Week of November 1–7, 2026
Welcome to The Unlimited Brief, the weekly roundup of music industry news and fresh finds from Indie Music Discovery, on Unlimited Sounds Radio. We start with the music: a South African singer-songwriter whose slow ballad turned into a gold-certified house hit, and a synth-pop single born from an unanswered text message. Then the business: the AI lawsuits and subpoenas keep piling up, songwriter royalties hit a new record, and Hybe posts record revenue courtesy of the BTS tour.
Missed last week? Read the Oct 25–31 edition.
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Indie Discoveries
From Indie Music Discovery, part of the Unlimited Sounds family.
Rob Rodell, “Could This Be Love”. The South African singer-songwriter has the story of a song that started as a slower adult contemporary number about personal spiritual conflict, but then became a house hit. Producer Cuebur, whom Rodell met at the South African label Soul Candi, made three house remixes from the vocal stems. DJ Shimza’s radio connections helped the track travel, and it went on to be a gold-certified single. Rodell is now studying reception theory for his master’s degree in music, and he says listeners have tied the song to memories of university, old relationships, and friendships.
David Diaz, “Are We Gonna Talk?”. Diaz wrote the track and recorded a demo the same night he sent that question as a text message, after a friendship went silent. He worked with producer Luke Kondak to blend 1980s synth-pop and new-wave influences with a contemporary sound. The video is a horror comedy, set in a cabin, with a scrapbook of Diaz’s detractors and a masked figure who turns out to be Diaz himself. Diaz had stepped away after several years of consistent releases to reconsider what success meant to him.
Fine Print: Rights, Law and Policy
The AI fights continue
Buckle up as we travel along this week’s legal AI rollercoaster. In the words of Tupac Shakur, “it’s AI against the world.” Ok, ok, it’s really “me against the world,” but you get the point. Here we go.
Apple, DistroKid and the MLC. In the labels’ case against Suno, Apple is trying to quash Suno’s subpoena for testimony from Apple Music executives, including Apple’s licensing talks with Universal and Sony. Apple says it has answered six subpoenas in the past year and calls the idea of an “anti-dilution arrangement” with the majors speculation about a deal that doesn’t exist. On Wednesday, the magistrate judge transferred the motion to Massachusetts, where the main cases are proceeding. Apple did not oppose the transfer. No ruling has been reported (Digital Music News).
In a related fight, UMG, Sony and DistroKid told a New York court they’re “working on a resolution” over the labels’ subpoena for data on how much of DistroKid’s catalog is flagged as AI-generated, including how much traces to Suno. DistroKid’s deadline to respond was Friday, November 6 (Music Business Worldwide). The MLC is pushing back on a Udio subpoena for stream-volume data by label going back to 2021. The MLC says it administers songs, not recordings, and that compiling the data would take two to three weeks of staff time (Digital Music News).
Suno and the Isbell class action. Suno also moved to dismiss the Jason Isbell class action over name, image and likeness. Suno argues that its outputs couldn’t be mistaken for the artists, that using an artist’s name to describe a sound is protected speech, and that copyright law doesn’t protect styles. The plaintiffs’ claims are allegations, and no ruling has been reported (Music Business Worldwide).
Google, Alphabet and OpenAI. Beyond Suno, Penske Media, Billboard’s parent company, is appealing the dismissal of its antitrust suit against Google over AI search summaries. A federal judge dismissed it in September, saying lawmakers, not courts, should address the issue (Digital Music News). A shareholder of Alphabet has also filed a derivative suit in federal court in Chicago against Sundar Pichai and 12 others, alleging the company built its music AI, including Lyria, on copyrighted works. It’s an unproven complaint, and the report has no response from Alphabet (Music Business Worldwide).
In the New York Times case against OpenAI, Irving Azoff’s Music Artists Coalition joined Cate Blanchett’s Human Consent Foundation on a brief questioning whether AI training rights can really be cleared and licensed at scale (Music Business Worldwide). Separately, the RIAA, NMPA, ASCAP, BMI and other music groups filed a proposed brief asking the judge to rule that OpenAI and Microsoft’s training on the plaintiffs’ works isn’t fair use (AI Music Preneur).
A warning for independent artists. Pay attention to this Digital Music News report about AI detectors. Tests by International Artist Marketing found several detectors rating all 23 covers on a tribute album, made by a Hamburg musician who says he used no generative AI, as possibly AI-generated, along with seven original 1980s recordings. The detectors estimate probabilities; they don’t examine how music was made. It’s a warning for indie artists, especially in electronic and post-punk genres, as platforms tighten their AI filters (Digital Music News).
This week’s AI links in one place:
- Apple’s opposition to Suno’s subpoena (Digital Music News)
- UMG, Sony and DistroKid “working on a resolution” (Music Business Worldwide)
- The MLC pushes back on Udio’s subpoena (Digital Music News)
- Suno moves to dismiss the Isbell class action (Music Business Worldwide)
- Penske Media appeals its loss to Google (Digital Music News)
- Alphabet shareholder derivative suit (Music Business Worldwide)
- Music Artists Coalition and Human Consent Foundation brief in the OpenAI case (Music Business Worldwide)
- RIAA, NMPA, ASCAP, BMI and others’ proposed brief (AI Music Preneur)
- AI detectors and false positives (Digital Music News)
Two more that matter to independent creators
Sony and DSW. Sony Music has settled its lawsuit against Designer Shoe Warehouse over recordings used in social media promo videos, including influencer posts. The case was dismissed with prejudice, and terms weren’t disclosed. Warner’s suit against DSW continues, and DSW opposed Warner’s bid to add about 70 more influencer posts. It’s a reminder that using a song in a brand’s social video needs a license (Digital Music News).
Ticketmaster and CashorTrade. Ticketmaster has brought its festival ticketing arm, Front Gate Tickets, into the CashorTrade face-value resale program, so fans can resell festival passes for no more than they paid. CashorTrade lists Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Bourbon & Beyond, Lost Lands and Ultra among the festivals it services. The festival list comes from CashorTrade’s own announcement (Music Business Worldwide).
Royalty Check: Following the Money
Songwriter royalties have hit a record
CISAC’s (the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) new global report says collections reached 14.06 billion euros in 2025, about 15.9 billion USD, up almost 12 percent. Most of that growth came from The MLC joining the report for the first time, bringing in approximately 835 million euros. Without The MLC, collections grew 5.3 percent. Digital is now the biggest source, at 6.41 billion euros, up 28 percent, or 45.6 percent of the total. The U.S. is the largest single market at 4.07 billion euros. And live and background music overtook TV and radio as the second-largest category. CISAC’s president, Björn Ulvaeus, writes that creators “are not asking to slow progress. We are asking to help shape it” (Music Business Worldwide).
Sony had a record quarter
Music Business Worldwide calculates that Sony’s recorded music and publishing revenue came to about $3.15 billion in the third quarter, up almost 9 percent at constant currency. It’s the fourth quarter in a row above $3 billion. Recorded music was about $2.41 billion, up 10.5 percent, with streaming at about $1.52 billion, up 7.4 percent. The fastest-growing piece was the “other” category, which includes licensing, merchandise and live, up about 21 percent. Publishing was about $745 million, up 3.8 percent, which is slower than the previous quarter. Sony’s own figures show the music segment’s operating income at approximately $770 million, a margin of about 20 percent, and Sony raised its full-year forecast (Music Business Worldwide; also Digital Music News).
Hybe posted record revenue on the BTS tour
Third-quarter revenue was $1.08 billion, up 110 percent. Concerts brought in $512 million, up 197 percent, driven by the BTS dates in Europe and North America. Operating profit was a record $133 million. Net profit fell about 90 percent from the prior quarter, to $8 million, and Hybe’s CFO attributed most of the drop to foreign-exchange valuation losses on its foreign currency holdings (Music Business Worldwide; also Digital Music News).
Adobe adds licensed music from Universal and Warner
Adobe is adding licensed music from Universal and Warner to Premiere mobile. Users will be able to add up to 60 seconds of a track to a video and post it to licensed social platforms, for personal, non-commercial use. The music is described as “coming soon.” No financial terms were disclosed, and the report doesn’t mention Sony (Music Business Worldwide).
A legal footnote to Sony’s story: Kroger is fighting Sony Music’s lawsuit
Sony and nine affiliated labels sued Kroger in August, alleging at least 392 unauthorized uses of their recordings in videos posted by Kroger’s brands and by influencers it paid. This is similar to the DSW settlement we covered earlier. On November 2, Kroger asked a federal court in Los Angeles to dismiss it, on six grounds. Eight defendants say they’re not subject to the court’s jurisdiction. Kroger says the exhibit doesn’t show which label owns each recording, and it argues that a 2020 holiday campaign was licensed and that those claims are time-barred. It also leans on the Supreme Court’s March ruling that Cox Communications wasn’t liable for its subscribers’ piracy, to challenge Sony’s contributory infringement claims. The allegations are Sony’s, the arguments are Kroger’s, and a hearing is set for January 14, 2027 (Music Business Worldwide; also Digital Music News).
Quick Hits
- BTS “Swim”: The songwriters who sued over BTS’s “Swim” have asked to dismiss the case, about four months after filing. The reports don’t say whether it’s with prejudice or why. Big Hit Music had denied the allegations (Music Business Worldwide).
- SM Entertainment: Third-quarter revenue fell 9.5 percent, to about $205 million, as album and concert revenue dropped, a contrast with Hybe (Music Business Worldwide).
- Hunger Games soundtrack: The track list is out for the Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping soundtrack, with Ella Langley, Kacey Musgraves and Violet Grohl among the artists (MusicRow).
- Nicole Taylor: Nicole Taylor of the sister trio Taylor Red has died at 35, according to MusicRow. Our thoughts are with her family and her fans (MusicRow).
On This Day in Music History
- November 6, 1975: The Sex Pistols play their first gig. They played as a support act at an art school in London, in front of about 40 people at most. The power was cut on them after a few songs. It was the start of one of punk’s most influential bands (Far Out Magazine).
- November 6, 1995: Queen releases Made in Heaven. It was their first studio album since Freddie Mercury’s death, and it included vocal and piano parts Mercury recorded before he died. With questions about voice, likeness and consent running through this week’s AI cases, it’s a reminder of how personal a recorded voice is (iHeart).
The Unlimited Brief is a weekly production of Unlimited Sounds Radio. Indie Music Discovery is part of the Unlimited Sounds family.
Sources: Digital Music News, Music Business Worldwide, MusicRow, AI Music Preneur, Far Out Magazine, iHeart, Indie Music Discovery.
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