Afterpay Arena — the Sydney venue formerly known as Qudos Bank Arena — officially opened on Thursday (July 23), marking the completion of a physical overhaul and the formal launch of the five-year naming rights partnership first announced in May.

The launch ceremony, held in the arena bowl, was attended by Afterpay co-founder Anthony Eisen, Afterpay VP APAC Mike Ryan, Legends Global COO for Asia Pacific and Middle East Peter Loxton, and Federal Shadow Assistant Minister for the Digital Economy Simon Kennedy.

It was the first time the fully transformed venue was presented under its new name, following months of interior redesign and technology integration.

The partnership, which runs through 2031, positions the venue as the first major entertainment destination in Australia to offer payment flexibility across the entire fan experience. Attendees can now split ticket purchases into four interest-free instalments via Afterpay Pay in 4, and use tap-to-pay for food, beverage and merchandise inside the venue, powered by 150 Square Registers and 65 Square Handheld devices — the first full Square commerce integration at a venue of this scale in Australia.

The physical transformation includes a foyer uplift, two redesigned hospitality spaces, venue-wide wayfinding, and what the companies describe as one of the world’s largest transparent holographic LED installations.

“Afterpay now has a permanent home in the place where fans come for the moments that matter most to them,” Eisen said. “We’ve built everything here around keeping fans in the moment — from the way they buy their ticket to the last song of the night.” Loxton framed the deal as more than a signage play. “This partnership isn’t just a name on a building,” he said. “That’s exactly the kind of engaged partner we want beside us for the next five years.”

The venue draws approximately 1.1 million attendees annually and was named to Billboard’s Top 5 Live Music Venues in 2025. Operated by Ticketek Entertainment Group and managed by Legends Global, the arena’s naming rights move reflects a broader push by buy-now-pay-later operators into live entertainment, as promoters and venues increasingly position payment flexibility as a lever for driving attendance and per-head spend.

Afterpay-commissioned research cited by the company found that 94% of cost-affected event-goers have missed live events due to upfront payment barriers, while 74% said they would spend more at venues offering payment choice.

Among the first acts scheduled to play the transformed venue are Tame Impala, J. Cole, Khalid, Laufey, Robyn, Olivia Dean, Zara Larsson and Hilary Duff.

Angine de Poitrine are on the cover of Billboard Canada, with a cover story that gives an inside look behind their rise.

Since the beginning of 2026, there’s arguably been no hotter band in the world. They’ve earned millions upon millions of streams, praise from idols from Jack White to Shania Twain (more on that later), sold out concerts in seconds and, with somewhere in the vicinity of 100,000 fans, even set a record for the biggest crowd at Montreal International Jazz Festival since Stevie Wonder in 2009.

Looking out at the audience, the band’s manager, Sébastien Collin, was amazed at the turnout — not just because of the size of the crowd, but the fact that they had come to see this band. Instrumental microtonal math-rock isn’t the kind of music that usually draws numbers, but Angine de Poitrine have shown there’s an appetite out there for adventurous, virtuosic and just plain weird music. The band’s mix of looping pedals, double-necked guitar/bass and virtuosic musicianship is a sight and sound to behold.

“When I was backstage, I was really happy to see so many people enjoying complex music and heavy rock riffs,” he tells Billboard Canada. “With so many people there of all ages, it’s impossible that it was only people who like that type of genre that were there. It’s so much wider. It shows that maybe there will be some more openness to really good ideas and really good music.”

No one could have been prepared for the popular explosion when the band’s KEXP performance video went up in February, 2026. It went viral nearly instantly, and the band, then largely unknown outside of their home province, racked up millions of streams. Currently, the YouTube video sits at 17 million views. “A global breakthrough is not something you can plan for,” Collin says.

He says the moment it went up, his inbox exploded. Overnight, he had messages from venues, festivals, merchandise producers and fans from all over the world. The Vol. II album was planned for launch in April, just two months after the video went up. The band had to act quickly. With so many eyes watching, how would they meet the moment?

The ecosystem around Angine de Poitrine was growing rapidly. They had to find the right partners to press the vinyl, distribute it, construct Khn de Poitrine’s custom guitars, make merch and posters for each show, book concerts throughout the world, register for publishing and figure out next steps — all at a much more monumental scale than they, or most people in the music industry, could be ready for.

The biggest decision was whether to release the album on a record label. Everyone wanted to sign Angine de Poitrine. That’s not an exaggeration.

“I can say that every major and most of the big indies all contacted us. Smaller indies, too. It was quite a rush. I was having around 10 meetings per week, all on the label side,” Collin says, breaking into a laugh. “It was quite fun to have a lot of them saying how long they had been following Angine de Poitrine, while the reality was many of them had discovered them two days ago.”

Collin compares the experience to speed dating, but with the extra pressure of having to get married at the end. The clock was ticking and they had to make a choice. In the end, they chose to go with no one. They would do it how they’d been doing it since day one: independently.

“We needed to talk to all the labels to choose none of them,” he says.

Read the full Angine de Poitrine cover story here. — Richard Trapunski

Canada is the World’s Fourth Biggest Music Exporter in 2026

Canadian music is making noise worldwide, while Canadian listeners consume music from around the world.

Luminate has released its 2026 mid-year report, tracking changes and trends in music consumption in the U.S. and around the world throughout the first half of the year.

According to this year’s report, Canada remains one of the biggest forces in the industry, ranking at No. 4 as the top global exporter of music worldwide

That said, it slips down from its No. 3 spot last year, landing just behind South Korea and ranking behind the U.S. (No. 1) and the U.K. (No. 2).

Canada currently ranks as one of the countries with the most diverse makeup of its music consumption worldwide, with 90% of its streaming activity pertaining to music from 10 different countries of origin.

That statistic reflects the diversity of the country. Latin music’s popularity around the world continues with waves in Canada. Bad Bunny earned his first Canadian No. 1 song and album this year following his Super Bowl halftime show performance. K-pop is huge, with the viral hit “Golden” from the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack also spending five weeks at No. 1 in Canada. BTS has also had a chart-topping comeback. The Punjabi wave has been reaching new heights, with artists like Karan Aujla, Diljit Dosanjh, Cheema Y and Gur Sidhu continuing to rack up more and more chart records and impressive streaming statistics in Canada.

That’s not to mention music from south of the border. Canada is the top importer of American music this year, a trend made evident by the domination of U.S. hits on streaming and the Canadian charts. 

Canadians are also consuming more music across the board this year, with all formats seeing a significant rise. Compared to 2025, total album consumption is up by 3.2% with an increase of 2.3 million album equivalent units, on-demand audio song streams are up 3.6% with an increase of 2.7 billion streams and physical album sales jump 4.2%, with an additional 100,000 copies sold across albums, CDs and cassettes. In the U.S., BTS and K-pop are driving a key uptick in CD sales, with a 16% overall surge and a 6.7% increase even upon excluding the broader K-pop catalogue.

Read more here. — Stefano Rebuli

PRS For Music has named Ben McOwen Wilson as the nonprofit collection society’s new CEO on Friday (July 24).

McOwen Wilson replaces Andrea Czapary Martin, who announced her departure from the role in March after seven years. McOwen Wilson will assume the title on Oct. 12.

McOwen Wilson has previously held a number of key roles across technology, gaming and culture, most recently acting as the managing director EMEA for Google Play & Google Television from September 2022 onwards. Prior to this, McOwen Wilson operated in a number of key partnership roles for YouTube for over a decade.

He has also worked extensively with the U.K. government and industry through the U.K. Creative Industries Council and the Creative Industries Federation, with a focus on issues such as intellectual property, innovation and growth. 

McOwen Wilson was selected by the PRS Members’ Council following an “extensive international search.” A press statement from the society highlights the areas of focus for McOwen Wilson in the new role, saying that “as AI, gaming, digital platforms and new forms of music consumption reshape the industry, he has spent the past 20 years building partnerships across complex digital ecosystems while working with rights holders, broadcasters, creators and policymakers.”

In its 2025 financial results, royalty collections for PRS’ 190,000 members — composed of songwriters, composers and publishers — increased by 7.7% year-on-year to £1.24 billion ($1.6 billion). 

Earlier this month a case brought by Blur’s Dave Rowntree against PRS was thrown out of London’s Court of Appeal. Rowntree had sought to bring a class action suit against the society in relation to the distribution of its so-called ‘black box’ royalties; these royalties are distributed on a pro rata distribution to its writer and publisher based on the same proportions as identified royalties. 

The Court of Appeal ruled that “there is nothing inherently unfair about the pro rata distribution” of unallocated royalties, recognizing that the system operates with incomplete information.

Speaking on the appointment Julian Nott, chair of the PRS Members’ Council said, “Songwriters, composers and publishers need a society working tirelessly to champion them and their rights. A society which embraces innovation and has the confidence to shape the future, not simply respond to it.”

He continued, “Ben is an outstanding leader with all the skills necessary to guide PRS for Music through the many changes in the music industry and the wider media market. Ben impressed us from the very beginning. He understands the technologies that are transforming the creative industries, but he also understands that innovation only succeeds if it works for the creators. We are confident that he will champion members’ interests at home and around the world, leading us boldly into the next phase of our evolution.”

McOwen Wilson added, “PRS for Music is built on trust, transparency, and a relentless commitment to its members,” said Ben McOwen Wilson. “It is a privilege to lead this organisation at a time when the voice of the creator must be louder than ever.”

“In the age of AI and accelerated digital distribution, protecting the integrity and value of human creativity is our most urgent priority. My focus will be on ensuring PRS serves as a catalyst for our members’ success, ensuring they remain at the centre of a sustainable and growing global music ecosystem.”

“My first priority will be to listen and learn. To understand the needs of members, customers, and partners, and with them shape an ambitious future for the society. I am excited by the opportunities ahead of us and committed to serve our members’ interests unswervingly.” 

Tesyin Foo has been appointed president, global supply chain at Universal Music Group, the company announced Thursday (July 23). Foo previously served as head of global supply chain planning and strategy at Skechers.

Foo will report to UMG’s chief operating officer, Boyd Muir, out of the company’s Los Angeles office. Within her new role, she will help with the company’s artist and label services following Virgin Music Group’s acquisition of Downtown, which was completed in February and saw Downtown CEO Pieter Van Rijin named COO of Virgin Music Group.

Several reshuffles have taken place since then, with former Downtown executives being named to key roles at Virgin Music Group.

“As we continue to create more opportunities for growth throughout the music ecosystem, it’s increasingly important that we operate as one global organization with greater speed, flexibility and precision,” Muir said in a statement. “Tseyin brings a rare combination of strategic leadership, operational excellence and technology expertise that will help us deliver greater impact at greater scale, driving even more value for artist, songwriters, labels and entrepreneurs around the world.”

In her career, Foo has held senior roles at VF Corporation, including Timberland and Vans.

“I’m excited to join UMG at such an important moment in its evolution,” Foo said in a statement. “As the company continues to expand its global platform, there is a tremendous opportunity to use technology, data and world class execution to build even stronger capabilities that help our labels and teams move faster, adapt more quickly and create more value for artists, partners and fans around the world.”

The U.K.’s grassroots music scene has received a major boost as it is set to receive a crucial tax cut from April 2027.

On Thursday (July 23) Andy Burnham, the U.K.’s new prime minister, announced a 20% cut on business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues.

Writing on his X account, Burnham said, “I won’t stand by while these cherished local spaces disappear, replaced by boarded-up windows and ‘For Sale’ signs. They’re the heart of our communities and it’s time we backed them.”

Business rates are charged on most non-domestic properties such as shops, offices, pubs and holiday rental homes. The final sum varies depending on the property’s location and the property estimated market rental value. No. 10 Downing Street, the PM’s office, estimates that the rate cut could save each venue in the region of £1,000 each. The cut will be funded, No. 10 says, by reviewing reliefs for businesses that “do not make a positive contribution to local communities, such as vape shops” (via BBC).

The news has been welcomed by industry stakeholders at a time of peril for grassroots music venues across the U.K. In January, the Music Venue Trust reported that 53% of all grassroots music venues were unable to turn a profit in 2025, and that over 6,000 jobs were lost in the sector, a 19% contraction in the overall workforce.

A number of big names including Harry Styles, Coldplay, Sam Fender and more have all shown support for the scene by voluntarily pledging a portion of ticket proceeds (£1 for every ticket sold) to supporting these spaces. The Labour government has discussed a mandatory ticket levy on arena or stadium shows to help support these spaces.

Burnham assumed the role of prime minister on Monday (July 20) following the resignation of his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer. Burnham most recently held the role of mayor of Greater Manchester and played a key role in bringing the 2026 BRIT Awards to the city, the first time the ceremony had been held outside of London.

Speaking on the announcement, the MVT’s CEO Mark Davyd said, “MVT warmly welcomes this announcement from the government, and its recognition that grassroots music venues are essential to our local communities. The 20% additional reduction on business rates from April 2027 is an encouraging first step in a range of opportunities available to Andy Burnham’s new team to not just protect and secure live music, but begin to restore its central role at the heart of our towns and cities.”

He added, “There remain some issues of implementation of previous reliefs, and we will work with colleagues in government to ensure that all grassroots music venues in England are recognised and eligible. We call on Senedd, Holyrood, and the Northern Ireland Assembly to swiftly confirm they will match this much needed support through Barnett formula consequentials. Venues in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland must be confident of a level playing field of economic conditions for touring across the UK. Live music is an ecosystem, and we strongly urge the government to reconsider the limit to the eligibility criteria so that all live music spaces of all sizes qualify, supporting jobs, local economies and communities to access live music.”

After welcoming the move, Tom Kiehl, the CEO of trade body U.K. Music also pushed the government to go further with the rate cut. “The Government must extend this lifeline to our world-class recording studios. We have lost — and continue to lose — far too many of these spaces, without which our industry simply wouldn’t exist. As a lifelong music fan, the Prime Minister knows full well how essential these spaces are, not only for the future prosperity of our industry, but for communities the length and breadth of the country. We urge him to include studios in this policy and offer them the protection they so urgently need and deserve.”

Speaking on BBC 5 Live this morning, celebrity chef, publican and campaigner Tom Kerridge said that the move “doesn’t go far enough but it does show that there is an understanding that hospitality needs a hand, especially smaller venues. It will come as welcome news,” he continues. “But £1,000 on a yearly revenue doesn’t really make a difference. It shows the government is beginning to listen and has an understanding that hospitality is at the core and heart of so many communities.”

A staffer at Interscope Capitol Labels Group testified in court on Wednesday (July 22) that D4vd made more than $7 million from his record deal before he was accused of murdering Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

Wednesday was the second day of a preliminary hearing for the 21-year-old “Romantic Homicide” singer (David Anthony Burke), who’s charged with stabbing and dismembering 14-year-old Rivas in April 2025 to cover up their illegal sexual relationship. The Los Angeles County District Attorney is presenting evidence for a judge to decide whether there’s sufficient basis to move the case forward toward trial.

Prosecutors say D4vd’s motive was his lucrative music career; the theory is that Rivas threatened to expose their relationship just days before the release of D4vd’s debut album Withered, and he killed her to prevent the teen from going public. To that end, the prosecution sought Wednesday to establish just how much money D4vd stood to lose if his career went south.

On Wednesday, a finance executive at Interscope Capitol, which signed D4vd to Interscope/Darkroom after “Romantic Homicide” went viral on TikTok in 2022, took the witness stand. According to CBS News, the executive said the label group paid D4vd more than $7.5 million over the course of his record deal. Interscope/Darkroom dropped D4vd in December 2025, soon after Rivas’ body was found in the front trunk of a Tesla registered to the singer.

The judge also heard Wednesday from D4vd’s former financial point person at his management firm Mogul Vision. According to Rolling Stone, this witness estimated that D4vd generated gross earnings between $10 million and $11.5 million during his career from recording, publishing and merch.

The preliminary hearing began Tuesday (July 21) and is set to run for several more days. Much of the testimony so far has been from investigating officers, who’ve presented evidence showing D4vd was the last driver behind the wheel of his Tesla and that he ordered three chain saws in the aftermath of Rivas’ death. Another witness said Rivas’ passport was found on the side of a highway in Santa Barbara, Calif., in January.

In September, officers discovered Rivas’ dismembered and decomposed body after the abandoned Tesla was brought to a Hollywood tow lot. D4vd was charged in April with first-degree murder, child sexual abuse and mutilating a body. Prosecutors allege D4vd and Rivas had a sexual relationship beginning when she was 13 and he was 18, and that he called an Uber to bring the teen to his house the night of the alleged murder.

D4vd has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his attorneys have said they will “vigorously defend” him in court. “Let us be clear,” said the singer’s defense lawyers in a statement following his arrest, “the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death.”

At the end of the preliminary hearing, a judge will decide whether prosecutors have met the “probable cause” burden to move the case forward. This is a lower standard than “beyond a reasonable doubt,” which would be required for a jury to actually convict D4vd if the charges do eventually go to trial.

The international breakthroughs of British artists including Olivia Dean, Lola Young and PinkPantheress helped push U.K. recorded music exports past £800 million for the first time in 2025, according to new figures from the British Phonographic Institute (BPI).

British recorded music exports totaled £800.3 million ($1.7 billion) in 2025, marking a new high since the BPI began tracking the data in 2020. The latest figure is up 50% from the £533 million ($713 million) recorded five years ago.

Despite a slowing rate of growth (0.8%) compared with last year, the BPI said the emergence of a new generation of artists suggests the U.K.’s export pipeline is strengthening after several years in which breaking new talent on the global stage has become increasingly challenging.

Among the biggest contributors was Olivia Dean, whose star accelerated during the second half of 2025. Toward the end of the year, Dean earned her first Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit with “Man I Need” (No. 2), while sophomore album The Art of Loving debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.

Elsewhere, a number of British artists have made their maiden appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 throughout 2026, including Sam Fender (“Rein Me In” featuring Olivia Dean), Lola Young (“Messy”), PinkPantheress (“Stateside”), Myles Smith (“Nice To Meet You”), Sienna Spiro (“Die On This Hill”), and Dave (“Raindance” featuring Tems). Elsewhere, RAYE’s “Where Is My Husband!” peaked at No.11, marking the singer’s biggest U.S hit of her career to date.

The U.S. also remained the biggest overseas destination for U.K. recorded music last year. It accounted for around £328 million ($438 million) of revenue, more than 40% of the annual exports total, according to the BPI.

In June, Luminate reported that U.K. artists increased their share of the U.S. streaming market by 0.8% during the first quarter of 2026, driven by the continued rise of Dean, Young and PinkPantheress alongside the return of established global stars including Harry Styles.

The Luminate report also detailed that 67 British artists each accumulated over 1 billion streams globally during 2025. Coldplay were the most-streamed U.K. act around the world last year, followed by Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Arctic Monkeys and Calvin Harris. Alongside legendary acts such as The Beatles, Elton John and Oasis, the top 20 most-streamed U.K. artists last year also included Charli xcx and Central Cee, whose debut album Can’t Rush Greatness became the first by a British rap artist to reach the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart in January. 

Dr. Jo Twist OBE, BPI chief executive, said in a statement: “What was notable about last year’s record-breaking recorded music export figures was not just the contribution of a new generation of U.K. stars, but also the long journey they often had to undertake to build and connect with audiences. It is harder than ever to break an artist internationally, and it now takes longer for the mainstream to embrace new artists. 

“While these figures are impressive, the slowing rate of growth highlights the need for continued international trade and export initiatives like the Music Export Growth Scheme, and for a supportive business environment in the U.K. to enable label businesses to continue to invest in British talent.” 

The Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS), established in 2013, is administered by the BPI with joint funding from the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), as well as from the wider British industry. It provides grants to independent U.K. music labels and management companies; the latest round of funding was announced in March with £1.4 million ($1.8 million) being distributed among 68 artists.

On Tuesday (July 21), French streaming service Deezer announced that, for the first time, fully AI recordings reached more than 50% of new music uploads on its site “at peak level in June 2026,” according to a press release. The service says that equates to 90,000 AI tracks.

To take its AI policies a step further, Deezer is now vowing to remove any AI track that it suspects has been used in streaming fraud scams as well as AI tracks that haven’t been streamed for six months or more. Previously, the service reported that up to 85% of the streams on fully AI tracks were fraudulent, and when streaming manipulation of any kind was found, Deezer would exclude the streams from royalty payments.

In a previous interview with Billboard, Aurelien Herault, chief innovation officer at Deezer, said that with the influx of new music every day, storage space is a concern for the company: “This is a serious topic for us, and we already removed some content that was using too much space — because it’s not only an economic issue, it’s also an ecological one. Do we need to store all this content so we all have the same catalog and all have a copy of the same things? It’s really a question worth thinking about, and we already have had some discussion to remove some content, especially because a lot of content is not listened to at all.” 

Deezer has been tracking the influx of AI-generated content on its service since January 2025, when it first announced plans to track and tag fully AI-generated recordings. At the time, its proprietary AI detection system flagged that 10% of daily uploads were AI-generated. The service also vowed at the time that all detected songs would be removed from algorithmic recommendations and would not be eligible for editorial playlisting, but would remain on the site for fans who wanted to stream them.

The distinction between “fully” and “partially” AI-generated songs is notable: Deezer’s AI detection tool, like nearly all others on the market, only flags 100% AI-generated recordings from the most prolific models like Suno and Udio. It does not flag or penalize songs partially generated by AI. Deezer claims that more than 13.4 million fully AI-generated tracks were detected and tagged on the service in 2025.

“Deezer has been at the frontline of fighting fraud and reducing payment dilution related to AI music for almost two years,” said Alexis Lanternier, CEO of Deezer. “Now that half of all daily uploads are AI-generated tracks, we are taking additional steps to safeguard the rights of artists and songwriters, while maintaining focus on music that fans actually love. We have reached a pivotal moment, but we have the technology to keep track of the development, and an ambition to do what’s right. If the industry can align and come together to create shared standards, we can build a healthy and sustainable music ecosystem, where great music wins.”

Offset has been granted probation for allegedly attacking a security guard at a Los Angeles cannabis dispensary last year.

Last Wednesday (July 15), a judge in California state court entered a so-called diversion order that postpones Offset’s misdemeanor battery prosecution for one year. If the rapper (born Kiari Cephus) complies with all requirements, including completing community service and attending an anger management program, the criminal case will be dismissed and wiped from his record.

Offset was accused of striking security guard Jim Leobardo Sanchez in the face after being asked to provide an I.D. to enter a MedMen licensed recreational dispensary in March 2025. Sanchez brought a civil assault lawsuit against Offset in November, and prosecutors in the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office leveled a misdemeanor charge in December.

The former Migos rapper has denied Sanchez’s claims, which remain pending in civil court. He pleaded not guilty to the criminal count, and he has not admitted any wrongdoing as part of last week’s probation order.

In addition to community service and anger management, the diversion program requires Offset to stay away from the MedMen location near Los Angeles International Airport, refrain from any violent behavior or threats, and make financial restitution to Sanchez. His prosecution could be reinstated if he violates any of these provisions within the next year.

Offset is set to appear in court for a progress report this November.

Reps for Offset, Sanchez and the LA City Attorney’s Office did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday (July 20).

Sony has initiated a new lawsuit against Udio, doubling down on its aggressive copyright campaign against the AI music company months after the other majors buried the hatchet.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday (July 20) and obtained by Billboard, expands the scope of Sony’s existing legal claims against Udio. The major music company initially teamed up with Universal Music Group (UMG) and Warner Music Group (WMG) in 2024 to sue both Udio and rival AI music company Suno, alleging both companies had committed copyright infringement at an “almost unimaginable scale” by training their models on unlicensed recordings.

UMG and WMG both exited the Udio litigation in the fall after reaching licensing deals that will require the tech company to build a new model out of pre-cleared training data and keep all AI-generated music inside a “walled garden” on the platform. WMG later settled with Suno as well. UMG and Sony are both continuing to sue Suno, but Sony is the sole remaining holdout of the three majors to still be pursuing Udio in court.

Sony is showing no signs of giving up that fight against Udio. Monday’s new lawsuit increases the number of sound recordings at issue in the case from 333 to more than 30,000, which in turn balloons Udio’s potential damages exposure from $50 million to a whopping $4.5 billion.

According to Sony, the smaller subset of songs in the original lawsuit was merely a “minuscule, illustrative fraction of the recordings Udio had actually copied.” Sony says it wasn’t until it began the legal discovery process and got access to Udio’s training data that it learned just how many Sony-owned recordings had been allegedly ripped from YouTube and fed into the AI model.

Procedurally speaking, Sony had no choice but to bring a new lawsuit if it wanted to increase the amount of music in the case. Sony previously tried to add these new recordings to the original lawsuit, but Udio argued that expanding the dataset two years into the process would amount to “indefinitely derailing the litigation.”

A federal judge agreed with Udio last month and refused to let Sony amend the first lawsuit, writing that doing so “would substantially prejudice defendants and unduly delay the resolution of this action.” He acknowledged, however, that a second lawsuit was a possibility: “I recognize that plaintiffs have the right to seek to stop infringement of, and recover damages for, all copyrighted works. But there is no requirement that it be done in this lawsuit,” wrote Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.

Udio has maintained that its training process was fair use, a tenet of copyright law that allows unlicensed works to be used for transformative purposes. Whether AI training does indeed qualify as fair use is an untested legal question currently at the center of dozens of pending copyright lawsuits around the country.

Sony addresses the fair use debate directly in Monday’s new lawsuit, specifically the “market harm” factor, in which a judge must consider whether alleged infringement has harmed an existing licensing market. Sony says the fact that Udio has inked training licenses with UMG and WMG, as well as with Kobalt, Merlin, Believe and the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), shows that such a market does indeed exist.

“A company that pays to license the very inputs at issue cannot credibly maintain that no market exists for those inputs, or that any such market is too speculative to be cognizable,” writes Sony in the new complaint.

Sony also notes in Monday’s lawsuit that it is not outright against the emerging tech, writing “there is room for AI and human creators to forge a sustainable, complementary relationship” as long as that relationship is based on the “well-established mechanism of free-market licensing that ensures proper respect for copyright owners.” Sony has AI partnerships in place with Spotify and Klay.

Udio did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday. A Sony rep declined to comment beyond the court filings.