2026 has already started off to be an interesting year for music publishing so let’s take a look back at Q1 on all the essential news from the last few months, covering deals, acquisitions, global signings, legal, funding and facts as well as some interesting reads.
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Deals & Acquisitions
Primary Wave Acquiring Kobalt in Blockbuster Deal (Hits Daily Double)
Primary Wave Music is acquiring Kobalt’s global operations, its catalog of owned copyrights and its digital-collections arm, AMRA. Expected to close in Q3, the agreement involves a strategic investment from Brookfield Corporation.
Janet Jackson Brings Her Catalog to Believe Music Publishing (Variety)
Janet Jackson has signed a long-term deal with France-based independent music company Believe that sees her entire catalog moving to the company’s recently launched publishing division.
Quincy Jones Estate Sells Rights to HarbourView (Hollywood Reporter)
The deal encompasses “select music and non-music assets” including Jones’ recorded and publishing assets, as well as his participation in ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.’
Sony Music Publishing Nashville and Domain Capital Group acquire Miranda Lambert’s catalogue (Music Week)
The deal encompasses her complete back catalogue of songs. Alongside this news, SMP Nashville and Domain have signed a publishing deal with Miranda Lambert covering future works, extending SMP’s longstanding partnership with the country superstar, which originally began in 2003.
Switzerland’s MusicBird acquires publishing catalog of R&B duo and Drake collaborators Majid Jordan (MBW)
Switzerland-based ’boutique’ music rights company MusicBird has acquired the publishing catalog of Toronto-based R&B artist and production duo Majid Jordan. The deal comprises the publishers’ and writers’ shares of their catalog.
MusicBird Acquires Majid Jordan’s Publishing Catalog, Including Drake’s ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ and More (Digital Music News)
The Swiss song-rights investor reached out with word of its latest IP play today. According to MusicBird, the package-deal purchase extends to both the writer’s and publisher’s shares of Toronto-based Majid Jordan, itself consisting of the namesake Majid Al-Maskati and Jordan Ullman.
Kobalt strikes global publishing partnership with India’s Madverse Music (MBW)
Kobalt has entered into a global publishing partnership with Madverse Music Group, an India-based distribution and publishing company. According to a press release, the partnership aims to unlock new pathways for Indian and South Asian music to reach audiences worldwide.
Kobalt strikes strategic publishing deal with London-based Geo Music Group, covering funding for songwriters and admin services (MBW)
Kobalt Music Group has struck a partnership with London-based publishing company Geo Music Group, providing funding for international songwriters and global administration services.
Report: Primary Wave acquires Britney Spears’ share of catalogue (Music Week)
Primary Wave has reportedly acquired Britney Spears’ share of her catalogue. The acquisition – agreed on December 30 – was in the region of $200 million.
Sony Music Acquires $200 Million in Assets from Recognition Music Group (NIF)
Blackstone, the asset management firm with a portfolio worth a reported $1.27 trillion, has sold $200 million in assets from its property, Recognition Music Group, to Sony Music. Blackstone had previously sold off significant music assets to Sony.
Luminate: ‘The Weeknd’s catalog is a safe billion-dollar bet’ (Music Ally)
The research firm has published its thoughts on the deal, suggesting that the star and his manager are “keeping their majority stakes while offering a 25% equity stake to Lyric Capital and raising the other 75% of the $1 billion through debt”.
Universal Music India bets big on Bollywood with new stake in Excel Entertainment (Music Ally)
Universal Music Publishing Group will also become Excel’s exclusive music publishing partner, potentially setting up opportunities for the label’s artists and repertoire to be included in the studio’s future productions.
Legal
Bad Bunny Seeks $465,000 in Legal Fees After Winning ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ Copyright Case (Rolling Stone)
Bad Bunny is asking a court to order record label emPawa Africa to pay $465,612 in legal fees after he triumphed in a copyright case over his Un Verano Sin Ti track “Enséñame a Bailar.”
Who Owns ‘Twigs’? FKA twigs Claps Back Against 90s Duo The Twigs in Trademark Legal Battle (Digital Music News)
Who gets to claim the stage name “twigs?” FKA twigs has filed a lawsuit against 90s alt-pop duo The Twigs with allegations that they have issued numerous cease-and-desist letters over her stage name’s associated trademark. To settle the matter, FKA twigs—who was born Tahliah Barnett—is requesting a trial by jury.
BMG joins the lyrical lawsuits against AI company Anthropic (Music Ally)
The company has sued Anthropic for “pervasive infringement of copyrighted musical compositions” in its use of lyrics to train its Claude AI models.
Music Publishers and X Begin ‘Good Faith’ Negotiations in Copyright Lawsuit (Variety)
The group of music publishers that brought a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s social media platform X two years ago are in discussions to settle the matter out of court, according to new documents filed over the past week.
Ohio Jury Sides With Afroman In High-Profile First Amendment Lawsuit Over ‘Lemon Pound Cake’ (Digital Music News)
A jury has sided with Afroman in a lawsuit initiated by deputies who took issue with the artist mocking them in music videos. The rapper quickly fought back on First Amendment and freedom of speech grounds.
American Law Institute’s ‘Copyright Restatement’ Project Faces Growing Opposition—500+ Sign Petition Staunchly Opposing New Rules (Digital Music News)
A petition to bring awareness to the inaccuracies of copyright law in the American Law Institute’s Copyright Restatement has over 500 signatures.
Chad Hugo Slaps Pharrell Williams With Expanded Unpaid-Royalties Suit, Demands Credits on Tracks from Tyler the Creator, Latto, and Rosalía (Digital Music News)
Less than two months after filing a massive unpaid-royalties lawsuit against Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo has fired off an expanded complaint. Now, The Neptunes co-founder is demanding credits on releases from Tyler the Creator, Latto, and Rosalía.
PRS sues Steam for using music without a licence – for 23 years (Music Radar)
In the latest skirmish between big tech and the music industry, video game platform Steam is being sued by PRS, the UK’s music rights collection authority, for using music without a licence.
GEMA vs. Suno: German court hears landmark AI music copyright case (MBW)
The collecting society alleges that Suno used, stored and reproduced copyrighted recordings of world-famous songs to train its AI tool. The hearing ended without a ruling. A decision date has been set for June 12, 2026.
Music Publishers Begin ‘Extensive’ Spotify Podcast Takedowns Over Licensing Violations (Variety)
Just hours after Spotify announced its first-ever annual net profit, the National Music Publishers’ Association has launched an ongoing takedown initiative against the streaming giant for the unlicensed use of music in podcasts on its platform.
Music publishers sue Anthropic again over training-data sources (Music Ally)
It’s not just musicians who are raging against (or at least worrying about) the AI machine. A group of publishers including Universal Music Publishing Group are suing AI firm Anthropic for a second time – and seeking more than $3bn of damages.
Wixen Music Publishing sues Meta over rates for songwriters (Music Ally)
A 2018 licensing deal suggested Meta (then Facebook) was in its good books, but the relationship has clearly soured. Wixen is now suing the social-media giant claiming that it wants to “drastically cut payments to human songwriters”.
US federal court rules songwriters can regain copyrights globally (Music Ally)
A historic ruling by a US federal appeals court could mean that songwriters will have a legal pathway to terminate copyright deals and reclaim their rights not just in the US, but also globally.
Elon Musk’s X Sues NMPA, 18 Publishers as Licensing Dispute Widens (NIF)
Elon Musk’s X has filed the latest salvo in its battle with music publishers over licensing, suing 18 publishers and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) for anti-competitive behavior.
Music Publishers Sued By X in Growing Licensing Battle (Hollywood Reporter)
X alleges antitrust violations over music publishers allegedly refusing to negotiate individual licenses with the company.
Signings
Bruno Mars signs global publishing administration deal with Avex Music Group (MBW)
The deal gives the Tokyo- and Los Angeles-based company exclusive administration rights over songs Mars writes during the term of the agreement.
UMPG Inks U.K. Singer-Songwriter beabadoobee (Hits Daily Double)
UMPG has signed beabadoobee to a worldwide music publishing agreement following the release of her latest single, “All I Did Was Dream of You” f/The Marías.
Sony Music Nashville, Kane Brown Renew Long-Standing Partnership (Hits Daily Double)
Sony Music Nashville and country star Kane Brown are celebrating 10 years of partnership by inking a new multi-album, worldwide deal. To coincide with the announcement, Brown has released the track “Woman”.
BMG seals publishing deal with “songwriting legend” Gary Barlow (Music Week)
The deal covers Take That legend Barlow’s entire catalogue, both past and future and spans multiple Take That hits as well as tracks co-written for and with artists including Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Elton John and Robbie Williams.
Grammy winner Shaboozey signs publishing deal with EMPIRE 10 Shares (MBW)
Grammy-Award winning singer-songwriter Shaboozey has signed a publishing deal with EMPIRE Publishing, extending his relationship with the independent company beyond its recorded music business.
Animaj Signs Global Deal with Magic Star, Sony Music Publishing (NIF)
Kids and family entertainment company Animaj has struck a worldwide music partnership with Magic Star – The Orchard’s children’s and family division – and Sony Music Publishing (SMP) that’s designed to scale the commercial impact of its music catalogs.
UMPG and NWS Music Group sign publishing deal with Olivia Dean producer and co-writer Zach Nahome (Music Week)
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) and London-based NWS Music Group have signed songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Zach Nahome to an exclusive worldwide music publishing agreement.
Funding, Facts & Figures
Publishing A&R Exec Brittany Perry Launches GATELESS (NIF)
Former Warner Chappell and Sony Music Publishing A&R executive Brittany Perry has launched GATELESS, a platform designed to help artists and A&Rs search for unreleased songs from the world’s best songwriters.
80 artists are generating $10m-plus of Spotify payouts a year (Music Ally)
There is also a new number for Spotify’s publishing payouts: around $5bn over the past two years. Turning that into a 2025 number requires us to go back to our calculations last year that Spotify’s publishing payouts were around $2.5bn in 2024.
Sony Music Publishing launches in the Philippines (Music Week)
The establishment of SMP PH is described as a “strategic expansion dedicated to the development and promotion of Filipino songwriters both locally and around the world”.
Atlantic Screen Group secures up to $30m to fund film score and publishing acquisitions (Music Week)
The investment will enable ASG to continue its strategic acquisition of film and television scores, while also providing additional capital for the acquisition of new music publishing catalogues.
ASCAP revenue collections up 6% in 2025 (Music Week)
ASCAP has reported record-breaking revenue collections and royalty distributions in 2025. The PRO (performing rights organisation) delivered $1.945 billion in revenue in 2025, an increase of 6% year-on-year.
With revenues up 10%, WMG is planning more catalogue buys (Music Ally)
Warner Music Group has followed Sony Music in announcing double-digit revenue growth in the final quarter of 2025 – its fiscal Q1. For WMG, that meant a 10.4% year-on-year rise to $1.84bn.
Sony Music reports double-digit growth for recordings and publishing (Music Ally)
The headline figure is ¥542.4bn ($3.45bn at current exchange rates). That was Sony’s overall music revenue in the final quarter of 2025, up 13% year-on-year.
People
The Orchard, owned by Sony Music Entertainment, has appointed Heather Vassar as its new Senior Vice President (MBW)
Before joining The Orchard, Vassar was SVP at EMPIRE, where she established the company’s Nashville division. The Orchard highlights her “instrumental” contributions to the signing and growth of breakout artists like Shaboozey, CeCe, and Wyatt Flores.
Michael Riggs promoted to SVP, Licensing & Income Tracking at Sony Music Publishing 111 Shares (MBW)
Sony Music Publishing (SMP) has promoted Michael Riggs to Senior Vice President, Licensing & Income Tracking, effective immediately. Riggs is based in Nashville and will continue to report to Dale Esworthy, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Administration at SMP.
Lorenzo Grignani to head up Peermusic Italy (Music Week)
In this role, Grignani will oversee the company’s Italian creative and administration operations encompassing music publishing and Peer Southern Productions. Grignani will be based out of Peermusic’s offices in Italy and will report to Nigel Elderton, president of Europe, Peermusic.
Greg Prata Appointed CFO at Sony Music Publishing (NIF)
Sony Music Publishing (SMP) has promoted Greg Prata to Chief Financial Officer, effective March 31. He replaces SMP veteran Tom Kelly, who is retiring after 35 years in the position.
Interesting Reads
Everything You Need To Know About Music Royalty Audits (Synchblog)
Despite being one of the most powerful tools available to artists and rights holders, royalty audits are widely misunderstood and often avoided. Here, we cut through the confusion and set out exactly what an audit involves, what it can uncover, and why, far from being confrontational, it’s simply good business practice.
Music’s Broken Rung: Why We Still Need to Talk About Women in Music (Synchblog)
In 2017, we went to the AIM Women in Music event to ask a fundamental question: How do we get more women in music? Back then, the industry had a “broken rung” problem, plenty of talent at the entry-level, but a steep 30% drop-off at the top.
Spotify unveils first ever Songwriters To Watch list including Manuka, Luis Navidad and Sam Westhoff (Music Week)
Spotify has unveiled its first ever Songwriters To Watch this year, alongside the Artists To Watch list for 2026. The streaming giant is spotlighting the emerging artists and the songwriters shaping the sound of the year ahead.
Sync’s New Gatekeepers: How Catalogue, Algorithms, and Consumption Habits Are Challenging the Next Generation of Music Talent (Synchblog)
Having lived and breathed life as a new artist, signed to Virgin EMI in the early noughties and most recently as the co-lead of Global Sync at Warner Music Group, I’ve always been intrigued by the shifting dynamics of sync opportunities.
Anticipating the Future of Music and Media: What Lies Ahead in 2026? (Synchblog)
We are kicking off the new year with our 3rd edition of ‘Anticipating the Future of Music and Media’, where we seek out all the publications, blogs and expert opinions on what lies ahead for the industry in 2026 and collate it all in one blog.
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