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CRB Sets 2026 Mechanical Rate at 13.1¢
The Copyright Royalty Judges have announced that the new COLA-adjusted minimum statutory mechanical royalty rate for 2026 is 13.1¢ for physical and downloads, up from 12.7¢, effective 1/1/26. This is the last year of the Phonorecords IV rate period, so that’s an increase from the 9.1¢ frozen mechanical rate that had been in effect for 15 years.  You may want to make sure that your publisher or administrator has adjusted their royalty accounting systems to accommodate a change in rates. We heard that the 9.1¢ rate had been frozen for so long that some publishers had assumed it would be the same rate for years to come and never built in the ability to change rates annually. That could mean that they failed to make the changes for any year in the Phonorecords IV rate period (2023-2027), so you should definitely make sure that the correct rates are being paid. The adjusted rate for vinyl/downloads stands in stark contrast to the streaming mechanical which not only has been frozen for the entire 5 year rate period, but has actually declined substantially due to Spotify’s bundling silliness. That smooth move has set up what will no doubt be a donnybrook in Phonorecords V, i.e., the next rate proceeding which is due to start any minute now (actually more like January, which is close enough).

From Bad to Catastrophic: MULTIPLE AI Artists Now On Country Chart (Nov.13)
As predicted, the matter of AI artists infiltrating Billboard’s country charts and the music industry in general has gone from bad to absolutely catastrophic in the matter of a singular human-measured week. And with AI’s exponential growth, we could be measuring the utter evisceration of the entire human-based recorded music industry in a matter of weeks—not months—unless dramatic, emergency steps are taken.  Forget “Saving Country Music.” This is about saving all music, and all human creative expression. This is an existential threat. You cannot be too hyperbolic in this moment. And the most alarming thing is that it might already be too late to do anything about it. AI music has escaped the lab, and those entrusted with protecting human creators are facilitating the pandemic levels of its spread, afraid of taking hard stances and being accused of “gatekeeping.” It’s AI artist Breaking Rust’s “Walk My Walk” at #1, Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” at #2, and AI artist Cain Walker’s “Don’t Tread On Me” at #3. We’re not just talking about an AI anomaly on the top of this particular chart. AI is dominating it. That said—and this is extremely important to understand—this is only happening on Billboard’s Country Digital Songs Sales chart, which only measures downloads of songs. Despite much reporting and anecdotal accounts to the contrary, Breaking Rust’s “Walk My Walk” is not the #1 song in country music. In fact, it’s not even close. It’s only charting at all due to digital downloads, which are arguably the easiest metric to manipulate because spending $5,000+ to get 5,000 downloads can immediately put you in contention on this chart, if not topping it. AI is here, and it will dominate the music industry sooner than later, irrevocably, and catastrophically for human creators. Every single other concern plaguing the industry is downstream from this. 

Pro Music Rights, Alltrack Could Face FTC Investigations Following Inquiry by U.S. Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) Over ‘Deceptive Practices’
Lawmakers’ scrutiny of PROs isn’t letting up – with Pro Music Group and AllTrack now potentially facing FTC investigations over illegal conduct allegations. Just this week, U.S. Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) has asked the FTC to “examine potential unfair or deceptive acts” in the public performance space – with a specific focus on Pro Music Rights and AllTrack.  Representative Fitzgerald made that request in a recent letter to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, and the lawmaker’s office shared the message with DMN. As some will recall, September 2024 saw Rep. Fitzgerald and others ask then-Register Shira Perlmutter to examine “emerging issues” affecting performing rights organizations (PROs).  Chief among these issues: A perceived lack of revenue-distribution transparency and, of particular importance to businesses, the “proliferation” of new PROs as well as adjacent licensing headaches.  Fast forward to this past February, when the Copyright Office launched a related inquiry that ultimately drew responses from the likes of ASCAP and BMI. As we broke down in April, both PROs covered quite a few angles in their replies – with BMI opposing new regulations and placing a bit of licensing-confusion blame on “new entrants” AllTrack and Pro Music Rights (PMR). (read more)

The Problem with AI-Generated Music (from a college student's prospective)
Surprise flickers across my face when the next “musician” on the set list at the EBR open mic announces that they aren’t actually going to be playing music. Instead they have an AI-generated song they want everyone to listen to. At this declaration my head snaps up; artificial intelligence creating music? At an open mic? The threat that artificial intelligence poses for the average person actually has a much larger effect that one would expect. AI music tends to fall flat of creativity as it wasn’t fabricated from a person's perspective, but a technological one. If the music industry shifted to primarily AI generated work then most of the music produced would feel predictable or plain, a seemingly repetitive sound tweaked to form “different” songs. Some labels are also interested in using AI for music campaigns. This could pose a threat for both artists and their music as the data AI receive has a likely possibility of being incorrect, potentially leading to a negative effect on these musicians. While AI does allow for some positives, such as bolstering creativity for musicians and creating a more time efficient production schedule, AI does more harm than good. To water down the music industry when it’s supposed to be an environment of growth and originality does a disservice to both musicians and listeners alike. 

US millennials may be outliers on comfort levels for GenAI music
Some new data published by research firm Luminate suggests that Americans have a “skepticism and disinterest in AI music”. But there are some interesting variances between generations in its survey.
“45% of respondents reported feeling either very or somewhat uncomfortable about generative AI being used to create original music, with just 24% saying they were comfortable,” explained Luminate in its latest blog post.  However, millennials stood out in the demographic breakdown. 13% of them are “very comfortable” with GenAI music, and 20% are “somewhat comfortable”. No surprise...One can also tell a lie long enough until it is finally believed.

Copyright safe harbour will be trashed if Cox wins Supreme Court appeal, say major labels
The long running legal battle between ISP Cox and the major labels has finally reached the US Supreme Court. The outcome will impact on how the music industry fights online piracy. Indeed, the majors’ lawyer says if Cox wins, the long established copyright safe harbour will be “a dead letter”.  The copyright safe harbour contained in the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which has played a fundamental role in the management of copyrights online for more than 25 years, will be “a dead letter” - so basically defunct - if the US Supreme Court rules in favour of internet company Cox in its legal battle with the major record companies.  That’s according to lawyer Paul Clement, who was speaking for the majors as that big legal battle finally reached the top US court yesterday. Cox says it shouldn’t be liable for its customers’ music piracy under US copyright law, and wants the Supreme Court to reverse previous judgements that said it was. “Keep in mind this went to a jury” he also added, “and it went to a jury of twelve people who probably didn’t want to lose their internet connection”. And yet, after hearing all the evidence, the jury had “very little trouble” in finding Cox liable. 

97 percent of people struggle to identify AI music, but it’s not as bad as it seems
Streaming service Deezer ran an experiment recently, with the help of research firm Ipsos. The finding — that 97 percent of people can’t tell the difference between fully AI-generated and human-made music — was alarming. But it’s also not the whole story. Seventy-one percent were surprised by the results, and 51 percent said it made them uncomfortable to not be able to tell the difference between AI- and human-created art. Somewhat shockingly, only 40 percent said they would skip AI music without listening if they knowingly came across it. What is clear is that the amount of AI-generated music being uploaded is staggering, and only increasing. Deezer says that it receives over 50,000 AI-generated tracks per day, which accounts for more than 34 percent of music added to the service. Seventy percent of respondents to the survey believe that these fully AI songs pose a threat to the livelihood of musicians, and 64 percent believe that AI could lead to a reduction in creativity. 

YouTube introduces its own version of Spotify Wrapped for videos
YouTube is rolling out a new roundup experience that lets you quickly review your most notable video habits over the last year. The Recap feature “uniquely highlights interests, deep dives, and moments” based on your watch history, according to YouTube’s announcement, providing up to 12 cards that spotlight top channels, interests, and how your taste in videos has changed over time. Recap is launching for YouTube users in the US starting today, and will roll out globally this week. The feature is available on both mobile devices and desktop, and can be found by selecting the dedicated button on the YouTube homepage or under the “You” tab in the user menu.

Benefits of an Assistant Engineer
Why a second set of hands can allow you to focus more on the music than the machinery
A lot of home recording is a solitary process, especially for those songwriters skilled enough to churn out band-sized demos on their own from start to finish. But why always go it alone when you could have a console companion for at least some of the tracking process? From checking on recording and monitoring levels, to weighing in on the mix-in-progress, here are some situations where a second set of hands can allow you to focus more on the music than the machinery. Whether working for yourself or cutting tracks on others, let’s face it, recording can at times be a nerve-fraying activity, requiring ample patience should unforeseen problems arise. Which is why an assistant’s most important attribute may be their temperament—what you don’t want is someone who only adds to the tension in the room when things aren’t always going according to plan. So when you’re having trouble nailing that lead vocal, or are finding it difficult getting the right guitar tone, you’ll be glad to have an enthusiastic and knowledgeable soul behind the board who can give you the kind of constructive advice needed to finally get the job done.

Fix the Mix: Learnings from Analyzing Over 2 million Tracks
RoEx’s Mix Check Studio, a mix and master analysis tool, has analyzed over 2 million tracks. BMI caught up with RoEx CEO David Ronan to discuss key insights from their learnings.
Loudness management, by a long way! About 79% of masters exceed Spotify’s -14 LUFS (loudness units relative to full scale, a standard way to measure the loudness of audio content) and 91% go beyond Apple Music’s -16 LUFS. Streaming platforms turn those tracks down, so producers are losing dynamics for no real gain.  Of the 2 million+ tracks, around 700,000 are mixes and 1.3 million are masters. About 46% of mixes are under-compressed and lack dynamic control.  Without proper compression, your vocals can get lost in the chorus, or your verses might sound disconnected from the rest of the track - listeners will struggle to hear the lyrics clearly or feel the song doesn’t have professional polish. But with masters, the opposite happens; over-compression and clipping dominate.  On the bright side, masters tend to fix stereo and mono compatibility problems left in the mix.Technical excellence should support - not overshadow - your songs. Start with strong writing and performance. Then assistive production tools can help ensure your mix and master meet your creative vision. Don’t chase loudness. Measure, learn, improve. Professional sound is a skill you can build.

No, typing an AI prompt is not ‘really active’ music creation

(Terrence O'Brien)
Honestly, that’s insulting.
Suno, the AI music startup being sued by the big three major labels, the RIAA, and even some indi Suno is primarily known for its text-prompt-based, push-button Create feature, which generates entire tracks using an AI model. (I tried it — it’s technically impressive, but has all the soul of a PowerPoint presentation.) As a musician myself, I find the idea that asking an AI for a “live band, jazz rap track with Rhodes piano, a trumpet solo and gravely vocals at 96BPM” would be considered “really active” downright insulting. And I know I’m not alone. Countless other artists and critics have been very clear that they see AI music as an abomination that they’ve even tried to sabotage. Feeding the art of countless people who worked hard perfecting their craft to a machine, and allowing anyone who can string a few words together to whip up some approximation of said art, hardly seems like it’s valuing music at all.This is not democratizing access to the tools of creation — that has already happened. You can create music for free, or very cheaply right now with your computer or cellphone. Decent guitars and synthesizers are cheaper than ever. What Suno is offering is a way to bypass the development of skill, the effort required to make art, and the development of creative instincts. In short, Suno is doing away with the creative process entirely.

From MTV to TikTok: Why Creativity Dies Without Cash Flow
In 2026, Attention Is the New Currency
The story of music marketing is really the story of who controls attention. In 2004, it was MTV, MySpace, and iTunes—tight pipelines where a handful of gatekeepers decided who got the spotlight. By 2014, influence shifted to music blogs, online magazines, and digital tastemakers, where surprise drops could hijack culture overnight.  By 2019, the algorithm took over. Success meant feeding the stream: first-week numbers, playlists, and momentum charts. Now, the game runs on communities. Artists (and the labels supporting them) are building living, breathing worlds across Discord, Roblox, and TikTok. Fans aren’t watching from the sidelines; they’re producing, remixing, stitching, and spreading.  This era gives creators endless freedom. But behind that freedom sits a quiet killer: financial friction. Every campaign’s creative heartbeat depends on its behind-the-scenes payout workflows, payment methods, and currencies. When that system falters, even the best idea collapses. Global, community-driven rollouts live or die on operational precision. When the financial side runs smoothly, creative ideas scale with less drag and more reach. It’s the difference between keeping up with the moment and shaping it.  The future of music marketing will belong to the teams that treat their financial systems as part of the creative process. The art stays wild. The engine stays solid. That’s how great campaigns last.