Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we be certain that you caught the 5 largest tales to hit our headlines over the previous seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their revenue and cut back their touring prices.

This week introduced two massive tales involving Universal Music Group. On Tuesday (March 26) South Korea-based leisure large HYBE introduced that it has struck an expanded long-term settlement with UMG.

The deal supplies UMG with unique distribution rights for HYBE’s music for the following 10 years and in addition sees UMG spend money on – and additional collaborate with – HYBE’s international superfan and D2C platform, Weverse.

In the meantime, on Thursday (March 28), UMG introduced one other expanded deal, this time with audio streaming large Spotify. In response to the businesses, they are going to collaborate on “new promotional and social instruments” for UMG artists on the Spotify platform.

Moreover, a brand new settlement with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) will allow Spotify to distribute music movies within the US.

Additionally this week, a rapper known as Trefuego was ordered by a court docket in Texas to pay over $800,000 in damages to Sony Music for utilizing an unlicensed pattern in his TikTok hit 90mh.

Elsewhere, citing an interview with Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe, The Monetary Occasions reported that the European media large is contemplating a merger for its music division BMG.

Plus, the Board of Administrators of Paris-born music firm Believe formally invited Warner Music Group to submit “a binding, unconditional and totally financed provide” for Consider.

Right here’s what occurred this week…

1) UNIVERSAL MUSIC INVESTS IN ‘SUPERFAN’ PLATFORM WEVERSE, AS IT STRIKES NEW 10-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH HYBE

HYBE has struck what it calls an expanded long-term settlement with Common Music Group (UMG).

The deal supplies UMG with unique distribution rights for HYBE’s music for the following 10 years.

The even greater information? The deal will even see UMG spend money on – and additional collaborate with – HYBE’s international superfan platform, Weverse. (Sources inform MBW that UMG has made a minority funding in Weverse as a part of the brand new partnership.)

In response to the 2 corporations’ announcement on March 26, the “partnership will assist improve the expansion” of Weverse in North America…

2) AS UNIVERSAL’S STANDOFF WITH TIKTOK ROLLS ON, UMG INKS NEW DEAL WITH SPOTIFY INCLUDING ‘SOCIAL TOOLS’, VIDEO ELEMENTS

The most important music enterprise story up to now this 12 months is Common Music Group’s very public falling out with social video app TikTok.

However there’s one other broadly used app that has a really totally different relationship with UMG, the world’s largest music rightsholder. As of this week, that relationship might be getting a lot nearer.

UMG has simply introduced an enlargement of what it calls its “strategic relationship” with Spotify.

3) RAPPER TREFUEGO USED AN UNLICENSED SAMPLE IN HIS TIKTOK HIT 90MH. NOW THE COURT IS MAKING HIM PAY OVER $800,000 IN DAMAGES TO SONY MUSIC.

In January final 12 months, MBW broke the information that Sony Music had filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in opposition to Trefuego, a rapper behind TikTok hit 90mh.

Sony Music’s lawsuit accused Trefuego, inside 90mh, of “the flagrant and deliberate infringement” of each the sound recording and underlying composition within the 1986 monitor Reflections, launched by Japanese composer Toshifumi Hinata (Hinata). (Sony Music Entertainment owns copyrights within the sound recording;, whereas Sony Music Publishing’s copyrights cowl the composition).

As we defined in our report on the time, the monitor went viral on TikTok and YouTube and racked up over 170 million Spotify streams. As we famous then, Sony had a powerful case: It’s onerous to mistake a sped-up key violin motif from Hinata’s monitor showing, looped repeatedly, in 90mh.

The result of the case has now been determined, and, in keeping with the court docket, Trefuego has to pay up.
In a judgment issued in a Texas court docket on Wednesday (March 27), Trefuego (Dantreal Daevon Clark-Rainbolt) was ordered to pay Sony Music $802,997.23 in damages…

4) BMG OWNER MULLS MERGER FOR MUSIC COMPANY

European media large Bertelsmann, going through setbacks, needs to develop music unit BMG by a merger with a rival or a “breakout funding”.

That’s in keeping with a report from The Monetary Occasions on Tuesday (March 26), citing an interview with Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe.

“BMG might probably be a chance for a breakout funding and becoming a member of forces with a competitor,” Rabe stated.

“If the chance arose to considerably develop BMG by becoming a member of forces with one other music firm, we’d think about it.”…

5) Warner has 13 days to submit a binding offer for Believe, as French company agrees to let WMG peruse its ‘data room’

Is Warner Music Group really going to launch a $1.8 billion+ takeover bid for Consider? We’ll know inside 13 days.

On Monday (March 25), the Board of Administrators of the Paris-born music firm formally invited Warner Music Group to submit “a binding, unconditional and totally financed provide” for Consider.

Consider’s Board has given WMG slightly below two weeks to take action, asking that the latter firm submit its provide no later than April 7, 2024.

That will be exactly one month after WMG introduced publicly (on March 7) that it was probably all in favour of making a bid for Consider…

MBW’s Weekly Round-Up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximise their income and reduce their touring costs.Music Enterprise Worldwide