podcast Network, a slate of up to 25 podcasts from TikTok creators. Under the agreement, iHeartMedia will open co-branded podcast studios in Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta that will be set up for both audio and video content. The podcasts will be distributed by iHeartPodcasts and made available on the iHeartRadio app and other podcast platforms. Listeners will also be able to watch highlights and clips from the podcasts on TikTok.
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Another component of the deal is TikTok Radio, which will pair TikTok creators and established iHeartRadio personalities on iHeart broadcast radio stations across the U.S. and digitally on iHeartRadio. According to a press release, “TikTok Radio will feature not only TikTok’s hottest new songs, but also trend-driven storytelling and emotional context behind the music,” with segments including Behind-the-Charts, New Music Fridays and On the Verge.
iHeart and TikTok will additionally team up on iHeart events like the iHeartRadio Music Festival and iHeartRadio Jingle Ball, “empowering brands to activate with a dynamic network of content creators,” according to the release.
More details on the partnership will be announced in the coming months.
“This partnership connects TikTok’s cultural energy and creator community with the unmatched scale and reach of iHeartMedia,” said Rich Bressler, president, COO and CFO of iHeartMedia, in a statement. “We’re giving creators access to the biggest audio platforms in America — creating new ways to tell stories, entertain, and build deeper connections with fans. Together, we’re combining our vast networks to deliver relevant content on a massive scale. It’s a win for creators, fans, and brands alike.”
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“At TikTok, empowering creativity and connecting communities are at the heart of everything we do,” added Dan Page, global head of media and licensing partnerships at TikTok. “This partnership with iHeartMedia opens up exciting new opportunities for creators and brands to reach wider audiences, collaborate across platforms and extend their creativity beyond the TikTok platform. Together, we’re amplifying the connection between artists, creators and our community through the shared power of cross platform storytelling.”
TikTok and iHeart kicked off their partnership earlier this year with the singing competition Next up: Live Music, which was hosted exclusively on TikTok LIVE.
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Beyond the critical acclaim and handy sales boost, the U.K.’s Mercury Prize comes with an added bonus: a £25,000 ($32,000) cash prize for the chosen artist. For some previous winners – like Alt-J (2012) and Antony and The Johnsons (2015) – the money has covered the expenses of being a touring act, while Badly Drawn Boy (2000) infamously threw the cheque away in the heat of the winning moment (his cash prize was ultimately honored).
Now Sam Fender has joined a number of past winners by making a statement and donating the entirety of the cash prize to charity. The Music Venue Trust, a charity that supports grassroots music spaces and the scene as a whole, will be the beneficiary of Fender’s generosity. Fender joins previous winners such as Ms. Dynamite (2002) and M People (1994) who have made public that they donated their cash winnings to causes close to their hearts.
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Fender was awarded the Mercury Prize, an annual prize for an outstanding LP by a British or Irish artist, in his hometown Newcastle upon Tyne, England (Oct. 16). His third studio album People Watching saw off competition from Fontaines D.C., Pulp, FKA twigs, PinkPantheress and more at the ceremony which was held outside of London for the first time in its history.
People Watching remains the fastest-selling British album of 2025, and on Saturday (Nov. 15) a live concert film shot at his 80,000-capacity London Stadium show will be broadcast on YouTube. A deluxe edition of the album features collaborations with Olivia Dean and Elton John, and is set for release on Dec. 5.
The Music Venue Trust works to protect and secure the future of grassroots venues across the country. In 2024 a report by the charity shared that grassroots music venues operated on a profit margin of just 0.48%, with 43.8% of them reporting a loss. In 2024 alone, 25 music venues closed in the U.K. due to rising costs for venues and changing consumer habits.
“I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing today if it wasn’t for all the gigs I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out,” Fender said about the reasons for the donation. “These venues are legendary, but they are struggling.”
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Fender has worked previously with the MVT, most recently donating £100,000 from his 2024 U.K. arena tour via a voluntary £1 ticket levy. He joins acts such as Katy Perry, The Last Dinner Party and Enter Shikari in making the commitment; Coldplay pledged 10% of all revenue from the U.K. leg of the Music of The Spheres tour to the MVT.
Mark Davyd, chief executive and founder of the Music Venue Trust, said, “This is an incredible gesture by Sam, demonstrating once again that artists absolutely understand how vital grassroots music venues are to their careers and to their communities. We are honored to accept this donation and will ensure every penny of it makes a direct difference to the campaign to keep live music at the heart of our towns and cities.”
Trending on Billboard A federal judge rejected a lawsuit claiming the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame broke the law by using a copyrighted photo of Eddie Van Halen in a museum exhibit. Dismissing a case filed by rock photographer Neil Zlozower, Judge Christopher A. Boyko said the Rock Hall made legal “fair use” of […]
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Billboard has partnered with Starlite, the Spanish company that produces and hosts the annual Starlite Festivals in Marbella and Madrid, to produce its first Billboard No. 1s event outside of the United States, and the first to be devoted to Latin Music.
Billboard No. 1s Spain — or Billboard Números Uno España — will take place Dec. 15 at IFEMA in Madrid, as part of the week-long programming of Starlite Madrid. The evening will feature performances by artists who have entered the top 10 of the Billboard Hits of the World Spain Songs chart, along with special honors.
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Although Billboard has hosted other Billboard No. 1s, this marks the first time the event will feature multiple live performances in a concert setting.
“Partnering with Billboard, the Bible of the music industry, is an honor for us,” said Sandra García-Sanjuán, founder and CEO of Starlite. “It’s an honor to partner with Billboard, especially because it’s the first time they do a Billboard No. 1s event outside of the U.S.”
“As Billboard expands its international presence, we’re thrilled to partner with Starlite for our first live concert event in Spain,” said Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content officer for Latin/español. “Starlite is an iconic, innovative brand that’s created a unique festival unlike anything else, and Sandra is a visionary executive. We’re excited to launch our Billboard No. 1s in Spain with them.”
García-Sanjuán’s Starlite Festival in Marbella, billed as “the best boutique festival in the world,” spans 60 days of concerts between June and August in the Spanish city of Marbella, with an A-list roster of artists that this year included Marc Anthony, Santana, Emilia, Nathy Peluso and Camila Cabello.
The Billboard-Starlite partnership was initially announced during Billboard Latin Music Week, and details have been finalized since then.
The Madrid edition of Starlite kicks off Dec. 12 with a concert by Melendi and ends Dec. 22 with Manuel Carrasco. The Billboard No. 1s concert will be held Dec. 15. Tickets are already available for sale, with a full lineup to be announced soon.
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On Oct. 29, Universal Music Group (UMG) announced a landmark deal with AI music startup Udio. As part of the agreement, Udio, which UMG was suing for widespread copyright infringement along with the two other major music companies, offered a compensatory settlement with UMG, effectively ending UMG’s part of the lawsuit and paving the way for a new version of Udio, set to release in 2026, which would be a “new commercial music creation, consumption and streaming experience” that would remunerate participating UMG artists.
To survey the industry’s reaction to the deal, Billboard spoke with professionals who have been following the development of AI music closely from various vantage points, including labels, investment firms, AI music start-ups, the songwriting community and consultancies.
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“This deal is beneficial for the music industry,” one label professional tells Billboard. “My question is, though, is it beneficial for Udio? In the short term, they’re going to go through some tension as they do a reset, but this could be great. It’s early.”
To most who spoke to Billboard for this story, the timing of the deal wasn’t entirely surprising. One label executive points out that news of the agreement was cleverly released just hours before UMG’s Q3 earnings call. Still, Sean Power, CEO of Musical AI, says he “expected a deal in Q1 of 2026, not now.”
Since this summer, reports have circulated that the majors have been discussing settlements with Suno and Udio, leading many to believe the talks were getting close. But as the year wore on, some grew skeptical that settlements would be reached by the end of the year. Though the UMG-Udio deal represents the start of reconciliation, these lawsuits are far from over — Warner Music Group and Sony Music are still pursuing their claims against Udio, and all three majors are still pursuing their lawsuit against Suno.
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Vickie Nauman, founder of music-tech consultancy CrossBorder Works, says she’s been watching out for this deal since Lucian Grainge, UMG’s chairman/CEO, released a letter on Oct. 13 expressing the company’s plans to pursue AI deals. “I saw that as Lucian putting a stake in the ground about AI,” Nauman says. “When I read that, I thought, ‘He wouldn’t say this unless he’s pretty sure he will reach a deal soon.’ That letter exuded confidence.”
As part of the deal with UMG, Udio is pivoting its offerings, launching a new version of the service in 2026 that will be focused on building fandom and encouraging engagement with existing music, rather than just offering brand-new songs at the click of a button, as it does now. The new version of Udio will feature a number of tools that will allow users to remix, mash up and riff on the songs of participating UMG artists. Users will also be able to create songs in the style of participating artists and use some artists’ voices on songs.
One investor, who has not invested in Suno or Udio and spoke to Billboard on the condition of anonymity, said that he fears Udio will run into the same problems as AI film company Runway, which signed a deal with Lionsgate to adapt their intellectual property — a partnership that, one year later, has yet to produce results. “The Lionsgate catalog is too small to create a model,” a person familiar with the situation told The Wrap. “In fact, the Disney catalog is too small to create a model.”
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A label executive, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, adds: “I’d like to see Udio succeed, because I think they’re trying to get on the right side of history. Do I think this deal puts them in a little bit of a box, though? Yes.”
Songwriter/producer Oak Felder raised another point in my TikTok comment section: “The question is: how does [this deal] affect catalogs that are split between Universal and Sony or any other publisher without a deal[?] Udio can’t utilize a song in Universal’s catalog that’s split between writers on non-Universal publishers, right?” (A UMG rep declined to provide specific details on that point.)
Udio and UMG’s deal allows artists to opt in with “granular” controls, as Udio CEO Andrew Sanchez told Billboard shortly after the deal was announced, over which parts of the new Udio service they want to participate in — seen as a win for artists’ autonomy. But the investor asks: “How many of these artists are actually going to opt in?”
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Another possible challenge for Udio: there are already multiple companies offering, or planning to offer, remixing and fan-focused AI features. This includes MashApp, Hook and Spotify, which recently announced that it’s working on AI music products, including remixing features, with the consent of the majors and some large independent music companies.
“It’s a calculated risk,” says Nauman about Udio’s decision to pivot, but she notes that trying to build a business that allows everyone to create quick songs was a risk, too. “I think that just the idea of being able to prompt a few songs easily is kind of a fad, so this [new Udio service] could be interesting. But users will be the ultimate arbiter here.”
Executives interviewed for this story were mixed on how they think Udio’s deal with UMG will impact Suno. “If I were Suno, I would be feeling a lot of pressure after this deal,” says Power. “But also, I don’t imagine that its investors are scared of litigating this to the end.”
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Barclays Research recently pointed out that Suno’s fundraising better insulates it from the impact of these lawsuits with the majors than Udio: “Even a [tough] settlement…would likely only mean the disappearance of Udio, while…Suno may have the necessary financial firepower.”
The anonymous investor adds, “One thing that helps Suno here is they will capture all the Udio users that are going to unsubscribe,” given that Udio is pivoting to become a different service. As part of the UMG deal, Udio prevented its users from exporting their work from Udio, effective immediately. This led to backlash among users, who felt they should’ve been warned about the change. Soon after, Udio allowed users to export their work during a 48-hour window.
Nauman says the UMG-Udio deal “puts every single AI music company, including Suno, on notice. I’ve already seen a number of comments from people in music who are saying Udio is very impressive and friendly. That’s an important piece to this. When engaging with rights holders and licensing, it’s both incredibly transactional but also very relationship and trust-driven. Udio is in a strong position by earning that trust.”
Most interviewed for this story saw the deal as an important step forward for the music business. But does it make Warner and Sony more likely to come to the table? “What Sony and Warner do here, I’m not exactly sure,” says Power. “I’m going to be very interested to see where things land, and I’m really thinking about Universal here. They’re now the ones who can say they made the big move.”
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When Bruce Finkelman opened the Empty Bottle in 1993, he smoked cigarettes, like many of his customers. It was part of his vision for the Chicago rock club: “The small, dark, smoky jazz room or rock ‘n’ roll club. Dingy. That really romantic view of the door opening up and smoke billowing out.” But like every other venue in Chicago and just about everywhere else, Empty Bottle has been smoke-free for decades — and Finkelman, now a non-smoking marathon runner, can’t imagine it any other way. “Even if I smell smoke,” the club’s owner says today, “I’m like, ‘Ugh.’”
The first U.S. indoor smoking ban went into effect almost exactly 35 years ago, in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Since then, just about every municipality followed, from New York City in 2003 to Chicago in 2006 to the entire state of North Dakota in 2012. During that same 35-year period, the concert business has boomed: The top 100 tours grossed $674.5 million in 1990, according to Billboard Boxscore, compared to $10 billion last year, an increase of 1,383%. Promoters, club owners and public-health experts say fans not having to breathe deadly secondhand smoke is almost certainly a reason for that growth.
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“It’s part of the equation,” says Dr. Stephen Hansen, who, as the former director of the Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center’s cardiopulmonary department in San Luis Obispo, crusaded for the citywide indoor-smoking ban. “Most places in California, it’s hard to find a smoker these days, and they sure as hell don’t want to be packed in with a crowd where people are smoking.”
Adds Joe Shanahan, owner and founder of Metro, the 43-year-old Chicago rock club: “It really did help business. I believe there is a direct correlation.” He adds that parents were more willing to buy tickets for their 12-to-14-year-old kids to all-ages shows without worrying about the risk of secondhand-smoke exposure.
Given how ecologically serene concerts have been for years — with the exceptions of occasional joints and vapes — the early fights to achieve smoking bans seem like a black and white movie. When Hansen took on Big Tobacco and the entire nightlife scene in San Luis Obispo, a downtown bar owner complained to the Los Angeles Times that he feared his smoking customers would “just find a bar in another city”; a retired truck driver interviewed from a local barstool likened the ban proponents to “Communists,” and added, “That’s the kind of thing they have in Russia.” Just before the city council voted to approve the ban, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. distributed fliers imploring residents to phone council members and oppose an “outrageous attack on your rights!”
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The U.S. surgeon general famously laid the groundwork for smoking bans in 1964, when an advisory committee reported a connection between smoking and lung cancer, declaring the habit a “health hazard” in the days of widespread, fashionable, Mad Men-style lighting up. Nine years later, Arizona banned smoking in some areas, and several states followed by enacting limited bans in the ’80s. But Hansen and his San Luis Obispo public-health allies were the first to defeat the formidable opposition to indoor smoking bans. “I did get some calls,” the retired physician recalls. “I got some death threats.”
The country of Ireland studied the example of San Luis Obispo, population 42,000, before enacting its own countrywide ban in 2004 — although Irish public health officials found New York City to be a better case study. “The attitude was, ‘It may be OK to be in California to go outside, but try to tell that to an old man in the west of Ireland with the pouring rain,” says Luke Clancy, a former professor who is director general of the Tobacco Free Research Institute of Ireland.
Back then, after speaking to Irish pub workers — including The Dubliners, a well-known folk band — Clancy and his team realized the smoking ban concept was more popular than it seemed. “I got a lot of feedback from them saying, ‘Thank God for this, my voice is ruined,’” he recalls. “It was not only the audience but the actual artists as well.”
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Several studies report that smoking bans have reduced poisonous secondhand smoke, and therefore lung cancer, over the last two or three decades. Jessica Cance, a public-health researcher for independent scientific-research institute RTI International, concluded in a 2015 study that bans have been effective in “decreasing the rates of smoking on college campuses” — and researchers found that alcohol consumption stayed the same at the venues they studied, suggesting young bar patrons didn’t respond to smoking bans by simply leaving to smoke at home. “The data are very clear that smoking bans have been effective for public health,” Cance says. “We can clearly see there is public benefit.”
Numerous club owners and promoters say the bans had an immediate positive impact on their customers and employees, and that fears they had about decreasing attendance never materialized. “If you had 30 or 40 or 50 smokers, the whole room would be an ashtray. My staff were getting sick for no apparent reason,” Metro’s Shanahan says. “When they instituted the smoking ban, and no cigarettes were allowed on a permanent basis, the health of the company turned around in a year. I began to realize business was better.”
The Gothic Theatre near Denver was, in the early ’90s, so smoky that it was difficult to clearly see the stage from the balcony. “It gives me the willies, man,” says Doug Kauffman, who promoted Gothic shows back then. “A lot of business owners complained when it happened: It would hurt their business if you could smoke inside. But it didn’t. What business owner in his right mind wants to kill his customers?”
In the ’90s, smoking at rock clubs gave off an odor so grungy it seemed cool — notably at Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club, where one regular described the smell as “Aerosmith and my a——.” But Donna Westmoreland, chief operating officer of I.M.P., the club’s promoter for decades, is a former smoker whose life improved after D.C. officials banned cigarettes at indoor venues in 2006. “I don’t think anybody said, ‘Should we go to a show or not? Well, you can’t smoke now, so we should go’ — but [it’s] probably a contributing factor,” she says. “People aren’t putting out cigarettes on the floor. It might have just felt a little nicer as a result.”
Trending on Billboard Latin music executive Jochy Rodríguez has launched a new independent agency, Joch Entertainment, he tells Billboard. Rodríguez — who has spent the past nine years as senior vp of promotions and marketing at WK Entertainment — will focus the company’s efforts on marketing, management, consulting and radio promotions. “This new chapter represents […]
Trending on Billboard Michael Young has been appointed chief information officer of Sony Music Publishing, effective immediately from his base in Nashville. In his new role, which reports to CFO Tom Kelly, Young will lead the company’s global technology strategy and oversee transformation initiatives aimed at enhancing growth, scalability, and operational efficiency for SMP’s songwriters […]
