Publishing Breaks Records, UK Invests in Music, and Budweiser Sparks Backlash
How The Music Business Works - Issue #17
June 19, 2025
Welcome back to How The Music Business Works!
This week’s roundup spans major moves in music policy, legal battles, and industry milestones.
U.S. publishing revenue hit a new high in 2024, with the NMPA pushing for stronger songwriter support. Across the Atlantic, the UK Government rolled out a new plan to invest in music growth, streaming reform, and education. Meanwhile, Budweiser is under fire for a Cannes-winning campaign that sidestepped music royalties, and a high-stakes copyright case could expand U.S. termination rights worldwide.
NMPA Head David Israelite Says U.S. Publishing Revenue Cracked $7 Billion in 2024
U.S. music publishing revenue hit a record $7.04 billion in 2024, up 13.4% from the previous year, marking a decade of double-digit growth, according to the NMPA. President David Israelite credited nearly $2 billion of that total to newly licensed sources and highlighted ongoing challenges like Spotify’s bundling, which cost publishers an estimated $230 million. He also urged artists, managers, and labels to support non-performing songwriters in royalty disputes, stressing the need for unity to secure fairer rates in a system still dominated by government price controls.
New UK Government Plan to Back Music With £30m Investment, Streaming Reform and Education Boost
The UK Government has launched a new Creative Industries Sector Plan, identifying music as a key growth area. The plan includes a £30 million music growth package to support emerging artists, a new ticket levy to fund grassroots venues, and ongoing support for fairer music streaming practices. Music education will be strengthened through a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, and a Freelance Champion will advocate for self-employed creatives. A proposed Creative Content Exchange aims to better support creators’ rights and pay in the digital marketplace.
Budweiser Criticised for Prize-Winning Campaign That Skipped Music Royalties
Budweiser’s Cannes Lions-winning ad campaign is facing backlash for using one-second clips of iconic songs without paying music royalties. The TikTok campaign, created by agency Africa Creative, featured snippets from artists like Beyoncé and The Beatles, with fans challenged to guess the track. While Budweiser didn’t directly boast about avoiding royalties, the agency highlighted the $0 spent on music rights as a key achievement, sparking criticism from the music and advertising industries for celebrating a campaign built on unpaid creative work.
A key legal case is testing whether U.S. copyright terminations apply globally. Songwriter Cyril Vetter recently won the right to reclaim his 1963 hit “Double Shot” not just in the U.S., but worldwide. Now, the Society of Composers & Lyricists and the Songwriters Guild of America are backing that decision, arguing that termination rights should extend beyond U.S. borders. They say limiting them would create loopholes that publishers could exploit to bypass an author’s domestic rights. The appeal could have major implications for legacy artists seeking to regain control of their global copyrights.
A U.S. judge ruled that Anthropic’s use of copyrighted books to train its AI was “fair use” due to the highly transformative nature of the outputs. However, this reasoning may not apply to music cases, where publishers argue that Anthropic’s AI can reproduce lyrics nearly word-for-word, making the outputs far less transformative. Similar claims are being made against AI music generators like Suno and Udio. While the ruling favors AI companies on training data, Anthropic will still face trial for using pirated books, which could pressure other firms to pursue licensing deals.