From Chance the Rapper’s courtroom revelations to Live Nation’s DOJ settlement… it’s MBW’s weekly round-up

This week, the civil trial between Chance the Rapper and his former manager Patrick Corcoran continued in Illinois. MBW reported on seven revelations from the courtroom so far.

Meanwhile, Concord acquired prominent London-based independent label Ninja Tune, expanding its presence in the UK and Europe.

Elsewhere, there was big news from Universal Music Nordics, a division of Universal Music Central Europe, which unveiled a new structure, unifying its operations across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Baltics under a new ‘One Nordic’ model.

Also this week, Live Nation confirmed details of its settlement with the US Department of Justice – around a week into the antitrust trial that had threatened to break up the company.

And a group of independent musicians and songwriters sued Google, accusing the company of training its new Lyria 3 music-generation model on copyrighted recordings pulled from YouTube without permission or payment.

Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…

1. CHANCE THE RAPPER VS. PAT THE MANAGER TRIAL: SEVEN REVELATIONS FROM THE COURTROOM SO FAR

The civil trial between Chancelor Bennett (Chance the Rapper) and his former manager Patrick Corcoran is now well underway in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois — a case MBW has been covering since 2020.

At the heart of the dispute is an oral agreement that Corcoran says he struck with Bennett in 2013, entitling him to 15% of net profits across all income streams and including a three-year post-termination sunset clause.

Corcoran is seeking $3.8 million in unpaid commissions. Bennett does not dispute the 15% arrangement but denies ever agreeing to a sunset clause, and has countersued, alleging that Corcoran breached his fiduciary duties and leveraged the Chance brand for personal enrichment.

MBW has obtained transcripts of the testimony. Here are seven key moments from the first week… (MBW)

2. CONCORD ACQUIRES UK-BASED INDIE LABEL NINJA TUNE RECORDS

Concord has acquired prominent London-based independent label Ninja Tune, expanding its presence in the UK and Europe.

The companies disclosed the transaction on Thursday (March 12).

The deal brings Ninja Tune’s recorded music operations and its publishing arm, Just Isn’t Music, under Concord’s umbrella. The catalog includes songs released by the label and works from artists including The Prodigy, Soulwax and Nova Twins… (MBW)

3. UNIVERSAL MUSIC NORDICS RESTRUCTURES, UNIFYING UNITS IN DENMARK, NORWAY, SWEDEN, FINLAND, AND BALTICS UNDER ‘ONE NORDIC’ MODEL

Universal Music Nordics, a division of Universal Music Central Europe, has unveiled a new operational structure.

The company’s units in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Baltics will unify under what Universal has dubbed the ‘One Nordic‘ model. The new structure sees Universal replace its traditional country-based leadership model in the Nordics with what it describes as “one unified, cross-Nordic setup”.

Joakim Johansson, President Universal Music Nordic Region, will continue to lead the unified region, reporting to Frank Briegmann, Chairman & CEO Universal Music Central Europe and Deutsche Grammophon… (MBW)

4. LIVE NATION CONFIRMS SETTLEMENT WITH THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE; SETS ASIDE $280M FOR DAMAGES CLAIMS FROM STATES

Live Nation Entertainment has confirmed details of its settlement with the US Department of Justice in the antitrust lawsuit that had threatened to break up the company. The deal allows Live Nation to retain ownership of its ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster.

The settlement, first reported by Politico, comes around a week into a trial that had been expected to last five to six weeks.

The company said in a press release on Monday (March 9) that the settlement “resolves all remaining matters with the DOJ, without any admission of wrongdoing”, and will be reflected in a final proposed judgment submitted to the court for approval. Live Nation noted that a portion of the original claims were dismissed by the court before trial began… (MBW)

5. INDIE ARTISTS SUE GOOGLE, CLAIMING IT MINED MUSIC FROM YOUTUBE TO TRAIN LYRIA 3 AI MUSIC TOOL

A group of independent musicians and songwriters sued Google last Friday (March 6), accusing the company of training its new Lyria 3 music-generation model on copyrighted recordings pulled from YouTube without permission or payment.

The lawsuit came over two weeks after Google announced the launch of Lyria 3 on February 18, describing it as the ‘most advanced’ generative AI music model yet. The model operates within Google’s Gemini chatbot app, allowing users to create 30-second tracks from text prompts or images.

Lyria 3 was developed by Google DeepMind, the tech giant’s AI research division, and is the latest iteration of its generative music technology… (MBW)