The most influential leaders in Canada’s music industry gathered at the exclusive celebration for Billboard Canada Power Players at Toronto’s Rebel on June 10, as part of NXNE. It was a prestigious night with impactful and emotional remarks, heartfelt tributes and one historic, and strange, surprise honour to close the festivities.

Many of the Power Players honoured on the 2026 list were in attendance, including Gary Slaight, Warner Music Canada co-GM Madelaine Napoleone, Universal Music Canada president & CEO Julie Adam, Live Nation Canada’s Erik Hoffman, Wayne Zronik and Melissa Bubb-Clarke, Allan Reid of the Junos/CARAS and many more.

Following a viral KEXP performance in February, Quebec-based math rock duo Angine de Poitrine have skyrocketed into international fame. The polka-dot-clad pair — who perform under the pseudonyms Khn de Poitrine and Klek de Poitrine — are everywhere. In a surprise moment, they got to accept the Billboard Canada Global Breakthrough Award, presented by FACTOR, in front of the most powerful executives in Canada. When their name was announced, many in the room were questioning if they were really there and what they would do.

True to their artistry, the two members took the stage in full black and white polka dot costumes as their music played, walked up to the microphone, and then didn’t utter a single word. While they lingered on stage it seemed like they might say something, if even in their otherworldly language. Instead, Khn reached up and touched his hat, and a burst of black and white confetti showered the audience. Then, they left. Without saying a word, they had one of the big moments of the night.

Two icons of the live music industry were honoured for their decades-long devotion to the country and its artists. Paquin Artists Agency co-president Vinny Cinquemani and Live Nation Canada chairman Riley O’Connor became the first-ever inductees into the Billboard Canada Hall of Fame.

When Meg Symsyk, president and CEO of FACTOR, stepped onstage to accept the Visionary Leadership award, she revealed that earlier in the day, she was on a flight from Los Angeles where she was with Rush at The Forum on their comeback 50th anniversary tour. Billboard Canada national editor Richard Trapunski personally presented her with the award, and outlined that it’s been a whirlwind month for Symsyk, as news that FACTOR and Scotiabank had settled their lawsuit became public at the beginning of this month. Throughout it all, Symsyk ensured that the music funder has continued — and in many ways, expanded — its support of Canadian artists.

“When you are surrounded by people who share your values and challenge each other to be better, you discover that leadership is less about pursuing your personal achievements and more about helping others find theirs,” she said. “Our work has always been about more than streams and charts and ticket sales and market share.”

Margaret McGuffin, CEO of Music Publishers Canada, received the Impact Award. She was recognized for her advocacy ensuring that Canadian creators are fairly compensated and licensed in the age of AI, as well as her mentorship for the next generation.

“As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into the creative ecosystem, we must ensure that creators and the companies that invest in them have a voice in shaping the future,” she said during her speech. “These are the people I’ve spent my career working with and advocating for. I have the great privilege of working with music publishers, many who are in this room.”

Read more highlights here.

Daniel Caesar Pays Surprise Tribute to His Managers at Billboard Canada Managers to Watch 2026

The most influential managers from across the globe gathered at SOUNDSTAGE in Toronto on June 11 at NXNE to celebrate Billboard Canada Managers to Watch. The celebration spotlighted the people who put in the behind-the-scenes work to elevate artists across the country following the release of this year’s coveted Managers to Watch list.

“If you want to get something done, call the manager,” said Billboard Canada national editor Richard Trapunski in his opening remarks. “You are the ones who are closest to the artists, the unsung heroes of the music industry. You have the vision and the tools to open doors and build careers, yet you are rarely in the spotlight yourselves.”

Daniel Caesar is one of the biggest Canadian success stories of the last decade, and he flew straight from Thailand to make a surprise appearance to honour the two powerhouses who have been with him on an adventure from the very beginning: his managers, Matthew Burnett and Jordan Evans.

The R&B star proudly invited both of his managers onstage to crown them Billboard Canada’s 2026 Managers to Watch, greeting each of them with a powerful, lasting hug and leaving Evans teary-eyed.

“We’re in the middle of an adventure and I love it so much. If I could bottle up that feeling, I would pay every cent I have to give that feeling to the people I love,” Caesar said.

Burnett joked about his working relationship with Evans being “each other’s most successful relationship,” with the pair celebrating two decades of working together this year. He gave a special nod to Canadian producer Boi-1da for giving them their start in the industry back when they were producers, and boasted that nobody in the world can captivate a room like Daniel Caesar playing acoustic guitar, be it in a small room, an arena or even a stadium. He was proud to call Evans and Caesar his brothers and his family, and left the audience with words about what he considers to be the utmost principle of management: care.

Sébastien Collin is the man behind the year’s biggest global breakthrough: the polka-dotted, viral math rock band Angine de Poitrine from Saguenay, Quebec. In just four months, Collin and the group have booked an international tour that’s sold over 100,000 tickets worldwide and racked up over 16 million views on the band’s breakthrough KEXP live performance.

Collin is this year’s Manager on the Rise. “I think we can be proud of the music without compromise and I hope that it will help build bridges,” he said. “I hope it will put some spotlight on the Quebec scene. We’ve got really nice bands right now, and I hope it will help us find the good bands everywhere.”

Tommas Arnby, meanwhile, won the International Manager Award, highlighting his work building the global rise of rock star Yungblud.

See all the highlights here.

Lil Baby’s hemp company is facing counterclaims after accusing its joint venture partner of shipping illegal and contaminated cannabis products across the country.

The rapper’s business entity, The Holding Co., sued Florida cannabis company Bay Smokes in April for allegedly mishandling his WHAM product line, which was marketed as a low-THC hemp product that was legal nationwide. The Holding Co. claimed it tested the product and found THC levels of 22% — far above the federal limit of 0.3% — as well as microbes like E. coli, yeast and mold.

Bay Smokes has denied these allegations, telling Billboard in an April statement, “We stand by the quality and legality of all of our hemp products, which undergo independent third-party laboratory testing.” Now, the cannabis company is accusing The Holding Co. of breaching a confidentiality and non-disparagement clause from their joint venture deal.

“The complaint filed by plaintiff in this action publishes false allegations of product contamination that are directly contradicted by Bay Smokes’s contemporaneous October 10, 2025, certificate of analysis for the ‘THCA Flower Gelato 45’ batch that plaintiff purports to have independently tested,” reads Bay Smokes’ Thursday (June 11) countersuit, obtained and first reported by Billboard.

The countersuit also alleges that The Holding Co.’s principal, Eric Anderson, has further disparaged Bay Smokes to customers at industry trade shows “while steering those customers to competing sources of supply in which plaintiff’s principal holds an undisclosed personal financial interest.”

Bay Smokes is seeking financial damages from The Holding Co. for its alleged contract violations, including a refund of legal fees. It also claims The Holding Co. has been overpaid by more than $206,000 in its share of the joint venture profits.

Reps for Lil Baby and The Holding Co. did not immediately return requests for comment on Friday (June 12).

The Holding Co. and Bay Smokes formed their joint venture in 2024 for a WHAM hemp line, named for Lil Baby’s nickname. This would go on to be the title of the rapper’s 2025 album WHAM, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

In the April lawsuit, The Holding Co. alleged Bay Smokes had tarnished Lil Baby’s reputation by associating his trademarks with “unauthorized illegal cannabis sales, concealed sales, contaminated products and unlawful conduct.” The suit also claimed that Bay Smokes’ founders were inappropriately marketing the cannabis brand with “erotic videos.”

A Hall of Fame celebration is typically a chance to bury hatchets, to raise a toast, and to remember the tunes and artists that turned you on during the formative years.

When ARIA inducted six acts into its Hall of Fame on Thursday evening, June 11, the occasion presented a the industry with a chance to take stock, and identify the battles that lay ahead. Specifically, artificial intelligence and its profound threat (and opportunity) to the creative community.

At the tail-end of 2025, Australia’s Productivity Commission completed a year-long inquiry with the publication of its final report on Harnessing data and digital technology. In it, the Commission concluded it would be “premature to make changes to Australia’s copyright laws,” despite lobby efforts from big tech.

That followed Attorney-General Michelle Rowland’s announcement that the federal government wouldn’t water-down existing copyright protections, essentially shutting down the creative sectors’ concerns that an exemption would be carved out for text and data mining (TDM).

The music industry shifted into gear, as the likes of ARIA Award winners Missy Higgins and The Presets’ Julian Hamilton, and Midnight Oil frontman and former Labor frontbencher Peter Garrett, and 2026 ARIA Hall of Fame inductee Kate Ceberano stepped up to advocate for rights holders.

“Our opportunity to shape how AI influences music and what Australian music looks like for generations to come relies on us all getting it right in this regulatory and political moment,” ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd remarked at the top of the 2026 ARIA Hall of Fame. “Getting this right means everyone wins,” she added, pointing to artists and rightsholders, tech platforms, consumers, music fans, and the Australian economy.

AI, and the conversation around it, is everywhere right now. Just this week, the trade body clarified its position on AI generated music ahead of the 2026 ARIA Awards. Going forward, “recordings/items that incorporate elements of Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be submitted for entry, but only if a human is the primary creator of such recording/item and the human contribution is substantial and meaningful,” reads the updated ARIAs guidelines. AI cannot be the sole or central element of any recording/item that is submitted for entries” and any AI services or tools used to assist in the creation of any potential nominees “must be a properly authorized and lawful service/tool.”

The industry will be like a dog with a bone on AI, Herd insists. It won’t give up.

“Our opportunity to shape how AI influences music and what Australian music looks like for generations to come relies on us all getting it right in this regulatory and political moment,” she said during her comments at the top of the HoF.

Read Herd’s opening address at the ARIA Hall of Fame 2026:

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Good evening, and welcome to The ARIA Hall of Fame 2026 Special Event.

I want to thank Binowee for that beautiful Welcome and pay my respects to Gadigal elders past and present, and to all the First Nations artists, storytellers, colleagues, and friends in the room tonight.

I’d like to welcome Tony Burke, Minister for the Arts; former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern; Susan Templeman, Special Envoy for the Arts; Senator Sarah Hanson Young; and Millie Millgate of Music Australia.

Thank you also to NSW Music Minister John Graham who can’t be here tonight and Sound NSW, Music Australia, and the Office of the Arts for supporting this event.

From the bottom of our hearts, we are grateful for your deep support and passion for Australian music and our industry. Through a difficult time of disruption and transition with lots of challenges, we know that you have our backs and are doing everything possible to enable Australian music to flourish.

This is the first time the Hall of Fame has stood as its own event since 2010. The reason we wanted to bring it back this year is – of course – that it is the ARIA Awards’ 40^th birthday which is a chance to pause and think about everything that got us here: who took the early risks, who played the rooms we still play in and opened the doors that everyone’s walking through now.

It is also a chance to induct a group of very deserving artists on a night which is all about them.

The six artists being inducted – Gurrumul, Jenny Morris, Kate Ceberano, Spiderbait, The Living End, and Vika and Linda – between them have shaped what Australian music sounds like, through extraordinary songs and records, magnetic stage presence, and all the joy and emotion they have gifted us over the years. Lucky for us we get to spend the next few hours celebrating this incredible achievement properly together and with them.

A huge and warm welcome to our inductees and to family, friends and the people who have been part of the journey to this moment. We have a very special evening planned for you all and I hope that it is a night that you will always remember and treasure. You might want to keep the tissues on hand, we did manage to get Tim Rogers to cry last year so…

A 40th anniversary lets you reflect and think hard about where we are and what comes next. As we gather tonight there are several very important national conversations happening, the outcomes of which will shape the future of Australian music and impact generations of artists going forward.

The big, inescapable one is obviously AI.

This year, the skies between the U.S. and Canberra have been busy with planes carrying AI and tech company CEOs and senior executives to Canberra. They arrive waving very large cheques and promising generation-defining investment in Australia, provided we make some “tiny” tweaks to our copyright laws to remove consent and control from artists and rightsholders.

Our opportunity to shape how AI influences music and what Australian music looks like for generations to come relies on us all getting it right in this regulatory and political moment.

Getting this right means everyone wins: artists and rightsholders, tech platforms, consumers, music fans, and the Australian economy.

For artists and rightsholders, getting this wrong means losing consent and control over how your work is used by AI.  Being forced to watch your life’s work disappear into someone else’s AI product to be exploited and monetised without permission or anything resembling fair payment. And it’s hard to even conceive of the damage if AI has unfettered access to extract and exploit thousand of generations of First Nations culture and storytelling.

A country with a creative and media culture as strong as ours will not rewrite its laws on the advice of the people who stand to profit most from dismantling them. Tech companies do not decide how an artist’s music is used, on what terms or at what price. That is the prerogative of the artist and the copyright owner.

We thank Minister Burke, the Attorney-General, Michelle Rowland, and others who have stood firm with creators so far in the face of this immense pressure. All we can say is hold firm!

But tonight, let’s leave AI at the door and live and be fully present in this very special and very human moment.

This is a room of people who love music, who love Australian music and the artists who made it. And tonight, we ask that you show the love. Be loud, be warm, get up and dance and sing along wherever you feel like singing (as long as it’s during a performance). These six have earned every bit of it.

A huge thanks to the amazing ARIA team, Second Sunday event production team, and the Roving broadcast crew for the huge work and love that goes into a night like this; to the ABC for broadcasting the Hall of Fame to Australian audiences, and to every one of you for being here. We’ve got a good one for you, let’s go!

The composers of the University of Michigan’s iconic “Let’s Go Blue” marching band fight song are fighting back in litigation over a sync in the College Football video game series.

Albert Ahronheim and Joe Carl, who co-wrote “Let’s Go Blue” as Michigan students in the 1970s, were sued earlier this year by publishers Theodore Presser and Carl Fischer. The companies claim they’ve owned the song’s composition rights since 1978 and properly inked a College Football license with Electronic Arts (EA), only for Ahronheim and Carl to interfere and get the sync removed.

Ahronheim and Carl tell a different story in counterclaims filed on Tuesday (June 11), first obtained and reported by Billboard. The composers say they exercised their termination rights under copyright law years ago and now control the “Let’s Go Blue” publishing. In 2024, however, they allegedly learned that Presser and Fischer had illegally licensed the song to EA behind their backs “for a paltry sum of approximately $1,000.”

“This came as a surprise to [Ahronheim and Carl], as Fisher did not have authority to license the song in any capacity (and $1,000 was a shockingly low license fee),” reads the countersuit.

Now, the composers and publishers are each asking a judge to declare that they are the rightful owners of “Let’s Go Blue.” Each side is also seeking financial damages from the other for alleged wrongdoing.

Reps for the composers, publishers and EA did not immediately return requests for comment.

The dispute turns on the technicalities of the termination right — a provision of copyright law that allows authors to claw back their intellectual property decades after signing it away. Ahronheim and Carl claim they exercised their termination rights in 2013, and that Presser and Fischer accepted at the time that the “Let’s Go Blue” publishing had reverted.

The publishers, however, argue in their lawsuit that Ahronheim and Carl’s termination notice was invalid because they failed to make an official report to the U.S. Copyright Office before the 2013 effective date. Presser and Fischer say this means they retain ownership of “Let’s Go Blue” and are thus entitled to license out the song to EA and others.

This lawsuit is just one among many current court battles that are testing the limitations of termination rights. Salt-N-Pepa is locked in one such case, with Universal Music Group arguing that the rap duo can’t exercise the right because they didn’t actually sign their original record deal. Another major fight is questioning whether termination rights extend overseas. And earlier this month, a judge ruled that they couldn’t be invoked because a member of 2 Live Crew filed for bankruptcy.

Primary Wave Music has partnered with the estate of Donna Summer, the company announced on Wednesday (June 10). The deal will see Primary Wave work alongside Summer’s estate to expand the reach of her song catalog and recordings. It also includes her name, image and likeness (NIL) rights.

Through the agreement, Primary Wave will work closely with the estate on new marketing, branding digital and sync opportunities, along with film and TV projects. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

According to a press release, Summer, a primary force in bringing disco to the mainstream, has sold more than 100 million albums globally. Her catalog includes 17 studio albums, three of which went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. That includes 1978’s Bad Girls, which spent six weeks atop the tally. She also enjoyed four No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls,” “MacArthur Park” and “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough).” A total of 14 of her songs hit the Hot 100’s top 10.

Other hits in Summer’s catalog include “I Feel Love,” “She Works Hard for the Money,” “On the Radio” and “Love to Love You Baby.” Notably, Beyoncé recently sampled “I Feel Love” on “Summer Renaissance,” a track off her 2022 album Renaissance.

Over the course of her career, Summer was nominated for 18 Grammys and won five, including best female R&B vocal performance for “Last Dance,” best female rock vocal performance for “Hot Stuff” and best dance recording for “Carry On” with Giogio Moroder. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2025.

Summer died in 2012 at age 63.

UPDATE (June 10): AMC Theatres announced that the Arena One screenings originally scheduled for June have been postponed to later this year.

“Week after week in 2026, the domestic box office performance has exceeded or met expectations,” said a statement from AMC Theatres sent to Billboard. “With a robust lineup of films and strong advance ticket sales in the weeks ahead, AMC is making some programming adjustments during the month of June.

“As part of those adjustments, the previously announced Arena One at AMC Girls Night Live concert series featuring Maren Morris, Paris Hilton, Kim Petras, and Bebe Rexha will move to later in 2026. Tickets purchased for the originally scheduled events have been automatically refunded.

“AMC is very excited about its partnership with Arena One, and we look forward to announcing updated dates and additional artists in the weeks and months ahead.”

PREVIOUSLY:

Your favorite performer is coming to a movie cinema near you.  

Bebe Rexha, Paris Hilton, Maren Morris and Kim Petras are among the first wave of artists participating in new, interactive concert experience that will beam the show into hundreds of theaters across the United States.

Arena One, the new live entertainment company, and AMC Theatres, the giant theatrical exhibitor, join forces for Arena One at AMC, a real-time, interactive concert format that will be pumped into 300 AMC locations in 89 markets from June.

The concerts are an upgrade from the cinecast experience that found traction with some a-list artists and their fans in the late 2000s, when a slew of live concerts and exclusive events were fed into participating cinemas.

Through this new concept, announced this week, the artist will perform on Arena One’s purpose-built stage, while “seeing and responding to fans at AMC locations through innovative interactive technology,” reads a statement from organizers.

The advantages are obvious. For the artist, the initiative enables them to reach more fans, in more places, without hitting the road. And for those fans who can’t physical get to see their hero, due to cost, distance or other reasons, they now have a virtual front-row seat.

“The next chapter of live shows isn’t about proximity to big venues, it’s about creating visceral, intimate, affordable live connection between artists and fans no matter where they are,” explains Rohit Kapoor, founder and chief creative officer of Arena One. “Arena One gives artists a new cinema-native canvas to create live performances, while amplifying the raw energy and shared fandom that makes live shows unforgettable.”

First up, Bebe Rexha will perform an Arena One at AMC concert June 17, followed by Paris Hilton (June 18), Kim Petras (June 19) and Maren Morris (June 20).

Ticketholders will soak up an atmosphere that’s “designed to feel immediate and electric, featuring powerful sound, massive screens,” comfortable seats, and more, reads a statement.

“We consider this to be a major announcement,” explains Adam Aron, chairman and CEO of AMC Entertainment, and an “innovative step forward” for the business.

Additional artists and dates will be announced in the coming weeks, with ticket prices varying by market.

“We built a cinematic stage optimized to translate seamlessly to cinemas, but artists are defining what it becomes,” adds Peter Hamilton, CEO of Arena One. “They’re not adapting tours; they’re building something new. That’s when a medium sparks reinvention.”

Showtimes are available on AMCTheatres.com, the AMC Mobile App, and at arenaonelive.com/shows.

At the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) annual meeting on Wednesday (June 10), president and CEO David Israelite announced the “first-ever industry-wide AI licensing deals” for publisher members with AI music firms Udio and KLAY, in his words. He also announced the AI Songs Summit, a gathering in Nashville this fall that will bring together songwriters, publishers, streaming services and other stakeholders to discuss the opportunities and challenges of AI.

“Litigating against bad AI actors and licensing good AI partners is not in conflict,” Israelite explained. “NMPA will do both… There has been hesitancy to make mistakes in these early deals, but there has not been any deal offered across the entire market until today.”

Importantly, Israelite noted in his speech that these AI deals offer publishers equal compensation to record labels on the AI training side. Whether or not publishing receives equal pay on the output side of AI licensing was not addressed in the presentation.

Equal pay for masters and publishing in AI licensing has been a goal of Israelite’s for the last few years. At the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) Grammy week event in 2025, he addressed this, saying, “I believe the most important principle is that the song is just as valuable, if not more, than the sound recording in the AI model,” he said, adding, “I am fearful that as these models develop, if we do not protect our rights, we will find ourselves in a situation where we are not getting as much or more than the sound recording when it comes to revenue… That is a responsibility of this entire community to fight for that.”

The NMPA annual meeting takes place each summer and acts as a state of the union for music publishers, gathering together the highest-level executives and songwriters to go over financials for the business, hand out awards to songwriters and their business champions, and have talent perform their greatest hits. This year, the company honored P!nk as its Songwriter Icon for 2026 and Julian Bunetta (“Lose Control,” “Espresso,” “Night Changes”) as its Non-Performing Songwriter Icon.

Israelite also often uses the stage to debut a bombshell announcement, with this year’s being the new landmark AI deals with Udio and KLAY. The license gets the two AI music companies much closer to full music industry support. In a business in which ownership of intellectual property is often divided among several stakeholders represented by a number of different companies, it has historically been a challenging and lengthy process for tech companies to get the widespread support needed to be properly licensed.

Israelite said of Udio: “I thank CEO and co-founder Andrew Sanchez, who is with us today, for his collaboration. Most importantly, this deal delivers something that we have always demanded: Songs are just as important, if not more than sound recordings, when it comes to AI… Starting on Monday, NMPA members in good standing will have the opportunity to review and join this groundbreaking deal.”

Udio and KLAY have previously received industry support. After the former was sued by the three major music companies in a $500 million copyright infringement lawsuit in June 2024 for allegedly training on unlicensed sound recordings, it shifted its platform from creating new AI songs in seconds to remixing licensed, pre-existing songs — and received support and reconciliation from the music business in doing so. In the last year, Udio has inked licensing deals with Universal Music Group (UMG), Warner Music Group (WMG) and Kobalt, all of which are NMPA members, as well as Merlin on the sound recording side.

KLAY, which also will offer customization of licensed songs using AI, has periodically made announcements about its progress with music licensing but has not yet launched. Previous deals between KLAY and music companies include UMG, WMG and Sony on the master and publishing sides, all of which are members of the NMPA.

KLAY’s proactive approach to achieving full music licensing before its launch is unique in the AI music space. The company is helmed by musician and CEO Ary Attie, while Thomas Hesse, former president of global digital business and U.S. sales and distribution at Sony Music, acts as its chief content and commercial officer.

Said Israelite, “This deal will launch later this summer, as NMPA members in good standing will receive instructions about how to opt-in… Both of these agreements represent real progress toward AI and creators working together and benefiting both sides, and for companies that don’t take this approach, you know what’s coming.”

While Israelite expressed a willingness to harness the opportunities of AI licensing for songwriters and publishers, he also reminded the crowd of what he sees as one of the biggest challenges it presents: streaming fraud.

“AI is being used to hypercharge streaming fraud,” he said. “And that fraud is not just stealing from songwriters and artists, but also can be used for a more nefarious purpose. There is growing concern by the U.S. government that it is being used to launder money for organized crime and even to finance terrorism. Streaming fraud is a national security issue.”

For further coverage of the NMPA annual meeting, see Billboard’s recap of financials and awards here.

U.S. music publishing revenue rose to $7.3 billion in 2025, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) revealed at its annual meeting on Wednesday (June 10). This is up from $7.04 billion in 2024, which the trade organization reported at last year’s meeting, and $6.2 billion in 2023.

The meeting, held at Alice Tully Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center, is considered a state of the union for U.S. music publishers and attended by the industry’s highest-ranking publishers and songwriters. This year, its chief legal officer and chief operating officer, Danielle Aguirre, focused her speech on the financial health of the U.S. publishing business. She explained how Spotify and Amazon‘s 2024 moves to shift some of their subscription tiers to “bundles” — meaning a subscription tier that includes multiple offerings for a discounted price tag, thus qualifying it for a reduced U.S. mechanical royalty rate — led to a loss of almost $500 million in value for songwriters and publishers.

This subject was also addressed at the NMPA annual meeting last year, where it was noted that the first year under bundling lost songwriters and publishers $230 million in total. Since it unveiled its bundled tiers, Spotify in particular has inked deals with numerous NMPA members — and the NMPA itself — to improve remuneration for songwriters. However, a source close to the matter previously told Billboard that these deals primarily did this by opening up a new revenue stream for licensing music videos on the streaming service, rather than changing the U.S. mechanical rate.

Financials

The NMPA annual meeting noted that U.S. publishing revenue has climbed again in 2025 to $7.3 billion. The organization reports that this means publishing is outpacing the growth of recorded music for the fourth year in a row, and that it has continued to grow year over year since 2014, around the time that streaming took off. U.S. publishing revenue for 2025 breaks down to the following:

Aguirre also noted that deals negotiated and settled by the NMPA in the past fiscal year have led to the distribution of about $110 million to its membership. This means NMPA’s legal recovery under “the modern NMPA” is nearly $1.5 billion in total. 

“What was in 2024 a DSP-wide royalty distribution of 55% mechanical to 45% performance has flipped to now 53% performance and 47% mechanical due solely to the bundling implemented by Spotify and Amazon,” explained Aguirre. “This is concerning because mechanical royalties, as you guys know, are paid through the MLC, and the MLC does not take out a commission or any fee from you for administration of mechanical rights…you are receiving 100% of them. We will be working hard at the Copyright Royalty Board proceeding to address the issues around DSP bundling and to make sure that regulations cannot be manipulated.”

In providing an update on the Copyright Royalty Board Phonorecords V (2028-2032), which began proceedings in January, Aguirre added: “All parties have expressed an interest to come to the table and discuss how to fix bundling issues and to move forward as partners. That is a welcome first step. But what really counts are actions.”

AI Music Licensing Deals

Israelite later took the stage to make this year’s bombshell announcement: The NMPA has struck licensing deals with AI music companies Udio and KLAY. The Udio deal, in particular, marks the first industry-wide licensing deal with a major AI music company, as Israelite explained. It is also the first that will value songs and sound recordings equally when it comes to AI training in particular, according to Israelite.

For more information on these AI deals, see Billboard’s separate story on them here.

Honorees

This year, the NMPA honored a number of songwriters and executives for their dedication to the music industry. This included a tribute to 2026 NMPA Songwriter Icon recipient P!nk, who hosted the Tonys earlier this week. The songwriter and artist took the stage and performed acoustic renditions of her songs “Who Knew,” “What About Us” and “F—ing Perfect.” In accepting the award, she said, “Most of all, I want to thank every single person who has joined me, singing at the top of their lungs in their car alone, windows up, ugly crying — that image is why I continue to write songs.”

Julian Bunetta, the hitmaker behind smashes like “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims, “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter and One Direction’s “Night Changes,” received the NMPA’s Non-Performing Songwriter Icon award. To honor the songwriter, artist Amber Mark and frequent Bunetta co-writer John Ryan took the stage to sing “Lose Control.”

Bunetta said of receiving the honor, “Persistence is hard, but if one day you woke up and you had parents like mine, and you had a brother like mine, and you had a songwriting partner like mine, and you had a wife like mine, and kids like mine, and if you had publishing partners like mine, and you had lawyers like mine, and you had mentors like mine and you had collaborators like mine, and you had a Big Family like mine, I guarantee you’d wake up and say songwriting is easy.”

Recording Academy CEO and songwriter in his own right, Harvey Mason jr., received the NMPA’s Industry Legacy Award for his work to highlight and elevate songwriters since becoming the head of the Academy. Since Mason jr.’s appointment as CEO, the Academy has added the long-desired songwriter of the year award and created a songwriters and composers wing as well.

In a fireside chat with David Israelite, president and CEO of the NMPA, Mason jr. said: “I always wanted to be a songwriter, and so I approach pretty much all my work from that perspective, whether I’m producing a record or doing other work…the collaborative spirit, the way that you write songs is the way that I try and do everything in my life. So, as it relates to the Academy, I consider my team at the Academy my collaborators [too].”

The NMPA also surprised Mason jr. with a surprise tribute to his work as a writer, welcoming Jordin Sparks to the stage to perform “No Air,” one of Mason jr.’s most enduring co-writes.

The event also featured a keynote conversation with Dina Powell McCormick, a former colleague of Israelite’s who now serves as Meta’s president and vice chair. During the conversation, she spoke about AI and music’s role in the Meta ecosystem: “It brings life to every single thing that we do. It brings life to posts on Instagram. It brings life to creators.” She also noted how Meta believes its wearable technology, like its Ray-Ban smart glasses, will change the music listening experience: “People listen to music in a very different way on the Meta glasses… We think that experience is going to become even more meaningful over time…music and sound are so important to what we’re building.”

Google says in a new court filing that YouTube’s terms of service grant a “broad license” for artificial intelligence models to be trained on music uploaded directly to the platform.

This argument came in Google’s Monday (June 8) motion to dismiss copyright infringement litigation filed earlier this year by a group of independent artists, songwriters and producers. The lawsuit claims that Lyria 3, the AI music model launched by Google in February, was trained on songs ripped from YouTube without compensating artists.

The case is among dozens that have accused AI companies of illegally training their models on copyrighted sound, text and images in recent years. In most of these lawsuits — including ones brought by the major record labels against AI music generators Suno and Udio — tech companies have argued that the so-called fair use principle of copyright law allows them to create transformative works without licensing the training data.

The Google case is different, though, because the tech giant owns YouTube, one of the biggest music streaming platforms in the world. Rather than making a fair use argument, Google’s lawyers say in Monday’s brief that they actually do have a license to train AI with the songs uploaded to YouTube by these indie artists.

“Their lawsuit is based on the unsupported hypothesis that Google trained on their specific works,” reads the motion, filed by powerhouse litigation firm Quinn Emanuel. “Even accepting their untested allegations as fact, the complaint cannot stand. Plaintiffs each granted YouTube, and Google — which provides the service — a broad license to use the uploaded content. That license, present in YouTube’s terms of service, authorized the conduct alleged in the complaint.”

Specifically, the motion cites a clause in YouTube’s terms of service that states, “By providing content to the service, you grant to YouTube a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable license to use that content (including to reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works, display and perform it) in connection with the service and YouTube’s (and its successors’ and affiliates’) business.”

These terms of service govern all individual users who upload music directly to YouTube – meaning, if Google’s argument is accepted by the court, the company would be legally permitted to train AI models on and otherwise utilize that content for “derivative works.” However, the situation might be different for music distributed through YouTube pursuant to licensing agreements with labels and publishers.

All of the major music companies, as well as indie labels and publishers, have licensing deals with YouTube that govern copyright protection and royalty payouts. Whether AI training is permitted likely differs from license to license, depending on the grants around derivative works. Some companies have even added AI-specific language in recent years that sets forth rules for whether and how music on the platform can be used for Google’s AI initiatives.

For example, during the investor earnings call for Universal Music Group (UMG) this past October, CEO Lucian Grainge said the company’s renewed licensing deal with YouTube “secured really important guardrails and protection for our artists and writers around Gen AI content.”

Google has not explicitly disclosed what material was included in the Lyria 3 training dataset. In a statement to Billboard when the model was rolled out, a Google representative said it was trained on music that Google has “a right to use under our terms of service, partner agreements, and applicable law.”

A rep for Google declined on Tuesday (June 9) to comment beyond the court papers. The attorneys pursuing the Lyria 3 lawsuit did not immediately return a request for comment. They will file opposition papers fighting Google’s motion to dismiss the case in the coming weeks.

As a proposed class action, the lawsuit is aimed at eventually representing all indie artists who’ve allegedly been harmed by Google’s AI training. Its named plaintiffs are singer/songwriter Sam Kogon, composer/producer Magnus Fiennes, songwriter/producer Michael Mell, R&B group Attack the Sound, father-and-son folk rock duo Stan Burjek and James Burjek, and the Chicago-based band Directrix.

This same group previously brought similar copyright lawsuits against AI music companies Suno, Udio and Mureka. The more closely watched front in the AI music copyright war, though, is litigation launched in 2024 by UMG, Warner Music Group (WMG) and Sony alleging Suno and Udio infringed their IP “at an almost unimaginable scale.”

UMG and WMG both settled with Udio in the fall, striking deals for the company to train a new model on licensed work that will remain within a “walled garden” on the platform. WMG later settled with Suno as well, agreeing to a licensed training model that allows for off-platform distribution. UMG is still suing Suno, and Sony has not settled with either company.