Manchester’s Beyond The Music conference and festival has announced the first round of speakers for its upcoming 2026 event (Oct. 7 – 9). Taking place at the MediaCity UK complex in Salford, Greater Manchester, the conference brings together an array of U.K.-based and international industry figures for panels, keynotes, workshops and more.

The first round of speakers includes executives from a variety of sectors with Stacey Tang (co-president of RCA Records U.K.) one of the leading names set to appear. Tang led the organizing committee for the 2026 BRIT Awards, and was instrumental in the decision to move the ceremony outside of London for the first time, which was held at Manchester’s Co-op Live in March.

Bev Craig, who succeeded Andy Burnham in the role of Mayor of Greater Manchester, will also appear at the event; in July, Burnham assumed the role of U.K. prime minister.

Yungblud’s longtime manager Tommas Arnby will also speak at the event, as well as Dr. Jo Twist (CEO, BPI), Tom Gray (Chair, The Ivors Academy), Dan Lambert (Manager, Kneecap), Sophie Jones (CEO, Royal Television Society) and artists Tom A Smith, The Anchoress, Nina Nesbitt and more. See the full list of speakers at the event here.

The conference will also feature an All Content AI summit convened by Burnham, who played an integral role in establishing the Beyond The Music conference while in the role of Greater Manchester’s mayor. The first seats for the summit are available to reserve here.

The festival and conference was first established in 2023 with a number of key organizations such as the BPI, Factory International, Co-op Live and Manchester City Council operating as founding members.

AI music company Suno, led by CEO Mikey Shulman, posted a set of principles on its website Thursday (Aug. 6). “We’ve always believed that how we build matters just as much as what we build,” wrote Shulman in a company blog post. The list of principles included the stated goals that “AI should enable originality, not imitation” and that “more people creating music should strengthen the ecosystem.” The post also reiterated the company’s plan to limit downloads of AI songs from its platform — something first promised during its settlement and licensing deal with Warner Music Group.

The new post comes just a week after the AI music giant, recently valued at over $5.4 billion, lost a copyright infringement battle with German collection society GEMA. In the lawsuit, the society accused Suno of replicating songs from their members, including Lou Bega’s classic “Mambo No. 5.” 

“AI should help people create something new, not imitate someone else’s work,” the Suno post reads. “This philosophy has guided how we’ve built our models and platform from the start.” It continued to detail Suno’s training strategies, dubbed “Original Creation, By Design,” to reduce the possibility of unauthorized recreation of a human-made song. “For example, we intentionally chose not to use artist names in our training metadata because our goal is to help people create original songs — not music that sounds like existing artists,” he wrote.

Suno’s platform also prevents users typing in specific artist names to prompt results in their style. This, however, has not prevented all instances of unauthorized replication of copyrights included in its dataset. To date, the company has been hit with several copyright infringement lawsuits — including those filed by GEMA, Danish rights organization Koda and the three major music companies: Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. (WMG has since settled their part of the lawsuit with Suno and struck a licensing deal. UMG and Sony continue to pursue the case.)

The company blog post also pointed out that download limits for Suno-generated songs are coming soon. This plan was first announced in late 2025 and was a stipulation of Suno’s settlement with WMG. The new post does not state exactly when this will be rolled out, but it teased that “these changes won’t affect the vast majority of our users, but they will make large-scale abuse much harder,” wrote Shulman.

He added that “while we don’t think it’s our role to decide what has artistic value, we have an important responsibility to make it harder to abuse AI tools in ways that undermine a healthy music ecosystem,” like the mass exporting of AI songs, which has become a popular method for bad actors to spread out artificial streaming schemes over a large number of tracks and to better evade detection.

AI songs making their way onto streaming services, charts and social media has long been a concern for the music industry establishment. The majors noted this in their lawsuit against Suno, which began in June 2024, saying AI music “saturate[s] the market” and “directly compete[s] with cheapen[s] and ultimately drown[s] out the genuine sound recordings.”

Since then, the majors’ opinions on what should be done to mitigate the flood of AI music have somewhat diverged. Universal feels strongly about AI music companies being what its chief digital officer and executive vp Michael Nash calls “walled gardens,” meaning the platforms become closed sandboxes with no downloading allowed. In an interview with Billboard, Nash was asked if Suno’s lack of “walled garden” was the reason why UMG had not been able to reach a settlement with it yet. Nash replied: “If I treated your question as a rhetorical question, I would say yes, having articulated the walled garden distinction and its importance [for UMG,] that’s kind of a hat-hanger in this discussion.” Warner, on the other hand, agreed to settle with Suno, satisfied by a promised limit on downloads. Sony’s stance on the matter is unclear.

In July, a record industry coalition released a proposal for how streaming services could treat the impact of AI-generated tracks on their platforms. This included the suggestion of adding labels to any AI-generated or AI-assisted recording. Disclosure of AI use would be voluntary by the user, and while the proposal gained widespread support among the labels, it is still unclear if any streaming service will agree to implement their ideas.

Suno’s approach to managing the fast-rising level of AI songs on the internet also includes using “new watermarking and fingerprinting techniques,” as stated in the blog post, which Shulman said are set to arrive “in the coming weeks…so we can partner even more closely with distribution platforms on combating fraud and misuse.”

Read the full blog post below:

How We’re Building the Future of Music Responsibly

By Mikey Shulman 

We believe the future of music will be more participatory than ever before. 

Music is one of the oldest and most universal forms of human expression, and it has always evolved alongside technology. The last wave of technology made it easier for people to find and listen to music. We believe this next wave will make it possible for far more people to experience the joys of creating it.

Our mission is to build the world’s best platform for music creation while contributing to a healthy and growing music ecosystem. 

We’ve always believed that how we build matters just as much as what we build. From the beginning, we’ve held ourselves to a clear set of principles that help us make decisions in a fast-changing environment, always rooted in supporting artistry and creativity.  

Today we’re sharing those principles, how they already show up in our work, and the new actions we’re taking because of them. 

Our Principles

Great Music is Made by People

Technology can unlock new ways to create, but it can’t replace the human experiences, emotions, and imperfections that make music meaningful.

That’s why we build our models and products alongside artists, songwriters, musicians, and producers. Every week, we host writing camps with artists at all stages of their careers to understand how our tools fit into their creative workflows, where they fall short, and what we should improve. 

Our goal is to get inside the creative process with artists of varying backgrounds and approaches so we can build tools that support how they actually want to create. 

Technology Opens New Possibilities for Creatives

We believe our tools should open new ways for artists to create, reach fans and build their careers. That belief is central to the next generation of music models we’re developing in partnership with the music industry. 

As we build toward that future, we support artists today through several initiatives. We invest in educational programs that provide creative creators with resources to grow their careers. Through Spark, our creative funding and incubator program for emerging, unsigned artists, we provide grants, mentorship, and dedicated marketing support. And we’re exploring a range of mechanisms for artists to capture new opportunities and benefits that couldn’t have existed before this technology.

AI Should Enable Originality, Not Imitation

AI should help people create something new, not imitate someone else’s work. This philosophy has guided how we’ve built our models and platform from the start. 

We use training strategies we call Original Creation, By Design to reduce the risk of unauthorized reproductions. For example, we intentionally chose not to use artist names in our training metadata because our goal is to help people create original songs — not music that sounds like existing artists. 

Unlike many AI music platforms, we’ve never allowed prompts for specific artists or copyrighted songs. 

Instead, when a prompt references a specific artist, we remove the artist’s name and redirect the request toward descriptive musical characteristics. We also work with Audible Magic and Musixmatch to screen uploaded audio files and lyrics for potential unauthorized use of artists’ work. 

More People Creating Music Should Strengthen the Ecosystem

We believe that when more people experience the joy of creating music, music itself becomes a bigger part of their lives. They feel more connected to the songs they create, and the artists and music that inspires them. Most of the music people make on Suno is deeply meaningful: a lullaby for a child, a song for a partner, or something made to preserve a memory. That music may never be released publicly, but it still has real value to the person who made it.

That is fundamentally different from using generative technology to mass export content. While we don’t think it’s our role to decide what has artistic value, we have an important responsibility to make it harder to abuse AI tools in ways that undermine a healthy music ecosystem. 

Last year, we shared that we planned to introduce a more intentional approach to downloads. We will soon introduce a new downloads policy designed to limit the ability to mass distribute songs on streaming platforms, while preserving the professional, creative, and personal ways people use Suno. These changes won’t affect the vast majority of our users, but they will make large-scale abuse much harder. 

New Tools for Artists and Platforms

These principles — and our ongoing conversations with creatives, rightsholders, users and platforms — continue to inform our roadmap.  

As AI becomes an even greater part of how music is made, people need reliable ways to understand when it has been used. 

Today, we’re rolling out new transparency tools that align with emerging industry standards so songs generated on Suno can be identified if they are shared on other platforms. In the coming weeks, we will also be adopting new audio watermarking and fingerprinting technology so we can partner even more closely with distribution platforms on combating fraud and misuse.

These tools are designed to be durable and resistant to tampering, without affecting the listening experience. They are also not intended to pass judgment on whether a song is good, meaningful, or sufficiently human. 

Ultimately, we believe it should be up to artists and platforms to decide what they want to disclose. Our role is to build tools that give them transparency options and make it easier to collaborate across the industry.

Clearer Community Guidelines

Our Community Guidelines have always reflected clear positions on harmful behavior. Today, we’re updating them to make our rules easier to understand and to be more explicit about activities that have no place on Suno. 

From the beginning, we have prohibited attempts to recreate existing songs, upload material people do not have the rights to use, or use someone’s voice or likeness without permission. We also prohibit scams, spam, fake engagement, attempts to evade our systems through bots, deceptive audio presented as authentic, and other harmful activity.

Our Trust & Safety team proactively reviews content and investigates reports submitted through our in-app reporting tools. Depending on the severity of a violation, enforcement can range from warnings and temporary suspensions to permanent account bans and, where appropriate, referrals to the relevant authorities.

Looking ahead

This is one of the most interesting moments music has experienced in decades. The landscape will continue to evolve quickly, and many of the questions ahead are bigger than any one company. The best answers will come from artists, songwriters, labels, publishers, platforms, and technology companies all working together.

We believe this moment has the potential to bring more people into making music, create new opportunities for artists, and strengthen the music ecosystem. Staying grounded in our principles, and continuing to listen, learn, and adapt, is how we’ll navigate that change as we help build toward that future.

We’re excited about what comes next.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Ralph Carr, the promoter and talent manager who guided the careers of ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted singers Kate Ceberano and Tina Arena, has been revealed as the Australian businessman recently found guilty of rape.

The businessman, who has represented artists and athletes for several decades, was identified on Monday, Aug. 3 when a longstanding suppression order was lifted by the County Court of Victoria.

At the time of writing, Carr is yet to be sentenced.

Prosecutors alleged Carr committed the attack against a woman at his Melbourne home in March 2023, after a night when the pair had been consuming drugs and alcohol.

He pleaded not guilty at the trial. A jury, however, last week found him guilty of rape and sexual assault.

Carr’s barrister Dermot Dann KC said his client would appeal the verdicts. “Our client maintains his innocence,” Dann remarked, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports. “No jury acting reasonably or rationally could have arrived at the guilty verdicts.”

Media outlets were unable able to disclose Carr’s identify until this week, due to a suppression order granted under Section 18(1)(c) of Victoria’s Open Courts Act. Carr’s legal reps had called for the gag order, arguing his personal safety was at risk if he was outed in the press.

A high-profile manager in music circles and the AFL, Ralph Carr Management clients included Vanessa Amorosi, Rick Price, Mark Vincent, and Arena, to whom he was married for several years in the mid-to-late 1990s. His live entertainment company RCM Touring Pty Limited went into liquidation in 2018, after reportedly owning A$120,000 to another touring enterprise, Big Deal Touring. Two years later, in 2020, Carr was questioned in a “public examination” at Sydney’s Supreme Court in relation to RCM Touring’s financial affairs.

Following this week’s revelation, which made the front pages of newspapers across the country, former Aussie rules football star Dustin Martin cut ties with the disgraced talent manager. “I was shocked to learn of the outcome of the court proceedings,” Martin comments in a statement provided to The Guardian. “I had no knowledge whatsoever of the conduct that led to these convictions. My thoughts are with those affected. Effective immediately, I have ended my professional relationship with my former manager. As this is a legal matter, I will not be making any further comment.”

SYDNEY, Australia — BMG has acquired a basket of Andrew Stockdale’s rights relating to his interests in Wolfmother, the Grammy Award-winning Australian rock outfit.

The music company now controls Stockdale’s publishing, recorded music royalties and neighboring rights interests for Wolfmother’s catalog, extending on a decade-long partnership, stuck in 2016 when BMG became his global publisher. Financial terms weren’t revealed.

“Few Australian bands have built a catalog with the global reach, cultural impact and enduring influence of Wolfmother,” comments Heath Johns, president, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, BMG. “I signed Andrew to his first publishing deal in 2005 (then with Universal Music Publishing), before the band took over the world and two years before they won a Grammy. I still have that original demo CD with ‘Woman’, ‘Joker And The Thief’, ‘Dimension’ and ‘White Unicorn’ on my desk.”

Stockdale is the vocalist, guitarist, co-founder and songwriter with Wolfmother, which enjoyed an international breakthrough with its 2005 self-titled album, and a slew of throwback heavy-edge songs, from “Joker And The Thief” to “White Unicorn” and “Woman,” which won a Grammy for best hard rock performance.

The trio returned with a new lineup, led by Stockdale, for the 2009 follow-up Cosmic Egg, which peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200. Along the way, the rockers have collected multiple ARIA Awards, including best group; the coveted APRA songwriter of the year award; nominations at the BRIT Awards, and Stockdale was on hand to induct Led Zeppelin into the UK Hall of Fame in 2006.

Also, Wolfmother’s recordings have been sync in major film, television, advertising and video game campaigns, including The Hangover, Jackass Number Two, Shrek the Third, Ted Lasso, NHL, Madden NFL, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk’s Project 8, and others.

“Heath Johns is a legend of the Australian music industry with an extensive reach across international markets,” Stockdale comments. “His enthusiasm for Wolfmother’s music has been there from the original demos to ‘Joker’ being played at huge sporting events.

“I couldn’t think of a better place to have my share of the catalog than BMG. We appreciate the amazing syncs BMG has created over the years, helping cement Wolfmother’s music in popular culture, and we’re looking forward to seeing what opportunities await with the great team at BMG.”

Since Robert Kyncl became Warner Music Group’s CEO in early 2023, the record label behind Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Stella Lefty and Burna Boy has undergone cost cuts, a corporate re-org and a slew of leadership changes. During the company’s earnings call on Wednesday (Aug. 5) for its third fiscal quarter, Kyncl sought to reassure investors that Warner’s consequent reinvestment and bottom line growth was evidence that “our long-term strategy is working.”

“Over the last three years, we’ve done lots of difficult things,” Kyncl said, reflecting on the company’s cost cuts, amounting to more than $600 million combined, and its work negotiating updated deals with streaming partners. “There’s a strategy here that was set in motion, and it’s delivering results. And we have an amazing team of executives who are rowing in the same direction.”

Kyncl’s message came days after the unexpected departure of CFO and COO Armin Zerza, whom Kyncl thanked for his “long-lasting” contributions, including sharpening WMG’s focus on “capital allocation, forecasting, and … investor messaging.”

“All of those are deeply institutionalized in our company now, and I’m very confident about them continuing,” Kyncl said, extending thanks to Louis Dickler, WMG’s chief accounting officer who was named acting CFO, and Tom Corson, Warner Records’ co-chairman and COO, who was named COO of WMG the same day as Zerza’s exit was announced..

Earlier this week, WMG released preliminary financial information showing that quarterly revenue rose by 10% to nearly $1.9 billion on an 11% increase in digital revenue, which hit about $1.25 billion. Supporting that digital growth was a 12% increase in recorded music streaming revenue year-over-year to just over $1 billion. Breaking down the 12% increase, acting CFO Dickler said that 6% to 7% came from subscription streaming income, 3.5% came from improved licensing deals with digital streaming partners and 1% came from expanded global market share.

Kyncl praised chief digital officer Carletta Higgins for inking those deals with all of WMG’s major streaming partners, including, most recently, Apple.

WMG’s market share has risen since a corporate reorganization in 2024 brought Elliot Grainge‘s 10K Projects under the Atlantic Music Group umbrella, but Kyncl said that much of its market share gains came after the 10K acquisition. WMG’s current share of the overall U.S. recorded music market, including catalog, rose by around 0.3%, and its share of the market for music released in the last 18 months grew by around 0.8%, according to Luminate.

Kyncl said Stella Lefty’s Billboard Hot 100 top 5 hit “Boston” and Shakira and Burna Boy’s “Dai Dai (FIFA World Cup Official Song 2026),” the first World Cup anthem to top both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts, are the latest hits that contributed to three years of “significant improvement” for WMG’s global market share, which is not publicly available.

In the latter half of 2026, the label expects to release music from Alex Warren, sombr, David Guetta, Ravyn Lanae, Myke Towers, Teddy Swims, and Miley Cyrus.

While WMG does not issue guidance on subscription streaming growth, Dickler said the guidance that the company can achieve high single-digit top-line growth is “obviously … anchored by growth in paid streaming.”

Live Nation Entertainment is building its first venue in São Paulo, partnering with Brazilian urban development group Cidade Center Norte on a 21,000-capacity arena slated to open in 2028.

The project will be developed through a Live Nation-led joint venture with Cidade Center Norte, and will sit within the company’s planned urban living district in the city’s North Zone.

Live Nation says São Paulo Arena will be Brazil’s first purpose-built, world-class arena and the largest indoor live entertainment venue in South America. Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2026.

The economics are substantial. According to projections from Oxford Economics cited by Live Nation, the arena is expected to generate roughly US$159.9 million in direct attendee spending and more than US$311.2 million in total annual economic impact across Brazil by its fifth year of operation, while supporting approximately 1,800 jobs annually. Once operational, the venue is projected to host more than 200 concerts and sporting events a year and draw over 2 million attendees annually.

“São Paulo deserves an arena that reflects the energy, passion and cultural influence of one of the world’s great cities,” Live Nation president/CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement. “São Paulo Arena will be the new home for Brazilian and international artists and the fans who make this city one of the most exciting live entertainment markets.”

Cidade Center Norte CEO Flavio Fernandes called the venue “a dream project coming to life,” framing it as an extension of the company’s commitment to the city’s North Zone alongside its existing malls, exhibition space, hospitality, residential and commercial holdings.

The arena is being designed by Blueprint Studio, Live Nation’s in-house design and development arm, whose credits include Austin’s Moody Center and New York’s Barclays Center. Plans call for three seating levels, a dedicated VIP suite tier, climate control and acoustics engineered to limit noise impact on surrounding neighborhoods, plus a 2,000-space parking garage, rideshare and taxi zones and direct links to major roadways and public transit.

The investment deepens Live Nation’s already significant Brazilian footprint. The company promotes tours in the market for artists including Madonna, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Shakira and The Weeknd, alongside Brazilian acts such as Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia and Djavan. It also holds a majority stake in Rock World, the Brazilian company behind Rock in Rio and The Town and the producer of Lollapalooza Brasil.

Broken Hill Mundi Mundi Bash has sold out its 2026 edition, with nearly 15,000 people expected to attend the outback Australian music festival later this month.

The three-day camping festival is set for Aug. 20-22 at Belmont Station on the Mundi Mundi Plains, about 35 km north of Broken Hill in New South Wales.

This year’s lineup includes The Teskey Brothers, Jon Stevens, John Butler, Boy & Bear, Baby Animals, Jessica Mauboy, The Whitlams, Leo Sayer, Tim Finn, Troy Cassar-Daley, Chocolate Starfish, Mi-Sex, Furnace and the Fundamentals, Wendy Matthews, The Radiators, Shane Howard and Fanny Lumsden.

The sellout marks a significant result for the regional destination event, which organizers say has reached capacity less than a month out from showtime despite broader cost-of-living pressures and higher travel costs affecting discretionary spending.

“It’s exciting to announce that we’re at capacity — with nearly 15,000 people set to rock the Outback this month,” Greg Donovan, festival founder and managing director of the Outback Music Festival Group, said in a statement. “Thousands of these travellers are already hitting the road and going to join us for our new Lightfest event that will be staged on the streets of Broken Hill in the week leading into the Mundi Mundi Bash.”

For Outback Music Festival Group, the 2026 result extends a sellout streak for the event, which launched during a difficult period for Australia’s live sector and has built its audience around destination travel, camping culture and multi-generational Australian music programming.

“We launched the Mundi Mundi Bash during very tough times for events,” Donovan said. “We survived the Covid years consistently selling out the event, and this year it’s been the fuel crisis and tough economic times that have impacted consumer spending. And yet here we are — announcing a sellout of our biggest event yet.”

He added, “We’re incredibly grateful for our audience who choose to spend their time and money with us, we’re going to repay that support with an incredible party in the desert later this month.”

The 2026 edition will also expand the event’s footprint beyond the festival site with Lightfest, a free prelude event staged in the streets of Broken Hill in the week before the Bash. The three-night activation will feature a large-scale drone light show and street programming for both locals and incoming festivalgoers.

Lightfest is part of the Transport for NSW Open Streets Program: Foundation Events 2026-27, which is designed to bring activity into streets across New South Wales. The program forms part of the NSW Government’s Vibrant Streets Package.

Another new addition is Bash Choir, which replaces the festival’s previous Nutbush world-record attempt. Taking place Friday, Aug. 21, the choir event will see thousands of attendees gather in the main concert area to learn and perform Tina Turner’s “The Best” — often referred to as “Simply the Best” — in a nod to the festival’s previous Tina Turner-linked Nutbush tradition. The activation will raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Other off-stage programming includes the Big Blue Day map of Australia world-record attempt, raising funds for Beyond Blue; the Mundi Undie Run, also raising funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service; Mad Max dress-up; camel and helicopter rides; comedy; morning yoga on the plains; and dunny door painting.

The all-ages, dog-friendly and BYO festival is aimed at families, grey nomads, camping and caravanning travelers and destination-event audiences. Ticket holders can bring their own food and alcohol, with food vendors and non-alcoholic beverages also available on site.

The Broken Hill Mundi Mundi Bash is supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and events agency, Destination NSW.

The SOCAN Polaris Song Prize has revealed its second-ever short list.

This year’s edition features songs by Angine de Poitrine, Charlotte Cornfield, PUP, Patrick Watson & Martha Wainwright and Charlotte Day Wilson, featuring Saya Gray.

In partnership with the performing rights organization Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), the winner of the Prize will receive $10,000 split between the song’s Canadian performers and the credited Canadian songwriter(s).

The recipient will be revealed alongside the Polaris Music Prize and the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize at the concert and award ceremony at Massey Hall on Sept. 22, hosted by musician and broadcaster Odario Williams.

Here is this year’s short list:

“Sometimes, a song is so powerful it stands on its own and demands to be heard, and the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize Short List honours five such unforgettable Canadian songs,” said Jennifer Brown, CEO of SOCAN.

The short list selections were whittled down from a 20-song long list that included tracks from Begonia, Les Louanges, Aquakultre, Rochelle Jordan and more.

Of the five short-listed artists, two have secured their spot on the Polaris Music Prize album short list: Angine de Poitrine’s Vol. II, and Charlotte Cornfield’s Hurts Like Hell.

Since its inception, both the long list and the short list have been curated and voted on by a 205-person Canada-wide Polaris Music Prize jury, spanning music critics, academics, journalists and other relevant industry members. In its inaugural edition, the prize was awarded to Mustafa’s “Gaza is Calling.”

In an interview about the Polaris organization’s recent changes, executive director Amber Still told Billboard Canada that the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize was created to acknowledge “a whole new group of artists” who weren’t necessarily releasing full albums or bodies of work.

It’s the organization’s first new award since the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, introduced in 2015 to award albums released before the Polaris Music Prize launched in the mid 2000s. Past winners include Alanis Morrisette, Peaches and Beverly Glenn-Copeland — the latter two of whom are on this year’s Polaris Music Prize album short list, with their respective albums No Lube So Rude and Laughter In Summer.

Read more here. — Heather Taylor-Singh

SOCAN Acquires Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA)

Two Canadian music rights organizations are coming together to bring the distribution of performance and mechanical royalties under one umbrella.

SOCAN is acquiring the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA).

The Canadian company dedicated to the administration of performance rights is set to purchase the CMRRA, which has handled the distribution of reproduction rights in Canada for over five decades. SOCAN has made an agreement for acquisition from current owner, neighbouring rights company SoundExchange. The CMRRA, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, was purchased by SoundExchange in 2017.

“Bringing CMRRA and SOCAN together is an investment in the future of Canadian music. United, we’ll strengthen rights administration for publishers, songwriters and composers.” Jennifer Brown, CEO of SOCAN, tells Billboard Canada. “We’re grateful for SoundExchange’s leadership, and we’re excited to work with CMRRA to shape the next chapter of how music rights are supported and delivered.”

Both SOCAN and the CMRRA are key players in the licensing and rights distribution fields, helping to fairly distribute hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties to their members. Last year, SOCAN reached an all-time revenue record of $587 million, distributing over $511 million to its rightsholders. Meanwhile, CMRRA distributed $94 million in royalties to its clients, celebrating its 50th anniversary while also welcoming 477 new client affiliations.

SOCAN CMO Cameron Kennedy and CMRRA president Paul Shaver both landed on the Billboard Canada Power Players 2026 list this year, earning their spot among the most powerful and influential executives in the Canadian music business.

The acquisition of CMRRA marks a major centralization of performance and reproduction rights under one umbrella, uniting two leaders in the broader rights handling sector. SOCAN has been dealing with CMRRA for nearly a decade, since acquiring the SODRAC in 2018 (Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada). SOCAN is now set to own the biggest handler of reproduction rights, adding to its own stewardship of public and performance rights.

“When SoundExchange acquired CMRRA nearly a decade ago, we saw an opportunity to strengthen its foundation, invest in its future, and enhance the services it provides to music publishers and songwriters,” says Michael Huppe, president and CEO of SoundExchange. “Together, SoundExchange and CMRRA have built a strong, innovative and thriving organization. We are proud of the progress achieved and believe SOCAN is the right organization to build on that success. This transaction benefits creators, publishers and the broader music community while allowing SoundExchange to continue advancing our core mission of delivering value to artists and rights owners around the world.”

Read more here. — Stefano Rebuli

BE:FIRST boasts a dozen No. 1s on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, played its first stadium concerts this past spring and has a world tour set for the fall. Now, the group is officially unveiling the first step in its effort to rise to greater prominence in the U.S. market.

With the release of its new single, “BRUCE WAYNE,” the J-pop band is revealing its new U.S. distribution partnership with The Orchard, along with hello82 for physical distribution, Tom Windish at THE·TEAM for touring outside Asia, and ex-AVEX USA CEO Naoki Osada‘s Nebula17 for A&R and marketing initiatives.

“BRUCE WAYNE,” BE:FIRST’s first release under its Orchard deal, is a swaggering, Atlanta hip-hop–indebted single produced by ATL Jacob and featuring Flo Milli, with lyrics by Starrah (Rihanna, Drake, Camila Cabello), Taylor Ross (Normani, Pitbull, Bebe Rexha) and the group’s executive producer SKY-HI, who is also CEO of the group’s Japanese music label BMSG. The track feels in line with some of the group’s harder hits, including 2023’s sleek and synth-y “Mainstream” and the anthemic “BE:FIRST ALL DAY” and its B-side “Rondo,” released in the spring.

“BRUCE WAYNE” is the lead single from WATCH ME, which the group describes as its first “global” EP, slated to arrive on Sept. 18. The set will also include a track featuring BIA as well as production from Tommy “TBHits” Brown.

While three of BE:FIRST’s members did recently carve out a trip to the World Cup final (“I love Messi,” youngest member Ryuhei says), the group is largely in discipline mode to meet arguably its biggest global moment yet. Over a video call from Los Angeles on Friday (July 31), group members Manato, Ryuhei, Sota, Junon, Shunto and Leo are quick to clarify that they have not been sightseeing but have instead spent their days taking English-language lessons, rehearsing choreography and undergoing media training with their new U.S. partners.

This weekend, BE:FIRST heads to Phoenix to perform at the 2026 World Hip-Hop Dance Championship (the same competition BE:FIRST member Sota won four different times), before playing Head in the Clouds in Los Angeles on Aug. 8. The group’s upcoming world tour, its second, launches in September, with two shows slated in New York.

“No time to play, basically,” Manato says with a laugh.

Formed on Japan’s 2021 singing competition THE FIRST, BE:FIRST has been mapping out its current global push years in advance as part of its annual goal-setting summits, the members tell Billboard.

The run-up has already included two collaborations with K-pop chart-conquerors ATEEZ (plus an opening slot at that group’s 2024 Los Angeles stadium shows) and a hit Janet Jackson remix released after the American pop icon played four dates across Japan this year (BE:FIRST and Jackson’s collaborative “Doesn’t Really Matter (Remix)” hit No. 12 on the Japan Hot 100 in June, while its video has earned 7.9 million YouTube views to date).

“Our entire team is giving absolutely everything we’ve got to bring you the absolute best version of BE:FIRST and share their music with the world,” SKY-HI shared in an exclusive statement with Billboard. “Please look forward to what’s to come.”

Below, read more from Billboard‘s exclusive interview with the group, spoken in a mix of English and Japanese, with members’ Japanese responses translated.

You’ve made some moves to collaborate beyond Japan via the K-pop market: Janet Jackson, Jonas Blue. Why was this the right time to go bigger?

Shunto: Every year, SKY-HI and the members hold a meeting where we set goals — “by such-and-such year, we want to be doing such-and-such.” This [upcoming] year is our fifth, so there had been discussions that starting from the fifth anniversary, we’d push to further [our] worldwide presence and exposure. At that stage, we couldn’t yet picture the songs or what this would look like, but it’s been in the works for us. So, now that that’s arrived, we’ve been pushing and polishing ourselves — mentally, but also in practical ways too, like going to language school. All of it is an accumulation of work that we’ve done, and now we’ve sort of arrived at the right time to put things in a different gear.

Let’s talk about “BRUCE WAYNE.” You’ve got Flo Milli, you’ve got ATL Jacob. How did the song come about, and why was it the right introduction to this new chapter?

Manato: I was in the same studio with ATL Jacob and Starrah in January. Actually, I was a fan of him. We also love Future, Atlanta hip-hop itself, and we kind of have an Atlanta sound style ourselves, so we were very excited to record the song. We gave some directions, like how we wanted a more dark sound, so we went back and forth. It’s not the typical kind of hip-hop; it’s like a luxurious style of hip-hop. We can easily sing the words. Also, all of us — but especially Manato — like Batman. [Laughs.] It feels like our “destiny song.”

Was Flo Milli attached from the beginning or did she record her part later?

Leo: It came together partway through — once the track was made, we searched [for a feature]. I think ATL Jacob shared it and she really loved the song. And we loved it, so we were like, “Let’s go!”

This leads off WATCH ME, which is being described as your first global EP. What does that sound like and what do you want it to say to listeners?

Ryuhei: Rather than targeting one specific culture or sound, we pursue whatever fits the things we love and think are genuinely cool — and that will create our own style. So, this album has a lot of genres and styles packed into it. But for each genre we settled on, we wanted the idea that “only BE:FIRST can do this” as the core, and we pushed the quality as far as it could go. Compared to our last releases, we were that much more focused and concentrated to make it a really quality album.

Does it feel like there are still barriers for Japanese artists trying to cross over into the Western markets?

Sota: There’s a real focal point on calling it a “global EP” for us. We can be seen as a dance team with a layer of hip-hop, singing in Japanese as a Japanese boy band. That is who we are, but we want to be seen not just as a Japanese boy band. I think the EP really defines what that means. Rather than keeping it contained within Japan, we want it to finally go out into the world. It’s about time.

Sota: The biggest thing is that the trends and the culture — around the world, in specific parts in Asia, even just in America or the music industry — we don’t know them the way we know Japan. America is a big country. What we don’t know, we don’t know — sometimes it’s even like that in Japan. How much will the things that we believe are good actually be accepted? That’s the barrier we hit, and not being able to break that wall feels a little challenging and difficult. But what we don’t want to do is make any kind of creative sacrifice or bend in order to go global; that would make going global meaningless. So, it comes down to how much we can raise what we want to do — in terms of quality, in musical value — put it out and have it recognized as something that’s uniquely us as BE:FIRST. On that, we can’t compromise. That’s what’s most important for us.

Leo, you mentioned being in the studio, and I know several of the members write on songs. How are you all creatively involved so you don’t lose that identity?

Manato: We build together. That’s our style. On one Japanese release, four members might do the co-writing; on another, three. Rather than one member being in charge of something, everyone participates, brings their best parts, and everyone’s identity feeds into it.

You did a remix with Janet Jackson when she came to Japan, and also have recorded two songs with ATEEZ and opened their Los Angeles shows. What did you take from these experiences?

Sota: From start to finish, [collaborating with Janet Jackson] was like a dream come true — that’s the number one thing; it was a really big moment for us. But in terms of what we learned as artists, singing and dancing is the single most important thing about BE:FIRST, and to see up close a legend who still treats both as essential and strives for perfection — it made me feel like we’re on the right path. That’s the reputation we’re going for too. Honestly, when you’re a group, people tend to focus on one or the other, but there’s a chemical reaction that comes from doing both singing and dancing. Seeing and feeling that up close, my respect grew enormously, and so did my gratitude that she keeps doing it.

Junon: After our own opening set, we got to watch ATEEZ’s show and took it all in as any member of the audience. There was a side of them, fully immersed in the performance, with such an incredible force that you can’t imagine from how they normally are. It’s an originality only they can produce. Watching it made us want to push the things that make us stand out.

Do you have any Billboard chart goals you want to put out there as you start this new era?

Leo: Be first.

Manato: Yeah!

Sota: Yeah, BE:FIRST will be first.