Music Reports Acquires Blokur, BMI Expands Spark Program, and IFPI Reports 9.1% Growth in EU Revenues
How The Music Business Works - Issue #30
September 25, 2025
Welcome back to How The Music Business Works!
This week saw major developments across the music and live entertainment industries.
Music Reports acquired Blokur and launched Trakdex to tackle “black box” royalties, aiming to improve accuracy in songwriter payments.
BMI expands its Spark program to offer more support to songwriters, while ASCAP elected Alisa Coleman to its Board of Directors while reporting record revenues and boosting leadership ranks.
IFPI reports strong growth in EU recorded-music revenues. And in live entertainment, the FTC has sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster for allegedly enabling scalpers and inflating resale prices, adding to ongoing antitrust challenges.
Here's what's happening…
How Music Reports’ Blokur Acquisition Answers the Royalty ‘Black Box’ Problem
Music Reports has acquired Blokur and integrated its matching technology into a new tool called Trakdex, which is designed to address the long-standing “black box” royalty issue where billions in royalties remain unclaimed due to poor matching of recordings to compositions. The combined system has already improved MRI’s match rate by ten percentage points, allowing for more accurate payments to songwriters, publishers, and rights holders. By building on the Songdex registry and adding stronger review processes, MRI aims to create a transparent system that reduces fraud, duplicate claims, and missed royalty payments.
BMI adds 10 new partners to Spark programme for songwriters
BMI has added 10 new partners to its Spark program, which now counts 36 companies offering discounts, resources, and support for affiliated songwriters and composers. New partners include Steinberg’s Cubase and Dorico, Fourthwall, MusiCares, Shure, and Fender, covering areas from career development to wellbeing. Existing partners Disc Makers, RoEx, and RootNote have also expanded their offerings. BMI’s Jess Robertson said the strong response highlights Spark’s role in helping creators grow and thrive while focusing on their music.
IFPI report hails 9.1% growth for recorded music in the EU
Global labels body IFPI has released the second edition of its Music in the EU report, showing recorded-music revenues in the bloc hit €5.7bn in 2024, a 9.1% increase year-on-year. The EU represented 20.7% of global revenues, with growth by value (€470m) outpacing the combined increase of the U.S., China, and Brazil. Paid streaming drove 77.4% of the rise. Alongside the stats, IFPI renewed its policy calls, urging regular measurement of music’s economic impact, resistance to new copyright exceptions, strong enforcement of the EU AI Act, and tougher action against piracy.
Alisa Coleman elected to ASCAP Board of Directors
ASCAP has elected Alisa Coleman, COO of ABKCO Music & Records, to its Board of Directors as a publisher member. With extensive experience in rights management and digital strategy, she joins at a pivotal time as ASCAP faces challenges around AI, licensing, and creator rights. Her election comes as ASCAP posts record revenues of $1.835 billion in 2024 and promotes Nicole George-Middleton to EVP & Head of Creative Membership, underscoring its focus on strong governance and member advocacy.
Live Nation Colludes With Ticket Touts, Says US Federal Trade Commission as it lLunches Legal Action
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster, alleging they enabled ticket scalpers to bypass purchase limits and inflate resale prices, while profiting from fees at multiple stages of the resale process. The complaint highlights practices such as “bait-and-switch” pricing, with consumers reportedly paying over $16.4 billion in fees between 2019 and 2024. The FTC argues these tactics violate the BOTS Act and unfairly burden fans, while Live Nation also faces a separate DOJ antitrust case seeking to unwind its merger with Ticketmaster and boost competition in the live events industry.