Universal Music Group: Last News

Drake has settled his payola dispute against iHeartMedia for promoting Kendrick Lamar‘s ‘Not Like Us’.In November last year, Drake filed a legal dispute against Universal Music Group (UMG) and iHeartMedia over allegations that the latter had received “covert payments” from UMG to play Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ in an effort to inflate its numbers.Now, it has been reported that Drake has reached a private settlement with iHeartMedia for the legal dispute. According to a Texas court filing obtained by Rolling Stone, Drake and iHeartMedia have “reached an amicable resolution of the dispute to the satisfaction of both sides”.A rep for iHeartMedia said in a statement to Rolling Stone: “In exchange for documents that showed iHeart did nothing wrong, Drake agreed to drop his petition.

Iggy Azalea has slammed “criminals” at Universal Music Group (UMG), and has claimed she is owed millions of dollars.The ‘Fancy’ artist, real name Amethyst Amelia Kelly, claims that the company owes her “millions of dollars in back pay,” sharing that they recently offered her an $18,000 settlement instead of the amount “in the 8 figure range” that she claims she is owed.“I’m told this is a normal response from their lawyers and after appearing in court they end up paying millions as they’re supposed to,” the rapper and singer wrote in a post shared to X/Twitter yesterday (March 15).“Thankfully I’m well off and can and will pursue this issue until they pay me what they owe.”The ‘Black Widow’ musician became more incensed in follow-up post, writing: “Universal music mark my words you ugly bitch – You will pay me what’s owed.”NME has reached out to Universal Music Group for comment.Crazy how in my entire career I was never paid a single royalty by universal music for anything outside of the USA. They owe me millions of dollars in back pay, that they technically stole from me, as per my contract Iam due payment.

Universal Music Group and Def Jam Records.According to the filing (via Rolling Stone), Doe was hired in 1999 and allegedly faced numerous instances of sexual harassment from Liles between the period of 2000 and 2002 – the time when he was acting as her superior.Alongside claims of groping, the woman also accuses Liles of making “sexually inappropriate comments and advances” in 2002, as well as “physically forc[ing] himself on top of [Jane Doe] where he began to sexually assault and ultimately rape her despite her continued protests.”Liles has since shared a statement, denying the allegations and calling them “outrageous”. UMG has not yet publicly responded to the accusations.“I absolutely deny the outrageous claims reported in the press this evening,” he told Rolling Stone and Variety.

Universal Music Group has announced the launch of a new music health fund in partnership with the Music Health Alliance – find out more below.Yesterday (February 13), Universal Music Group revealed the Music Industry Mental Health Fund, which will provide mental health services to current and former music professionals across the US, even those not signed with or connected to the label.The partnership builds upon both companies’ previous four-year healthcare program through personalised recommendations for mental health counsellors, grants to offset costs and funding resource recommendations if necessary to ensure the continuation of care through additional financial and mental health support.Besides the services provided through the Music Industry Mental Health Fund, the MHA also provides dental care resources, individual and family health insurance, senior care support, vision care resources and more.UMG and the MHA have in the past served “nearly 1,000 clients and saved them more than $12.5million in healthcare costs” – for more information on the Music Industry Mental Health Fund, visit here.It is currently unclear if the fund will be expanded to include professionals across the world.A post shared by Universal Music Group (@universalmusicgroup)The fund’s announcement comes shortly after former NME Cover star Chappell Roan won her first Grammy at this year’s ceremony on February 3.

Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify have announced the striking of a new multi-year deal that will usher in “the next era of streaming innovation” – find out more below.Yesterday (January 26), UMG and Spotify announced their new deal, which will continue their long-running partnership dating back to 2015. In a press release, the two companies shared that the new deal was shaped around recorded music and music publishing that will be focused on “growth, innovation and the advancement of artists’ and songwriters’ success”.Per the deal, both consumers and artists will be able to access “new paid subscription tiers, bundling of music and non-music content, and a richer audio and visual content catalog”.

Drake is suing Universal Music Group (UMG) for releasing Kendrick Lamar‘s diss track ‘Not Like Us‘ last year – where Drake and his peers were described as “certified paedophiles” who should “be registered and placed on neighbourhood watch”.The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court today (January 15), called the release and promotion of the track, where Lamar alleged Drake “likes ‘em young”, an example of valuing “corporate greed over the safety and wellbeing of its artists”.As The Guardian reports, the lawsuit alleges that UMG “approved, published and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track” that was “intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response”.The suit also draws attention to the artwork for ‘Not Like Us’, which features a picture of Drake’s Toronto house with markers used to identify the homes of registered sex offenders. It then mentions a shooting which occurred outside the rapper’s house two days after the track was released, calling it “the 2024 equivalent of ‘Pizzagate'”.Lawyer Michael J Gottlieb is representing Drake in this case.

feud with Kendrick Lamar to federal court. The “One Dance” rapper, 38, filed a defamation lawsuit in Manhattan on Wednesday against Universal Music Group — which reps both stars — for releasing Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.”In the court documents obtained by The Post, Drake accused the record label of spreading the “false and malicious narrative” that he’s “a pedophile.”The lawsuit states that on May 4, 2024, the day “Not Like Us” came out, “UMG approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track that falsely accuses Drake of being a pedophile and calls for violent retribution against him.”“Even though UMG enriched itself and its shareholders by exploiting Drake’s music for years, and knew that the salacious allegations against Drake were false, UMG chose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists,” the suit added.Drake is signed to UMG subsidiary Republic Records, while Lamar, 37, is signed to UMG’s Interscope Records.In the court docs, Drake claimed that Lamar’s diss track — which is nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year — conveyed the “false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile.”Lamar isn’t named in the lawsuit.

Universal Music Group and Amazon have announced an expanded global relationship.The two companies have said that they will be working together closely to “explore new and enhanced product opportunities” that will benefit artists and create better experiences for fans. UMG will also be collaborating with Amazon as they expand in audio, including further innovation in audiobooks, audio and visual programming as well as livestreamed content.In addition, they will be working to address, among other things, unlawful AI-generated content and means of protecting against fraud and misattribution.“We are very excited to advance our long-standing, excellent partnership with Amazon Music that marks a new era in streaming—Streaming 2.0,” said UMG’s chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge.

Drake’s claims that Spotify “artificially inflated” the streaming figures for Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’, the streaming platform has responded with an official statement.Last month, Drake accused Spotify and his label, Universal Music Group, of inflating the numbers for the track, in which Lamar takes aim at the rapper as part of their ongoing feud. He also accused UMG – who distribute Lamar’s music too – of defamation.As a result, Spotify has filed opposition papers, and a spokesperson said: “Spotify has no economic incentive for users to stream ‘Not Like Us’ over any of Drake’s tracks.

Universal Music Group (UMG) have reportedly filed a motion to dismiss Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst’s $200million lawsuit against them for “fraudulent accounting practices”.In October, Durst filed a lawsuit against UMG for $200million on the count of fraud, alleging that the music label and publishing company had withheld the band’s royalties for years before they made an inquiry on it and only got paid “recently”.According to the Limp Bizkit vocalist, the group “never received any royalties from UMG”, until this August – despite having sold millions of albums and still earning “millions of streaming users per month on Spotify alone” for years. The lawsuit also alleged that UMG had intended to “unfairly keep those profits for itself”.At the time, UMG responded by claiming that Limp Bizkit had been paid $43million in recoupable advances over the years.

Drake and his team have filed a legal dispute against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify for allegedly “artificially inflating” Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ streaming numbers. In the new filing – which can be viewed here – Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC has accused UMG and Spotify of “illegally” aiding and boosting ‘Not Like Us’ streams in favour of Kendrick Lamar – who earlier this year entered a viral rap feud with Drake.According to the legal document, UMG is accused of offering Spotify compensation to recommend the song to Spotify subscribers: “On information and belief, UMG charged Spotify licensing rates 30 per cent lower than its usual licensing rates for ‘Not Like Us’ in exchange for Spotify affirmatively recommending the song to users who are searching for other unrelated songs and artists.” UMG has said the allegations in the court document are untrue.The dispute also targets UMG more, and only names Spotify in a few instances.It also alleges that Spotify and UMG did not disclose the compensation, which the document claims was made through “wires or mails”.

Universal Music Group (UMG), ABKCO Music & Records and Concord Music Group have sued Believe and TuneCore, claiming they shared sped-up songs to evade copyright.As reported by Music Business Worldwide, the major-label conglomerate has alleged that Believe SAS – the digital music company formerly known as Believe Music and its subsidiary TuneCore – have committed “industrial-scale copyright infringement,” and are currently seeking $500 million in damages.Filed in federal court on Monday (November 4), the suit claimed that TuneCore has served as a hub for sped-up bootleg versions of copyrighted songs. UMG has alleged that Believe distributed “millions” of slightly altered versions of major-label tracks onto both streaming and video platforms with credit going to artists under the names “Kendirk Laamar” and “Arriana Gramde”.

told the Daily Mail. “Liam’s advance was massive and he didn’t recoup [it],” one source told the outlet. “Out of all the One Direction boys, Liam was on the wrong path musically.”The singer’s public relations representative also dropped him, resigning earlier this month, according to the publication.

market capitalization tumble to $39.9 billion, down from $56.5 billion a day earlier, according to FactSet.The music group’s revenue rose 9.6% year-over-year in constant currency, bringing in 2.93 billion euros. This came in above analysts’ estimates of 2.89 billion euros, according to Visible Alpha.Music subscription revenue grew 6.9%, as major players like Spotify and Apple Music have raised subscription prices.Meanwhile, streaming revenue dropped 3.9%, which Universal attributed to its other streaming partners’ new subscription numbers falling.

several cases brought by authors, news outlets and others over the alleged misuse of their work to train text-based AI models powering chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Universal Music Group has denied reports that it requested that Kendrick Lamar and Drake end their much-publicised feud.Over the past month, Lamar and Drake have been trading blows over a constant back-and-forth of diss tracks. Earlier this week, Drake dropped his new diss track ‘The Heart Part 6’, on which the Canadian rapper suggested that Lamar’s disses are based on false information fed to him by Drake’s team. He also denied allegations of paedophilia lobbied against him by Kendrick Lamar on ‘Meet The Grahams’.The feud stems from Lamar’s verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s ‘Like That‘ back in March.

TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG) have announced that they have come to a new licensing agreement.Today (May 2), the social media platform and music label issued a press release announcing the new agreement. It comes after TikTok’s and UMG’s previous agreement expired in late January, with the latter withdrawing its artists’ music from the platform as a result of both parties’ inability to work out a new deal.In late January, UMG claimed that “TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay”, which it says accounts for one per cent of its revenue.Now, however, UMG’s new agreement with TikTok will reportedly “deliver improved remuneration for UMG’s songwriters and artists, new promotional and engagement opportunities for their recordings and songs and industry-leading protections with respect to generative AI”, per a press release.Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of UMG, said of their new partnership: “This new chapter in our relationship with TikTok focuses on the value of music, the primacy of human artistry and the welfare of the creative community.

Taylor Swift’s music has returned to TikTok, after her label Universal withdrew all of their artists from the platform earlier this year.In January, Universal Music Group (UMG) announced that it would withdraw its artists’ songs from the platform, citing unfair compensation for the artists and the harmful effects of AI.But now, as reported by Variety, Swift’s catalogue has returned to the site, which may be a consequence of the fact that the singer now owns the masters to her recordings.Other artists signed to the label continue to be absent from TikTok, including Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Drake, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Adele, Coldplay, J Balvin, Post Malone and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.The timing is opportune, as Swift’s latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is released next Friday (April 19).At the time, UMG explained that its licensing agreement with TikTok expired on January 31, and that negotiations to renew the contract had fallen short.“In our contract renewal discussions, we have been pressing [TikTok] on three critical issues—appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”“TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay”, which it says accounts for one per cent of its revenue.

Universal Music Group and Republic Records have announced the launch of Boombox, a new product being integrated into Roblox to allow players to stream in-game music that artists can monetise and have count toward Billboard charts.This collaboration will start in the Twice Square experience, a level in Roblox where players can leave messages for the K-pop girl group, play minigames, and collect virtual items. With Boombox, players will be able to “share and collectively enjoy” Twice‘s music, with each playback being monetisable, as well as counting toward Billboard charts.Boombox is apparently the first “scaled music product across the Roblox platform”.

TikTok has confirmed that it has begun to remove Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) songs from its platform.The app has already removed tracks by artists who are signed to the label and will be doing the same with songwriters. The removal of the UMPG tracks comes three days before the UMPG catalogue becomes unlicensed for use on the social media platform.Per Music Business Worldwide, “Any recording of a song currently available on TikTok that has been co-written by a songwriter signed to Universal Music Publishing will also need to come down in the event of UMPG’s license expiring.According to BBC, TikTok has shared that up to 30 per cent of the platform’s “popular songs” could be lost, with some industry estimates revealing that up to 80 per cent of all music on TikTok could be muted.A short list of UMG artists whose music is expected to vanish from the platform is Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Drake, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Adele, Coldplay, J Balvin, Post Malone and Sophie Ellis-Bextor – whose 2001 track ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ has gone particularly viral through TikTok following the release of Saltburn.Last month, UMG published an open letter announcing its intention to withdraw music from artists signed to the publisher and label from TikTok.In its statement, UMG announced that its licensing agreement with TikTok expired on January 31 and that negotiations to renew the contract have fallen short.

Store.TaylorSwift.com — which sells gifts, CDs and vinyl, as well as T-shirts and sweaters from her record-breaking Eras Tour — has been dogged with complaints on social media of goods that have arrived either late, or damaged, or not at all.The Post spoke with multiple customers who claim they waited months for goods from the site — which promises many items “ship in 1 week” — with little to no response from UMG’s customer service. Ditto for requests for a refund.Grace Green, a 32-year-old Swiftie living in Arizona who has been a fan since Swift’s debut album came out in 2006, placed orders for 22 items on the site last year, collectively totaling $1,044.75, she told The Post.Green defended the splurge as “a desperate, mad attempt to get everything at once,” noting that products across the site quickly sell out.