From Suno being sued by GEMA to Weverse’s 150m lifetime downloads… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up

Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.

This week, rumors about a possible sale of audio tech company Sonos made a comeback. Bloomberg News speculated that Amazon or Spotify are the likeliest suitors for the firm if its board decides to sell, following a fallout over a problem-plagued software rollout.

In copyright lawsuit news, we learned that Mike Caren‘s APG is suing Create Music Group, alleging that Create claimed the copyrights on YouTube videos of APG songs, and entered into “bogus contracts” with APG-signed artists.

We also learned that AI music generator Suno, after being sued by the majors last year, is now facing another lawsuit, this one from German collection society GEMA, accusing it of training its AI models on copyrighted works without permission.

Meanwhile, HYBE‘s superfan platform Weverse released a new report, showing it had passed the 150 million downloads mark while attracting top-tier talent like Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion.

Finally, a Netflix price hike highlighted the widening gap between the video streaming giant’s pricing and that of Spotify’s. With Netflix’s new pricing in the US, a Netflix Standard subscription now costs $72 more per year than an individual Premium Spotify account.

Here’s what happened this week…

1) SONOS TAKEOVER SPECULATION GROWS, WITH SPOTIFY OR AMAZON TIPPED AS POTENTIAL SUITORS (REPORT)

Could an acquisition bid soon be made for audio technology company Sonos?

The fallout from its app rollout in 2024 and the company’s recent leadership shakeup, which saw CEO Patrick Spence and Chief Product Officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin depart last week, have intensified speculation about potential buyers if the company’s board decides to sell.

The company’s recent struggles have pushed its market value down to $1.7 billion from over $5 billion during its pandemic peak.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman points to Spotify and Amazon as the most probable suitors, each offering distinct advantages for a potential acquisition…

2) $500M-VALUED SUNO HIT WITH NEW COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT FROM GERMANY’S GEMA

AI music generator Suno continues to be one of the most controversial entities in the music business today.

In June, the $500 million company was sued by the major record companies, along with fellow AI firm Udio, for allegedly training their systems using the majors’ recordings without permission – an accusation they pretty much admitted to in court filings in August.

Now Suno is also being sued for copyright infringement by German collection society and licensing body GEMA.

GEMA represents the copyrights of around 95,000 members in Germany (composers, lyricists, music publishers) as well as over 2 million rightsholders worldwide…

3) APG SUES CREATE MUSIC GROUP FOR ALLEGED ‘MASSIVE WILLFUL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT’

Mike Caren’s indie music company APG has sued Create Music Group, claiming that Create engaged in “brazen thievery” of APG’s songs and recordings.

In a complaint filed with the US District Court for the Central District of California on Tuesday (January 21), publisher Artist Publishing Group, label Artist Partner Group, and distributor Release Global LLC alleged that Create Music Group claimed the copyrights on YouTube videos of works owned or licensed by APG.

The complaint also alleges that Create has “made a weak and unavailing attempt to justify their copyright infringement of [APG’s] recordings and compositions by entering into bogus ‘contracts’ with certain artists who created these recordings and compositions” – knowing they were already signed to APG…

4) WEVERSE HIT 150M LIFETIME DOWNLOADS, SAW 19% USER GROWTH IN 2024, AS ARIANA GRANDE, DUA LIPA JOIN SUPERFAN PLATFORM

HYBE’s superfan platform, Weverse, hit the milestone of 150 million cumulative global downloads in 2024.

That’s according to Weverse’s 2024 Global Fandom Trend Report, where the company revealed that the number of artist communities on the platform grew 30% YoY to 162 in 2024.

The report also reveals that the platform’s user base grew consistently across all continents, with an average growth rate of 19% last year.

Sixteen separate global artist teams joined Weverse during the year, with high-profile international stars like Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion, and Conan Gray driving double-digit user growth across North America, Europe, and Asia…

5) WITH LATEST PRICE INCREASE, NETFLIX’S STANDARD SUBSCRIPTION NOW COSTS $72 MORE PER YEAR THAN SPOTIFY PREMIUM IN THE US

Netflix has raised its subscription prices in the US for the first time in nearly a year-and-a-half, further widening the price gap between the video streaming giant and music streaming leader Spotify.

Under its latest US pricing, Netflix is increasing the cost of its ad-free Standard plan, which allows for two simultaneous HD streams, by $2.50 per month, to $17.99 from $15.49.

The Premium tier, meanwhile, now costs $24.99, up $2 from $22.99.

As a result, subscribing to Netflix’s Standard tier will now cost you approximately $72 more per year than subscribing to Spotify’s individual Premium (at $11.99 per month)…

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 Business Worldwide