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Multibillion dollar merger proposed to Universal Music
Pershing Square, the hedge fund of investor Bill Ackman, has proposed a multibillion dollar merger deal with Universal Music Group. Ackman has been pursuing Universal for nearly five years, with this US$64 billion takeover offer the latest in his campaign. The deal would come from Pershing Square's acquisition vehicle and would be a cash-and-shares offer. Universal Music, which represents some of the industry's biggest names, including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Sabrina Carpenter, acknowledged the deal in a statement from the board of directors. "The Board of Directors, together with its advisors, will review the proposal in accordance with its fiduciary duties and analyse its implications for shareholders, employees, artists, songwriters and other stakeholders," the statement said. "The Board of Directors has complete confidence in UMG’s strategy and the leadership of Sir Lucian Grainge and the company's management team."
Music
Britney Spears sells her music catalogue
Britney Spears has struck a deal to sell the rights to her music catalogue. According to celebrity news site TMZ, the deal is believed to be worth around US$200 million, though it said the exact amount was not detailed in the legal documents. The sum would be comparable to the sale of Justin Bieber’s catalogue in 2023. Reuters and other outlets reported that Spears sold the rights to an independent music publisher Primary Wave, which is also home to artists including Whitney Houston, Prince and Stevie Nicks. Neither Spears nor Primary Wave have responded publicly to the news. Spears will join the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Shakira, KISS and other artists who have sold their music rights in recent years. This comes after Spears stepped away from the spotlight and freed herself of a 13-year conservatorship in 2021 that allowed her father to control her finances. Owners of a song’s publishing rights receive payment for every album sale, broadcast or use in advertising and films. Selling music rights has become more attractive in the streaming era for artists to monetise their catalogues. Spears’ deal will include hits like “...Baby One More Time”, “Break The Ice”, “Circus”, “Gimme More”, “Oops!.
Music
UMG partners with Nvidia to leverage AI in music
Universal Music Group (UMG) has announced a collaboration with artificial intelligence (AI) leader Nvidia to enhance the music experience of billions of music consumers worldwide. The deal plans to leverage Nvidia’s music language model Music Flamingo, which was launched last year. In a media release, the companies said Music Flamingo would be used to transform how listeners discover music. UMG chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge said the music label looked forward to working with Nvidia to use AI for the service of artists and their fans. “We’re excited to establish this ground-breaking strategic relationship which unites the world’s leading technology company with the world’s leading music company in a shared mission to harness revolutionary AI technology to dramatically advance the interests of the creative community and the role of music in global culture,” Grainge said. The collaboration will also introduce new AI-driven music creation tools, which will encourage hands-on artist involvement. This follows major music labels Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment alongside UMG inking licensing deals with AI-powered music streaming start-ups KLAY, Udio and Suno. These deals have stirred criticism from t
Music
Concert tickets soaring past the rate of inflation
In recent years, the price of a concert ticket has soared exponentially, well surpassing global inflation rates. Since 1996, prices have soared 4.6 times the pace of inflation, jumping a staggering 428.7% and even 80.5% since 2021, making low-cost concert tickets a thing of the past and unlikely to come back in the near future.Tickets and the cost of livingAs ticket prices continue to soar, 57% of Australians reported having decided between basic living expenses and live events over the past six months, according to Tixels’ Behind the Ticket report. Despite this, 62% of Australians said live events are a priority expense, up 6% year-over-year, and 60% are spending more on event tickets than last year. According to Griffith University business and consumer expert, Graeme Hughes, a big factor in why concert goers are still buying tickets is because of fear of missing out (FOMO). “Demand is sustained by pure emotional priority, with live music considered a critical social experience, a life milestone that overrides financial caution or concern,” Hughes tells Azzet.Credit: Pixabay / PexelsHowever, RMIT senior lecturer in economics, Meg Elkins, says fans are often being more careful in what shows they are prioritising. “
Music
UK government bans resale tickets above face value
The United Kingdom government will ban the resale of live-event tickets at above face value. The move will cover concerts, major sports and theatre. Restricting ticket touts was one of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s election pledges. This follows fans complaining of massively inflated prices and artists like Sam Fender, Dua Lipa and Coldplay urging Starmer to protect fans from exploitation. This led to a UK government enquiry beginning earlier this year, where a cap with an up to 30% markup was considered. The government decided against this, capping tickets at their original price. Alongside capping tickets at the original costs, the U.K. government has also promised to take measures to cap extra fees to prevent the price limit from being undermined. Analysis conducted for the government found that the move will make tickets £37 cheaper on average and save fans a collective £112 million per year. The move also follows U.S. regulators reviewing bot-based ticket harvesting, with several investigations focusing on deceptive fee structures and inflated resale pricing. For example, the average resale price for a ticket to Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour was over US$1,000. The Competition and Markets Authority found

Music
Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl smashes records
Taylor Swift made the biggest album debut of her career with her new album The Life of a Showgirl. Despite the album garnering mixed reviews, ranging from the not-so glamorous two stars to the showstopping five stars, the album sold 2.7 million copies within the first 24 hours and broke Spotify records within the first 24 hours of its release. This already marks Swift’s biggest week of sales just after one day, and the second-largest sales week for any album since the company Luminate began tracking the data in 1991. It only trails behind Adele’s 2015 album 25, which sold 3.4 million copies in its first week. The pop superstar also broke her own vinyl sales record set by her 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department, with 1.2 million U.S. sales in a single week. If the album takes the top spot in the Billboard 200 Albums chart, it will be her 15th to do so, putting her second only to the Beatles on the all-time list. Spotify have also confirmed it to be the most-streamed album on the platform in a single day, with the opening track and leading single The Fate of Ohpelia becoming the most-streamed song in a single day on Spotify. Alongside the album, Swift also released a 90-minute movie for cinema screening for h
Music
UMG music publishing grows, sees fall in merchandising
Universal Music Group saw revenue gains of 1.6% year-on-year to €2.98 billion in Q2 2025. The majority of this growth was in the recorded music and music publishing segments, driven by large acts signed by the label like Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter and Lady Gaga, who were top sellers for the quarter. Recorded music revenue grew 1.1% year-over-year, and music publishing grew 11.5%. The strong [publishing] growth also reflects the Chord [Music Partners] administration business, as well as our continued success in growing our film and TV administration business,” UMG’s COO, Boyd Muir, said. The music label also saw growth in recorded music subscription revenue by 5.3% year-over-year, and streaming revenue increased 4.4%. While these areas grew, merchandising and other revenue saw a decline of 15.4% from the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA also grew this quarter by 4.2% to €676 million. "The breadth and diversity of our business has positioned us to deliver solid growth in revenue and Adjusted EBITDA again this quarter,” Muir said. “We remain confident in our growth trajectory as we continue to invest with a focus on maximising long-term value and driving attractive returns in the coming years."
Music
ARIA revamps charts to boost Australia's music industry
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) will alter its charts in a bid to encourage new music consumption and bolster Australia’s music industry. ARIA’s Singles and Albums charts will now exclusively host music released within the last two years, effective from 1 September. A new set of charts, known as On Replay, will focus on music released earlier. “These updates ensure the ARIA Charts continue to evolve in step with the listening habits of Australian music fans. We’re creating clear space to spotlight exciting new music while recognising the lasting impact and relevance of timeless classics through our ARIA On Replay Charts,” said ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd. “Our aim is to support the discovery and celebration of great Australian music at every stage of its life.” Older music will be allowed to enter ARIA’s main charts upon record labels’ request if the song or album has not appeared in the Top 100 for at least 10 years and has received enough engagement for a placement in the Top 30. Music eligible under these provisions may remain on the charts for 10 weeks. These rules will also apply to ARIA’s Australian Artist Singles and Album charts. The changes have taken public and music industry feedback into
Music
New funding to revive Australia's live music scene
Money is being injected into the Australian music scene to keep it alive through multiple funding programs. Two of the major funds at the moment are the Contemporary Music Fund by the NSW Government and the Australian Governments Revive Live program. The Contemporary Music Fund has recently allocated a combined A$2.25 million emergency funding to Bluesfest in Byron Bay, Lost Paradise on the Central Coast, Your and Owls in Wollongong, Listen Out and Field Day in Sydney. The fund is in response to a slew of cancelled festivals including Splendour in the Grass, Falls Festival, Spilt Milk and Groovin’ the Moo. “The post covid era has been a financial nightmare for music festivals in NSW,” Music and Night-time Economy Minister John Graham said. “The government needed to step in to save the furniture, and the feedback is that this fund has helped some of these festivals survive.” The NSW government hopes that injecting $500,000 into each festival will encourage people to buy more tickets, help local regional economies, and keep the Australian music industry alive. “We can’t afford to lose that cultural experience because the festivals can’t afford to pay their rising bills,” Graham said. “The festival circuit is