From Salt-N-Pepa’s dismissed UMG case to UK music streaming subscription revenues’ 3.2% progress… it’s MBW’s weekly round-up

This week, a US federal choose dismissed Salt-N-Pepa’s lawsuit towards Universal Music Group over grasp recording possession.

Meanwhile, UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge issued his 2026 memo, warning towards “irresponsible enterprise fashions” in AI music that devalue artists.

Elsewhere, HYBE America appointed Ethiopia Habtemariam as its new President of Music.

Also this week, ERA reported that UK music streaming subscription revenues grew by 3.2% YoY in 2025, matching the nation’s inflation charge.

Here are a number of the greatest headlines from the previous few days…

1. SALT-N-PEPA LAWSUIT AGAINST UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP OVER OWNERSHIP OF MASTER RECORDINGS DISMISSED

A US federal choose has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Grammy-winning rap duo Salt-N-Pepa towards Universal Music Group, ruling that the artists by no means owned the copyrights to their sound recordings and due to this fact can not reclaim them.

Judge Denise Cote of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an opinion and order on Thursday (January 8) granting UMG’s movement to dismiss each claims within the case, which you’ll be able to learn in full right here.

Cheryl James and Sandra Denton, professionally referred to as Salt-N-Pepa, filed the lawsuit in May 2025 searching for to regain their copyrights and bodily grasp recordings. The duo tried to train their termination rights underneath Section 203 of the Copyright Act, which permits artists to reclaim copyright possession 35 years after an preliminary switch… (MBW)

2. SIR LUCIAN GRAINGE TALKS AI MUSIC, SUPERFANS IN 2026 MEMO, TAKING SWIPE AT FIRMS ‘VALIDATING BUSINESS MODELS THAT FAIL TO RESPECT ARTISTS’ WORK’

Universal Music Group Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge has issued a stark warning about “irresponsible enterprise fashions” in AI music, declaring that UMG won’t tolerate offers that “devalue artists” and “promote the exponential progress of AI slop on streaming platforms.”

The feedback seem in Grainge’s annual New Year memo to UMG workers, despatched on Thursday (January 8) and obtained by MBW, wherein he celebrates a profitable 2025 for the world’s greatest music rights firm and its artists, whereas outlining strategic priorities for 2026.

“Validating enterprise fashions that fail to respect artists’ work and creativity, and promote the exponential progress of AI slop on streaming platforms, is a grave disservice to artists, songwriters and all of us who work in music,” writes Grainge.

“Let me be clear: UMG won’t stand by and watch irresponsible enterprise fashions take maintain, fashions that devalue artists, fail to present ample compensation for his or her work, stifle their creativity and in the end, diminish their skill to attain followers.”… (MBW)

3. ETHIOPIA HABTEMARIAM APPOINTED PRESIDENT OF MUSIC AT HYBE AMERICA

HYBE America has appointed veteran music exec Ethiopia Habtemariam as its new President of Music.

Habtemariam, identified most lately for having headed up Universal Music Group’s Motown Records, will assist advance HYBE America’s long-term progress technique, spearhead A&R and artist growth throughout the corporate’s label ecosystem, and determine new inventive and business alternatives, HYBE America stated in a press release on Thursday (January 8).

Habtemariam might be primarily based in Los Angeles and in Atlanta, her hometown and an epicenter of worldwide hip-hop into which the South Korea-headquartered HYBE tapped by way of its 2023 acquisition of label Quality Control… (MBW)

4. UK MUSIC STREAMING SUBSCRIPTION REVENUES GREW BY 3.2% YOY IN 2025. SO DID INFLATION.

The sum of money spent on music subscriptions by UK shoppers grew modestly final yr, up 3.2% YoY. That’s in accordance to new preliminary stats from the UK’s Entertainment Retailers’ Association (ERA), whose members embrace Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, and SoundCloud.

According to ERA’s knowledge, some GBP £2.045 billion (USD $2.69bn) was spent on music streaming subscriptions in 2025, up from GBP £1.982 billion in 2024. In financial phrases, that represented a YoY enhance of GBP £63.0 million… (MBW)

5. UMG’S LATEST MAJOR AI PARTNERSHIP ARRIVES VIA TECH GIANT NVIDIA, WITH PROMISE OF ‘ANTIDOTE TO GENERIC AI SLOP’

Universal Music Group has struck its newest main AI partnership. The world’s largest music rights firm introduced on Tuesday (January 6) a strategic collaboration with AI computing big NVIDIA, the world’s most precious firm by market capitalization, presently valued at roughly $4.56 trillion.

According to a press launch, the partnership will see NVIDIA and UMG “undertake collaborative analysis and growth to promote shared goals of advancing human music creation and rightsholder compensation.”

The launch added that the collaboration will mix NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure with what the businesses describe as “the world’s main music catalog comprising tens of millions of culture-defining tracks” to pioneer what they name “accountable AI for music discovery, creation, and engagement.”… (MBW)