Musonomics

Artificial intelligence is doing to music what the printing press did to books and what the mp3 did to the album. But as the tools multiply and the investment pours in, a harder question is starting to surface. Who exactly are these systems built for? On this episode, Larry talks with Drew Thurlow, former senior executive at Sony Music, Pandora, and Warner Music, and author of Machine Music, the m...

Most conversations about AI and music collapse into two camps: fear that it will replace artists, or excitement about how much money there is to be made. Lucas Cantor sits outside both. Lucas is a venture investor at Mindset Ventures and an Emmy-winning composer who got his start at Hans Zimmer's studio before going on to finish Schubert's Unfinished Symphony using AI, a project that became a live...

With apologies to cyberpunk author William Gibson, the technology is out in the wild. The lawsuits are filed. The licensing deals are being signed. The future of the music industry is already here. It's just not evenly distributed. This is the third episode in Musonomics' AI series, and it's the one that looks forward -- beyond the fear and hype to what's already taking shape. When content becomes...

Artificial intelligence is the force reshaping the music industry's future. And the legal battle over who gets paid, and for what, is just getting started. In 2024, the major labels sued AI music companies Suno and Udio. Music publishers sued Anthropic this year for $3 billion. The AI companies say training on copyrighted music is transformative, and protected by fair use. Rightsholders say if you...

Artificial intelligence is no longer on the horizon for the music industry. It's here, and it's moving fast. But is AI the next great instrument in a long line of tools that musicians learn and master? Or is it something fundamentally different, a technology that doesn't extend what artists do, but replaces it? In the first episode of a three-part series, Larry sits down with Cherie Hu, founder of...

Superfan is a strong contender for Music Industry Buzzword of 2025-26. But what does it mean, exactly? And what does it mean for the industry? On this episode, Larry talks with Olivia Jones from MIDIA research who is watching the space closely, and Musonomics correspondent Mariel Darling sits down with Mag Rodriguez, founder of EVEN, one of the leading platforms doing the heavy lifting to talk abo...

In this episode, we take a look back at the first half of 2025. Larry sits down with Tatiana Cirisano of MIDIA research to discuss underlying industry trends across the globe, including where music meets audiences. Larry also talks with Paul Sipio of Apollo Global Management, which has invested billions in the industry over the past few years, about why music catalog has been, and continues to be,...

It is presidential election season and music is back in the thick of it. In 2016 we spoke with Ben Sisario of the New York Times, Professor Chris Sprigman of NYU Law School and music industry lawyer Joel Schoenfeld about the historical and then current role of music in Presidential politics. In this episode, we revisit that episode and provide a 2024 update.

In this episode, Larry and Lynn discuss a streaming fraud bust, music meets presidential politics yet again, Kendrick spikes the ball, and protect those copyrights!

We're in a song economy but not yet a songwriter economy, according to a landmark report by MiDiA Research. In this episode: the report's co-author Tatiana Cirisano, and two new-school independent music publishers rewriting the rulebook, Evan Bogart from Seeker Music and Lylette Pizarro from Influence Media.

On this episode: Larry And Lynn on Warner Music's big restructuring. Also UMG earnings, the Labels' showdown with AI platforms, and has on-demand streaming peaked?

On this episode: Larry and Lynn dive into the DOJ vs. LiveNation, what's behind recent arena tour cancellations, and Spotify's price increase and what it means. Also: is Queen's catalogue a billion dollar property?

Spotify started offering limited audiobook listening late last year for no extra charge -- after the first price increase in the company's history went through for all US premium subscribers. What Spotify did was bundle their paid-for music subscriptions in the US with its nascent audiobook service in an attempt to lower the rates it pays to songwriters and music publishers. Spotify says it's enti...

Larry and Lynn discuss earnings season highlights -- UMG, Live Nation, Hybe and more. They unpack Kendrick v. Drake, and will Spotify's bundling move have a major unforeseen consequence?

United States Copyright Office Register Shira Perlmutter oversees a team of 500 people and advises the U.S. Congress and the executive branch on copyright policy. By definition her office is the foremost expert on copyright in the country. But she is the foremost expert, as a person, on copyright in the country. If you're excited or terrified by how music policy is being made around AI -- especial...

This week we unpack the full year 2023 RIAA data. Are we too dependent on subscription growth? Larry Miller and Billboard Power 100 music lawyer Lynn Gonzalez debate. Also: What happened at Hipgnosis and putting the Shot Tower Capital report in context; why we love Cowboy Carter, the new Beyoncé magnum opus; and Larry gets a sneak peek at the sparkly new Brooklyn Paramount. Musonomics Flash is sup...

Star music lawyer Lynn Gonzalez of Granderson Des Rochers joins NYU Steinhardt Music Business prof Larry Miller on this Musonomics Flash episode to dissect the IFPI Global Music Report and emerging markets growth; Suno, a startlingly impressive AI for text-based music creation and The Soul of a Machine; Bandlab blows through a new milestone and Larry explains why private equity isn't a giant vampi...

For this flash edition of Musonomics, Larry Miller is Joined by music attorney Lynn Gonzalez from Granderson Des Rochers LLP. Larry and Lynn unpack some recent developments in music finance and technology, including Universal Music's latest investments and its standoff with TikTok, Tennessee's ELVIS Act, and Music Production Startup EngineEars. Musonomics Flash is supported by Luminate. https://lu...

On Wednesday, Luminate, the data company powering the Billboard charts, released its 2023 year end music report. Larry Miller and guest co-host Britnee Foreman from Exceleration Music pored over the whole thing. In this mini-episode they share key takeaways and surprises, and make a few predictions based on what they learned.

The public stocks of many music companies like UMG, WMG and Spotify now trade on NYSE, NASDAQ and foreign exchanges. But wouldn't it be cool to easily invest in US and overseas labels, publishers, royalty funds, digital services, concert promoters, venue operators, creator tools and broadcasters across the entire global music sector, in a single trade? Join MUSQ founder David Schulhof as we unpack...

AI may be the latest inflection point in the music business as were the introduction of the LP, CD, Napster, track downloads and streaming. NYU Professors Howie Singer and Bill Rosenblatt discuss their new book Key Changes: The Ten Times Technology Transformed the Music Industry.

Player piano rolls... electric guitars... wah wah pedals... ProTools... AutoTune... and now AI. But is artificial intelligence the next step in creator tools or something far more threatening? Join Living Colour guitarist and technologist Vernon Reid as we unpack how AI technology is affecting the way we create, record, license, and consume music. With Britnee Foreman from Exceleration Music.

Deep into the streaming era, vinyl outsold CD sales last year for the first time since 1987 and grew for the 16th straight year. We unpack the state of vinyl with John T. Kunz, owner of Austin's Waterloo Records; Russ Crupnick, Managing Partner of MusicWatch; John Pette, co-owner of new vinyl pressing plant OUTTA WAX; Gina Williams, Senior Director of Independent Retail and Vinyl Marketing at Warn...

The transition over the last decade from purchases of CDs, vinyl albums and downloads to subscription and ad-supported streaming has had an enormous impact on the music industry. And not just on revenue, but on the multiples of revenue sophisticated investors have paid for music rights. We discuss what our report on streaming's impact says, how we put it together and what it means. With DiMA chief...

Neighboring rights are similar to the public performance rights associated with musical compositions, but they are paid to record labels and performerming artists rather than to songwriters and publishers. Neighboring rights have great potential in the streaming age, but with each country comes a different challenge in reporting and collecting. To unpack these issues we chat with peermusic CEO Mar...