In 2018, Spotify launched Heart & Soul, a mental health initiative developed to provide support and promote deep knowledge about emotional well-being. As conversations around mental health take center stage in the music industry, Spotify is deepening its commitment to artist well-being through our Heart & Soul, Mental Health for Creators initiative. In partnership with leading nonprofits, this global effort aims to provide meaningful support, challenge cultural norms, and ensure that artists, songwriters, and their teams can access the help they need—when they need it.

Streaming, merch, ticketing, and superfan platform OpenWav has officially set sail with an eye on “redefining the future of independent music.”

The self-described “next-generation music platform built for indie artists” formally debuted at A2IM Indie Week in New York. Established and led by 88 Rising co-founder Jaeson Ma – fellow OpenWav co-founder Eric Tu serves as COO – OpenWav launched as OP3N some years back.

The Recording Academy has revealed the key dates, deadlines and rule amendments for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, taking place on Sun, Feb. 1, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, with nominations set to be announced on Fri, Nov. 7, 2025. 

Following its annual board meeting, it has also announced several new awards and changes to the awards process, effective immediately. The full Grammy rulebook can be accessed here.

Songtradr CEO Paul Wiltshire, whose company’s MassiveMusic subsidiary now houses Big Sync, Resonance, 7digital, and Musicube. Photo Credit: Songtradr

Songtradr has reorganized its B2B divisions under MassiveMusic, which it’s touting as “the industry’s most comprehensive, innovative provider of brand and business-centric music solutions.”
Santa Monica-headquartered Songtradr reached out with word of the reorganization today, about four years after acquiring MassiveMusic. Before that, February 2019 saw the expansion-minded licensing platform purchase Big Sync Music, followed by deals for AI-classification company Musicube (June 2022) and then 7digital (March 2023).

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has strongly endorsed Disney & NBCUniversal’s lawsuit against AI company Midjourney. RIAA Chairman & CEO Mitch Glazier issued a statement that underscores the broader implications for creative industries. “There is a clear path forward through partnerships that both further AI innovation and foster human artistry,” Glazier said. “Unfortunately, some bad actors—like Midjourney—see only a zero-sum, winner-take-all game. These short-sighted AI companies are stealing human-created works to generate machine-created, virtually identical products for their own commercial gain

“As a company, we look at music as art, and we would never want to give away art for free. It makes no sense to me,” Apple Music head Oliver Schusser said during a keynote at the NMPA’s annual meeting Wednesday.

Speaking with DMN during his last Indie Week as President and CEO of A2IM, Richard James Burgess reflects on growing the event during his ten years with the organization. He also shares his fears that the industry might divide because of individual ‘micro interests.’ Burgess will be stepping down at the end of the year.

Beach Boys members Al Jardine and Mike Love give lengthy tributes to late songwriter, with Jardine calling him a ‘humble musical giant’

Top executives from Billboard's Indie Power Players list and beyond weigh in on what moves the needle for artists in such a competitive landscape.

HYBE wrapped its Seoul headquarters with “We Are Back” banners and BTS logos this week, as all seven members of the K-pop group are set to complete their mandatory military service this month. RM and V were discharged from the military on Tuesday (June 10) in Chuncheon City, South Korea, after joining in December 2023, according to multiple news outlets out of South Korea and overseas.

The American Association of Independent Music, Inc. (A2IM) announced the winners of the 2025 Libera Awards presented by Merlin. The awards were presented during a gala event at Gotham Hall in New York City that featured some of the biggest names in contemporary independent music.

Partisan Records was named as the Label of the Year (with 15+ employees) for 2025 while True Panther claimed the title for Label of the Year (5 or fewer employees).

While it is technically an annual conference for a trade organization, the National Music Publishers’ Association’s membership meeting has become more like a TV network’s upfront presentation: a major show in the music business with performances from top artists, strong visuals, updates on policies and ongoing battles, and fiery speeches primarily from the organization’s president-CEO of 20 years, David Israelite.

Indian firm Zee Music Company has been awarded a ‘Red Diamond Play Button’ by YouTube to celebrate its main channel reaching 100 million subscribers on the platform. “Being only the second music label globally to receive the prestigious Red Diamond Play Button from YouTube makes this milestone even more special,” said its chief business officer Umesh Kumar Bansal. The first label being another Indian firm, T-Series, which received the award in 2019.

At the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) annual meeting held in Alice Tulley Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center, the organization revealed the true cost of Spotify’s bundling scheme to publishers and songwriters. According to the NMPA, the bundling change—which reclassifies Spotify Premium as a bundle including audiobooks—cost songwriters and publishers a staggering $230 million in lost revenue in the first year alone. The NMPA warned that if the practice is not stopped, the cumulative loss is projected to surpass $3.1 billion through 2032.

Formed in 2020 as the COVID pandemic threatened to decimate the live-entertainment business, the National Independent Talent Organization is a 501(c)(6) trade organization that represents hundreds of independent talent agencies and managers nationwide.

In a way similar to the National Independent Venue Assn., the organization sees people who were previously bitter competitors joining together for the common good — a goal that has continued after the pandemic lifted. After securing some $900 million in federal funding for agents and managers during COVID, it has expanded its purview to fighting excesses in the secondary market, issuing a report that shows resale tickets are two times more than face value on average; assisted in the banning of speculative tickets [the practice whereby tickets that don’t exist yet are put on sale] and deceptive ticket-selling practices in Maryland and Minnesota; filed a formal complaint with the FTC on World Ticket Conference and BOT Act Violators; all in the face of fierce lobbying from representatives on the secondary market.

Undoubtedly the showstopper among the new Apple Music features is AutoMix. Leveraging the power of AI, this innovative tool has been designed to deliver a personal DJ experience like none other. It promises to execute seamless transitions through time stretching and beat matching, claiming to get the timing just right. However, while the concept is thrilling, we’ll have to wait and see how well it handles the switch between notably different music styles.

Shares of Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT) surged in today’s trading session, with the stock price closing at an impressive 10.78, marking a 1.55% increase and underscoring strong investor confidence.

Making Vinyl just wrapped up its latest event in Memphis, where industry professionals came together to discuss the state of the vinyl business. From June 2-4, the Renasant Convention Center hosted panels and plenty of networking focused on vinyl record manufacturing, distribution, and new technologies.

Next up: Europe. Making Vinyl returns to Haarlem, the Netherlands, on September 24-26, 2025. The Philharmonie (PHIL) will once again serve as the venue, bringing people from across the vinyl supply chain together to share ideas and learn from industry experts.

Universal Music Group is teaming up with beverage maker The Coca-Cola Company to launch real thing records (rtr), a brand-new label aimed at fostering the careers of rising artists around the world.

With what it bills as a “genre-agnostic approach,” rtr launches with French-New Zealand artist Max Allais (Better Now Records/Universal Music Germany) and Indian singer-songwriter and producer Aksomaniac (Def Jam Recordings India/Universal Music India) as the first artist signings for the new label.

The development of rtr’s visual identity and approach to storytelling was led by creative director Ibrahem Hasan, with branding by forpeople, and brand world-building and digital experiences brought to life by Explorers Club.

As Mayor Karen Bass implemented a curfew in the downtown area of Los Angeles, entertainment venues such as the Music Center and the Alamo Drafthouse theaters canceled evening programming Tuesday night and for at least the next day or two.

Bass said that a one-square-mile area would come under the curfew starting at 8 p.m. Tuesday night and could continue for “several nights.” The Alamo Drafthouse posted,” Heads up, we’re closed for the evening because of the curfew. Tickets for this evening’s remaining shows will be refunded automatically. (Note that it may take a couple of days to show up.).”

Music Corporation of America (MCA, formerly UMG Nashville) has reportedly laid off a dozen staff members, according to Country Aircheck.

Those affected in the layoffs include VP of Media Marketing Leigh Malleus, VP of Strategic Marketing Gary Keffer, VP of Creative Services Karen Naff, Capitol/MCA Nashville Dir./Regional Promotion Megan Youngblood, Sr. Dir. of E-Commerce & Retail Troy Scott, Sr. Dir. of Marketing & Creative Services Michelle Hall, Dir. of Strategic Marketing Kathryn Huffman, Sr. Dir of Digital Marketing Leah Ducey, Mgr. of A&R Sarah Marie Burke, Dir. of Marketing & Artist Development Lindsey Terry, Dir. of Marketing & Project Management Alyssa Logan and Dir. of Streaming Marketing Chance Maxwell.

In a move that sees two of the most important and influential American indie music companies joining forces, Secretly Group has announced a new partnership with Merge Records that sees Secretly co-founders Ben Swanson, Chris Swanson, Darius Van Arman and Phil Waldorf acquiring a 50% stake in the company while Merge co-founder Mac McCaughan will continue as label president and head of A&R.

Laura Ballance, Merge co-founder and co-president and McCaughan’s fellow co-founder of the legendary indie band Superchunk, is leaving the music business for other pursuits. Longtime Merge label director Christina Rentz will maintain her role overseeing the day-to-day operations of the label, as will marketing director Jamie Beck and head of digital Wilson Fuller.