The price of darkness is no longer with us. The late pioneer of heavy metal, Ozzy Osborne, tragically passed away on Tuesday, just weeks after performing his final show to a crowd in England, including the first performance of Black Sabbath in two decades. We want to thank Ozzy for his contributions to the music world, and we give our hearts and condolences to his family and friends in this difficult time.

Two big pieces of news around Universal Music Group:

1) The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into Universal Music Group‘s proposed acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings. The EC said it “has preliminary concerns that the transaction may allow UMG to reduce competition in the wholesale market for the distribution of recorded music in the European Economic Area (EEA) by acquiring commercially sensitive data of its rival record labels”.

2) UMG has confidentially submitted a Form F-1 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, “relating to a proposed public offering in the United States of the company’s ordinary shares held by certain shareholders”.

As high-stakes copyright lawsuits against Suno rumble on, the AI music generator has launched an update with what it claims to be “previously unimaginable capabilities” for “generative, studio-quality music creation”. The version 4.5+ release introduces three new features, which Suno calls “first-of-their-kind professional audio production tools”. “Add Vocals” allows users to layer vocals onto instrumental tracks, while “Add Instrumentals” enables users to add AI-generated backing tracks to vocal recordings. “Inspire” promises to create songs based on user-curated playlists.

LEADERSHIP NEWS

Independent label, distributor, and publisher EMPIRE has appointed Jennifer Way as its new Executive Vice President, Nashville. In this role, Way will lead the overall strategy for the company’s Nashville office and its day-to-day operations, including signing and developing new talent.

Cat Kreidich is leaving her role as President of ADA Worldwide, WMG’s distribution and services division for indie labels and artists. Kreidich joined ADA as Executive Vice President in 2020, before being promoted to President in 2021.

Alejandro Duque has been named President of ADA, Warner Music Group‘s distribution and services division for indie labels and artists, expanding on his existing responsibilities as President of Warner Music Latin America.

EXTRA NEWS

Denis Ladegaillerie, the founder and CEO of Believe, teamed up with the EQT X fund plus funds advised by TCV to form a private consortium. As of last month, that consortium owned 96.65% of Believe, with the remaining ~4% of the company still trading on the Paris Euronext. Believe has ceased trading on that stock market, with Ladegaillerie’s consortium in the final throes of a ‘squeeze-out’ to regain full control of the business.

Concord has successfully closed its latest asset-backed securities transaction to “fuel continued growth” by issuing $1.765 billion in bonds via a series of new five-year, seven-year, and ten-year senior notes. The bonds are backed by Concord’s catalog of over 1.3 million music copyrights. Concord’s portfolio of music rights features songs and recordings of artists such as The Beatles, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Carrie Underwood, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Daddy Yankee, Ed Sheeran, Genesis, Imagine Dragons, John Fogerty, Kiss, Michael Jackson, Otis Redding, Phil Collins, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., Rihanna, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Taylor Swift, and The Rolling Stones.

Private equity firm Blackstone has pulled out of the investor consortium looking to buy TikTok’s US operation. The withdrawal comes as TikTok’s presence in the US remains uncertain, with multiple deadline extensions on the divest-or-ban law.

At a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Sen. Hawley on Tuesday (July 16), legal experts accused AI companies such as Meta and Anthropic of outright piracy in their efforts to hoover up as much data as possible for their generative AI tools.