Slipknot has sold the majority stake in their music catalog:
Neither Slipknot nor HarbourView disclosed financial details of the agreement regarding how much HarbourView paid or what their specific stake in the catalog is, though the company confirmed the partnership includes both publishing and recorded royalties.
The deal had been rumored for months; Billboard reported on the deal in August, reporting at the time that the deal was worth approximately $120 million.
Digital Music News warns to read the fine print of the current Tidal contest:
According to the contest’s terms, winning indies will grant Tidal a far-reaching license – one that’s “royalty-free, fully-paid up, transferable, sublicensable,” and covering the world – to use their selected tracks. On the marketing side, an adjacent right extends to the winners’ names, addresses, likenesses, photos, social posts, and “any statements made” about Tidal.
In short, then, post-win Tidal royalties will seemingly be off the table for the chosen songs, and the platform can utilize the appropriate talent’s above-described IP “for advertising and promotional purposes without notice or additional compensation” if so inclined.
“Where applicable and to the extent permitted under applicable law,” reads perhaps the most noteworthy terms section, “you also agree to waive, and not to enforce, any ‘moral rights’ or equivalent rights, such as your right to be identified as the author of your Submission, and your right to object to derogatory treatment of such Submission.”
Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon talked with The Times and mentioned that he would be “very surprised” if he made another album:
Does that mean there won’t be another album as Bon Iver? “I would be very surprised,” Vernon admits. “For the first time since I was 12, I’m not writing songs. There aren’t any in here.” He points at his heart. “I have been writing since puberty and this is unfamiliar territory — but I am accepting it. It’s scary sometimes, but I’m just letting it happen …”
The study found that 73% of respondents supported disclosure when AI-generated tracks are recommended, 45% sought filtering options, and 40% said they would skip AI-generated songs entirely. Around 71% expressed surprise at their inability to distinguish between human-made and synthetic tracks. Deezer, which has 9.7 million subscribers, has seen daily AI music submissions rise to more than 50,000 — about a third of total uploads, up sharply from 18% in April.
This week, Breaking Rust landed the top spot on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart for the second week in a row with the song “Walk My Walk.” But Breaking Rust is not a real person or a real band. It’s an AI project credited to songwriter Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor, but the mysterious “artist” has over 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Another AI-generated country singer, Cain Walker, also dominated the Country Digital Song Sales chart this week with tracks in the third, ninth, and eleventh spots. Billboard distinguishes both Walker and Breaking Rust’s music as “virtual acts,” which offers some degree of transparency that the artists and/or the art is AI generated.
We really don’t have to do this.
Zach Schonfeld, writing for Stereogum:
Madell’s post alluded to something that has become an open secret within the music industry: Vinyl Me, Please’s relationships with licensing partners and labels both small and large have deteriorated because of significant unpaid debts accrued during VMP’s downfall. Five months after VNYL’s acquisition — and one month after the new owners relaunched VMP without a website storefront, inviting customers to “Join us in this offline revolution” — both major debts and relatively minor sums owed to small businesses remain unpaid. (The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but sources say VNYL Inc. did not assume the debt.) The ricocheting effects of that debt have impacted customers as well, since VMP developed a habit of taking preorders for vinyl releases that never materialized. As one former employee told me, “We didn’t have the money to pay the labels to get the licenses released so that we could press the records that we had already sold to people.”
Superstar Sabrina Carpenter is set to star and produce an untitled movie musical based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland for Universal Pictures.
Lorene Scafaria, perhaps best known for writing and directing the Jennifer Lopez-starring crime movie Hustlers, will pen and helm the feature.
Marc Platt, the musical-loving producer behind both the Broadway and screen productions of Wicked, will produce the project. Also producing will be Leslie Morgenstein and Elysa Koplovitz Dutton of Alloy Entertainment, the banner behind shows such as Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars.
Warner Bros. is reviving the Gremlins franchise after more than three decades and with a couple of powerhouse names back on board.
Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav announced the greenlight of a new Gremlins film during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
Zaslav said Steven Spielberg is back on board as executive producer through his company Amblin Entertainment.
The 1984 original film’s writer, Chris Columbus, is also returning to produce and direct the film.
Ashley Carman, writing for Bloomberg:
Monthly active users climbed 11% from a year earlier to 713 million, exceeding analysts’ estimates of 710.6 million. The Stockholm-based company said revenue gained 7% to €4.27 billion ($4.9 billion), also beating expectations. Premium subscribers were roughly in line with projections.
One month after its release, Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” logs a major milestone as it hits a fn uninterrupted four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
The set is just the second album of 2025 to spend its first four weeks at the summit, following Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem,” which led for its first eight weeks (and 12 weeks overall). Not surprisingly, Swift’s fourth week numbers are significant; she has earned a total of 146,000 album units in the United States in the week ending Oct. 30, according to Luminate.
Marc Hogan, writing for the New York Times:
Setlist.fm can seem at once ubiquitous and inconspicuous. Few reports about its origins are readily available online. According to Live Nation Entertainment, Setlist.fm’s parent company, the site was founded in 2008 by Molindo, a media agency based in Austria that also developed Songtexte, a German-language site that compiles song lyrics. “They’re giant music fans and big data nerds,” said Joe Fleischer, the publisher of Setlist.fm and head of a Live Nation studio that produces marketing content for major brands.
Live Nation acquired Setlist.fm in 2010, although the entertainment giant did not announce the deal until two years later. Fleischer, a former music journalist, joined in 2011, when Live Nation bought BigChampagne, a music data company he helped found.
The entire point of the site, he said, is being useful: “That’s all it’s ever been, is about increasing utility, increasing our usefulness for fans.”
Ashley King, writing for Digital Music News:
If you thought only streaming platforms were feeling the onslaught of artificial intelligence-created (AI) artists and generated music, think again. Even radio stations aren’t safe from the budding industry of AI-generated content. According to Billboard, an AI singer called Xania Monet has become the first known AI artist to earn enough radio airplay to debut on a Billboard radio chart.
You know, we don’t have to do this…
Tom DeLonge is releasing a signature guitar pedal.
From the imagination of Tom DeLonge and To The Stars* comes the limited edition Adventure Box. Designed in collaboration with Tom’s recording engineer, Aaron Rubin, and crafted by the boutique pedal company Utility Belt FX, this 2-in-1 guitar pedal contains an analog compressor and delay to put the tones you’ve been listening to for 20 years right at your feet. Use either channel independently or together!
Mark Hoppus has put up a new pre-order for his hot pink bass.
Presenting the Fender Mark Hoppus Custom Jaguar Bass! The exact model I currently play. Alder wood Jaguar body (Fender Jaguar, not nature jaguar) finished in gloss polyester Hot Pink. Maple (mmm) Precision Bass neck with Rosewood fingerboard and White Pearloid Dots. Topped off with a delightful set of Lightweight Vintage-Style tuners.
Taylor Swift still has the number one album:
Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” era continues as the record notches a third straight week at No. 1 with 194,000 equivalent album units earned, according to Luminate. The 12-song record shows no signs of slowing down — it’s only the second album of 2025 to spend its first three weeks atop the chart, following Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem,” which held the position for first eight weeks.