The romance started about a decade ago when consumers began cutting the cord with cable TV bundles en masse in favor of direct-to-consumer streaming apps. However, where investors were once enamored with subscriber growth, rewarding companies that were able to expand their consumer reach, their attentions have now shifted toward profitability.
Source: Wall Street still loves streaming, but are its affections well placed?
The U.K.’s main musician and songwriter trade associations have responded to calls for PRS to reduce its blanket license fees for grassroots music venues. On Tuesday (April 14), the Music Venue Trust launched a campaign titled Set The Record Straight: Fair Licensing Fees, aimed at examining how PRS For Music’s licensing charges are calculated, applied and enforced across the U.K.’s grassroots live music circuit.
Source: Musicians Respond to Calls For PRS to Reduce License Fees
A new report is providing a closer look at the “streaming paradox,” or the idea that on-demand listening plays an important role in artists’ careers but leaves much to be desired in the royalties department. Unsurprisingly, the analysis covers a variety of angles across its nearly 90 pages. But at the top level, the resource breaks down artist survey responses (more here in a moment) en route to providing a relatively balanced look at the streaming landscape.
AI agents and bots will become the “primary” revenue source for the publisher websites they visit, the co-founders of AI monetization company Tollbit believe. “It’s not happening overnight,” Olivia Joslin said. “It’s not going to make their year this year in terms of the revenue that’s flowing through the pipes. But this is certainly going to be the primary mode of revenue. It’s going to have to come from AI visitors.”
Source: Publishers urged to embrace future where bot readers provide majority of revenue
Motion Picture Association Chairman Charles Rivkin walked a fine line at CinemaCon on Tuesday morning, acknowledging concerns about artificial intelligence, while also stressing its creative and commercial potential. “We’ve entered the era of AI,” Rivkin told cinema operators at the exhibition industry conference taking place this week in Las Vegas. “None of us should ignore its potential dangers. Nor should we dismiss its possibilities.
Source: MPA Boss Says AI Can ‘Bolster the Art of Storytelling’ and ‘Improve the Fan Experience’
A 2025 survey conducted by SOCAN and Pollara found that 81% of Canadians believe supporting local music creators is essential to the future of Canadian culture. SOCAN says it has mobilized a national campaign that generated 8,700 letters to government urging policymakers to block any exception that would allow unlicensed use of music for AI training purposes.
Source: Canada’s SOCAN warns AI is ‘placing mounting pressure’ on livelihoods
High-profile sales haven’t ceased; Miranda Lambert recently sold her catalog to Sony Music Publishing (plus Domain Capital), and the Quincy Jones estate partnered with HarbourView, for instance. Meanwhile, Warner Music’s poised to announce some presumably huge purchases, and DMN’s picked up on a couple noteworthy transactions that should soon receive public announcements. But in general, growing list of IP-heavy company buyouts aside, smaller-scale purchases are taking center stage.
Source: As Blockbuster Catalog Sales Slow, Dealmaking Volume Holds Steady
Paramount is turning to artificial intelligence at one of the most consequential points in the filmmaking process: deciding what gets made. According to reporting in Bloomberg, the studio has begun testing AI-driven tools designed to assist with script evaluation and early-stage project analysis, as executives look for ways to manage rising costs and increasing uncertainty around audience demand. The tools are not being positioned as replacements for creative judgment.
Source: Paramount Tests AI Tools in Development as Cost Pressures Mount
The EU’s framework for collective licensing rests on Extended Collective Licensing, or ECL. Under ECL, a CMO is authorized by law to license works on behalf of all rightsholders in a given category — even those who never signed up. The idea is elegant: one blanket license, one payment stream, universal coverage. The trouble starts with what happens after the money is collected.
Source: The Licensing Mirage: Why Collective Models Won’t Save the Visual Industry from AI
More than 1,000 writers, actors and directors released a letter on Monday opposing Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying the deal would harm Hollywood’s already distressed entertainment industry. The letter warns that merging two of Hollywood’s major studios will result in “fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs and less choice for audiences in the United States and around the world.”
Source: Hollywood Heavyweights Sign Letter Opposing Paramount’s Deal for Warner Bros.