Sadly, the industry lost a giant this week — Clive Davis at 94 — and we’re still absorbing the weight of it. The Senate moved on AI voice protection, the publisher/AI battle lines sharpened, a historic label relaunched, a hardware brand became a record label, the cue-sheet infrastructure that drives audiovisual royalties just got modernized, and across the pond in France, two of the most important sync convenings of the year are running side by side. Plus a few items from earlier in the month, we want to make sure you didn’t miss. Here’s your 60-second catch-up.

🌟 Clive Davis

Clive Davis dies at 94. The legendary music executive — former President of Columbia Records, founder of Arista Records and J Records — died peacefully at his Manhattan home on Monday, June 22. Over an unparalleled six-decade career, Davis signed, mentored, and revitalized generations of icons from Whitney Houston and Bruce Springsteen to Aretha Franklin, Carlos Santana and Alicia Keys. He remained Chief Creative Officer at Sony Music Entertainment through the end. The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU continues his teaching legacy.

Davis built the foundational pop, rock, and R&B publishing and master catalogs that anchor the modern global sync licensing ecosystem. But the catalogs are only half the story. He was one of the last of the great music men — an executive who came up when this was a relationship business and made sure it stayed one, even as the industry reinvented itself around him three or four times over. The posts pouring in from artists, songwriters, and executives all carry the same throughline: he listened, he fought for what he believed in, and he made the people he worked with better—a mentor in the truest sense, and a generational figure who will be deeply missed.

🌟 Bobby Prince

Gaming pioneer Bobby Prince dies at 81. The iconic composer behind seminal 1990s scores including Doom, Doom II, and Wolfenstein 3D passed away on June 16. His heavy-metal MIDI soundtracks pioneered dynamic, interactive audio in gaming media — work that was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry earlier this year. The catalog he leaves behind will keep getting placed, covered, and remixed for decades.

Before Prince, video game music was a novelty. After him, it was a craft. Working under brutal technical constraints — a handful of MIDI channels, severely limited memory, no orchestral budget — he proved that game scoring could carry the same emotional and atmospheric weight as anything on screen. A former practicing attorney who taught himself composition, Prince was the rare figure who built a foundational catalog without ever chasing the spotlight. The composers shaping today's prestige game audio — Mick Gordon, Gareth Coker, the entire FromSoftware school — all owe him a debt, and most of them have said so. His catalog will keep getting placed, covered, and remixed for decades. The field lost one of its quiet architects.

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Sync Economics — The Big Number

• U.S. publishing revenue hit $7.3B in 2025; sync represented 24%. Per NMPA data released at its June 10 annual meeting: performance royalties at 52%, sync at 24%, mechanicals at 19%, other at 5%. Total publishing revenue more than tripled from $2.17B in 2014. Why it matters: Sync isn’t niche anymore — it’s nearly a quarter of U.S. publishing revenue. Treat it like a core business, not bonus money. For any publisher, library, or rightsholder, this is the bullet to forward to anyone still treating sync as secondary.

• UMG Q1 2026 sync revenue jumped 15.3% YoY. Universal Music Publishing Group's synchronization revenue reached $79.6 million in Q1 2026, up 15.3% in constant currency, driven explicitly by advertising, trailers, and motion picture income. Total UMPG revenue grew 7.0% in constant currency for the quarter; sync was the standout growth line. Why it matters: The world's largest publisher is reporting that ad, trailer, and film demand are not just holding — they're accelerating. The macro story behind the NMPA's 24% figure is being verified in real-time at the biggest balance sheet in the business.

Catalog + Deal Flow

Riley Green renews with Warner Chappell Music Nashville. Long-term global publishing renewal closed June 15 on the back of the country star’s multi-platinum momentum and 2026 ACM nominations, deepening his ties to Big Machine Label Group. A signal of how Nashville majors are locking in long-cycle country catalogs heading into the next sync wave.

Record Labels

Uptown Records relaunches under Republic Collective. Industry veteran Danielle Price Sanders named President of Uptown Records and EVP of Republic Collective; Natina Nimene joins as EVP, Urban Audience & Artist Relations (June 21). The historic catalog — Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, Heavy D, Andre Harrell — re-enters active circulation at its 40th anniversary, with enormous implications for TV, period film, and brand sync over the next 24 months.

Bose launches Bose Studios and Bose Records. Announced June 17, the audio hardware company is expanding into original content and a record-label model that explicitly does not take artist masters, sales, or streaming revenue — but does retain the right to use the music in Bose commercials. CMO Jim Mollica (formerly Disney, Viacom) is leading. The studio includes a YouTube series, podcasts, live music events, and TV/film projects with reported "legendary Hollywood names." Why it matters: Brands are no longer just sponsors buying tracks for campaigns — they're becoming music-media operators. Bose's "use rights without owning masters" model is a new structural play that could reshape how brand-artist deals are scoped going forward.

Music Publishing

Keli Holiday signs a global admin deal with BMG. The Australian artist-producer (solo project of Peking Duk’s Adam Hyde) inked the exclusive worldwide deal today, June 23, following his viral “Dancing2” and sophomore album Capital Fiction. Sync-friendly catalog with crossover momentum — worth tracking for international film, TV, and ad placements.

Eli Winders signs with Big Loud Publishing. The Nashville-based independent powerhouse added the songwriter-artist on June 17 to its cross-genre roster. Latest in Big Loud’s run of catalog development plays positioned for country-adjacent placements.

Horus Music launches Horus Music Publishing Signature. The independent distributor opened an invitation-only publishing administration and sync licensing tier on June 18, custom-built for film, TV, gaming, and global streaming pitching. Boutique-service positioning in a market increasingly dominated by major-publisher consolidation — a model worth watching.

AI + Technology + Legislation

CISAC launches AVR+ to modernize music tracking in film and TV. Announced June 18, the new machine-readable JSON-schema format — built on the Global Cue Sheet Standard 2.0 developed with IFPI and the Society Publisher Forum — is the first implementation-ready tool for cleaning up how cue sheets get processed across the global audiovisual industry. The launch caps six years of work to fix fragmented, inconsistent, often-incomplete cue sheet data. Why it matters: This is the backend plumbing of the entire sync economy. Better cue-sheet infrastructure means cleaner royalties, fewer missing payments, and a stronger sync back office. Context: CISAC member societies collected $13.63 billion globally in 2024 — and BMI agreed in May to acquire cue-sheet management platform Soundmouse from Orfium, with CEO Mike O’Neill calling audiovisual “one of the fastest-growing sectors of our industry.”

Meta moves to dismiss Wixen's $102M music publishing lawsuit. Meta filed June 20 to knock out Wixen Music Publishing's lawsuit over 681 works, framing it as a failed licensing negotiation rather than broad copyright misconduct. Hearing set for August 3 in the Central District of California. Why it matters: Platform licensing disputes remain one of the hottest sync-adjacent pressure points. The outcome will shape how publishers approach future negotiations with major tech platforms — and how aggressive they can be in court when those negotiations stall.

NO FAKES Act clears Senate Judiciary. The bipartisan Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2026 advanced by unanimous voice vote on June 18, establishing a new federal IP right covering digital replication of voice and visual likeness by generative AI. Backed by the RIAA. The most consequential AI-and-music legislative development of the year so far — and if it clears the full Senate and House, every sync involving a recognizable vocal identity will need explicit, federally-protected consent.

Rewind: NMPA strikes industry-wide AI licensing deals with Udio and KLAY. Worth resurfacing because the news context this week depends on it: at NMPA’s annual meeting on June 10, president and CEO David Israelite announced the first-ever industry-wide AI music licensing deals — with Udio and KLAY — establishing a 50/50 split between songs and recordings on AI training income. That’s a precedent-setting departure from the streaming model, where recordings earn more than 3x what songs do. NMPA members started reviewing the Udio agreement on June 15; the KLAY deal launches later this summer. Israelite also announced an AI Songs Summit in Nashville this fall.

Why we’re circling back: the EMMA-led coalition letter was a direct response to these deals.

Rights + Royalties

31-organization coalition draws a line on AI default opt-ins. The European Music Managers Alliance, alongside the Music Artists Coalition (chaired by Irving Azoff), Songwriters of North America and 28 others issued an open letter on June 22 protesting “default opt-in” terms in AI licensing deals being negotiated by major labels and publishers with platforms like Suno and Udio. Demands: explicit creator consent, full transparency, fair compensation splits. The letter lands directly on the heels of the NMPA’s June 10 Udio/KLAY deals — putting management and creator-side organizations in pointed dialogue with publisher-side deal-makers.

AMM Take: The publisher-side and management-side are now negotiating from different rooms on AI. Watch how that gap closes — or widens — through the back half of summer.

Events: Happening Around the World

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity — June 22–26, Cannes. The 73rd edition, 15,000+ delegates from 100+ countries at the Palais des Festivals. Apple joins the juries for the first time. For the sync business specifically: every major brand, agency, music-supervision house, and creative-tech platform is on the Croisette this week — Spotify Beach, Meta Beach, Amazon Port, the Canva Creative Cabana — and the brand-music briefs scoped here will shape Q3 and Q4 placements.

AMM Take: One of the most important sync weeks of the year. The advertising music briefs scoped this week become the campaigns you'll hear in the second half of 2026.

Annecy International Animation Film Festival + Mifa Market — June 21–27, Annecy, France. The 50th-anniversary edition of the world’s largest animation festival, with the Mifa market running June 23–26. Studio slates being previewed: Illumination (Minions & Monsters, opening film), Pixar (Gatto), Laika (Wildwood), Netflix (Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn; Ghostbusters: Night Shift), Warner Bros./DC (Mister Miracle, Starfire, Creature Commandos). Honorary Cristals to Mike Judge and the Brothers Quay. Also notable: a working session on the foundations for a white paper on AI in animation.

AMM Take: Animation has quietly become a top-three growth lane for screen scoring and song placement alongside gaming and themed entertainment.

AMM Editorial Disclaimer: AMM content is intended for informational and educational purposes using publicly available sources, industry announcements, interviews, and reports believed to be reliable at the time of publication. If any information requires correction or updating, please contact us.

OPENING NOTE 🎼

Last week’s headlines all point to the same reality: rights are getting more valuable, but the systems surrounding those rights may become just as important as the catalogs themselves. Here’s what mattered.

THE BIG NUMBER

NMPA: U.S. Music Publishing Reaches $7.3 Billion

The National Music Publishers’ Association reported that U.S. music publishing revenue climbed to $7.3 billion in 2025, marking the fourth consecutive year publishing growth outpaced recorded music.

Why it matters:

As publishing revenues continue to expand, competition over how those dollars are distributed is becoming increasingly intense. For sync professionals, healthy publishing economics continue to reinforce the long-term value of rights ownership.

RIGHTS + REVENUE

Spotify and Amazon Bundle Strategy Remains a Flashpoint

The NMPA estimates that streaming bundle structures introduced since 2024 have reduced publisher and songwriter revenue by roughly $500 million.

Why it matters:

While sync fees are not affected directly, pressure on mechanical royalties makes premium licensing revenue even more important. In a tighter royalty environment, sync remains one of the few areas where rights holders can still negotiate value.

PUBLISHING

UMPG Launches Publishing 101

Universal Music Publishing Group officially launched its new creator education series today, designed to explain publishing administration, royalties, A&R, and sync licensing to emerging creators.

Why it matters:

As publishing becomes more sophisticated, education itself becomes a competitive advantage. The companies helping creators understand rights may ultimately strengthen their own long-term ecosystems.

AI + RIGHTS INFRASTRUCTURE

Warner Music’s Sureel Acquisition Continues to Ripple

Now that the initial announcement has settled, the significance of Warner Music Group’s acquisition of Sureel AI is becoming clearer.

The platform’s “AI DNA” technology tracks musical attribution, provenance, and how AI models interact with copyrighted works.

Why it matters:

Future AI disputes, derivative works, voice cloning, and licensing workflows may depend heavily on infrastructure platforms like these.

CAPITAL + DEAL FLOW

Mount Duke Capital Expands Into Music IP

Miami-based advisory firm Mount Duke Capital announced a strategic partnership with Creative Rights, opening the door for increased institutional investment into music assets.

Why it matters:

Private equity, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds continue to view music rights as a stable long-term asset class.

AWARDS CIRCUIT

Canadian Sync Awards Celebrate Music-for-Picture Excellence

The Guild of Music Supervisors Canada hosted its annual Sound + Vision Conference and Sync Awards in Toronto, recognizing the creative teams behind some of the year’s strongest screen projects.

Among the productions receiving top recognition were Heated Rivalry, Shoresy, and The Office Movers.

Why it matters:

Canadian productions continue to grow in global influence, and the supervisors behind those projects are increasingly shaping international music discovery and licensing trends.

STILL ON OUR RADAR

Primary Wave + Donna Summer Estate

The newly announced partnership covering Donna Summer’s recordings, publishing assets, and NIL rights remains one of the most important catalog stories of the summer.

Seeker Music Acquires Nu Shooz

As “I Can’t Wait” approaches its 40th anniversary, Seeker Music is preparing new sync and digital campaigns around the catalog.

Sony’s Recognition Music Integration

Sony Music Publishing’s absorption of Recognition Music Group continues to reshape the catalog marketplace.

UMPG Rebrand

Universal’s new visual identity and positioning strategy officially entered its next phase with today’s Publishing 101 launch.

AMM TAKE

In 2026, infrastructure may be the new catalog.

Ownership still matters. But the companies building systems for attribution, education, rights management, and AI may ultimately determine where the next wave of value is created.

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Editorial Disclaimer

AMM content is intended for editorial, informational, and educational purposes using publicly available sources, industry announcements, interviews, and reports believed to be reliable at the time of publication. If any information requires correction or updating, please contact us. If any information needs to be updated or corrected, please contact us: americanmm.news @ gmail.com

Playback: Sync in 60 is produced by American Music Media. Questions, news, tips, submissions: https://bit.ly/AMMNewsDesk

We hope you're having a great week!

A note on two converging currents this week: Primary Wave’s Donna Summer deal and WMG’s Sureel acquisition, read together, tell you something about where catalog strategy is going. Legacy catalogs are getting more valuable — but only if you can prove provenance, manage AI attribution, and connect rights to active media opportunities. The publishers and platforms building that infrastructure now are positioning for a rights landscape that will look very different in five years.

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THE BIG STORY

Primary Wave Lands Donna Summer

Primary Wave Music announced a full partnership with the Estate of Donna Summer — covering her award-winning catalog, recordings, and name, image, and likeness rights. The play is aggressive: Primary Wave’s full publishing infrastructure will now pursue new sync, film, television, marketing, and branding opportunities across a catalog that includes 17 studio albums (three Billboard 200 #1s) and some of the most sample-friendly, sync-ready material in pop history. Think “I Feel Love,” “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls.” Queen of Disco is officially back in active play. With Primary Wave having recently raised $2.2B for catalog investments and its acquisition of Kobalt still pending close, this deal signals the independent publisher is in full empire-building mode.

THE AI STORY THAT ACTUALLY MATTERS

Warner Music Buys Sureel AI

WMG dropped one of the more consequential AI moves of the year on June 10: the acquisition of Sureel AI, a multi-patented attribution platform whose core product creates what it calls “AI DNA” for every song — breaking works into component parts and tracing how AI models use those elements. Sureel also runs a growing NIL attribution suite that tracks voice clones, AI-generated avatars, and style replication. WMG CEO Robert Kyncl framed it plainly: the creative community needs to remain in control of its IP. Sureel will operate as a standalone platform. The deal follows WMG’s earlier licensing agreement with Suno and signals a clear strategic shift — from resistance to infrastructure. For the sync and licensing community, the implications are direct: rights provenance, AI compliance reporting, and creator attribution are becoming hard infrastructure, not aspirational goals.

PUBLISHING

UMPG Goes Public With Its Purpose

Universal Music Publishing Group rolled out a full rebrand on June 9 — new logo, new visual identity, new positioning language built around the cultural importance of songwriters. The creative work came from agency GrandArmy. Alongside the visual refresh, UMPG announced Publishing 101, a short-form video series debuting June 16 designed to demystify sync licensing, A&R, royalties, and publishing administration for creators. It’s a smart content play: education as brand-building in an era when independent artists are increasingly making publishing decisions without infrastructure support.

Andrew Jenkins Steps Down at UMPG Asia Pacific

After nearly two decades, Andrew Jenkins has departed as President of UMPG’s Asia Pacific Region. During his tenure Jenkins worked closely with legacy catalogs including the Bee Gees, The Cure, and Alanis Morissette, and served as Chair of the International Confederation of Music Publishers. Big institutional footprint — worth watching who steps into that seat.

UMG Raises $1.15B in Bond Offering

Universal Music Group priced a $1.15 billion senior unsecured bond split equally into two tranches — maturing in 2030 and 2036. The raise came within days of Pershing Square (Bill Ackman’s fund) fully exiting its UMG position via a roughly $1.54 billion share placement. Capital access remains strong; shareholder composition is shifting.

CATALOG

Seeker Music Acquires Nu Shooz

Independent publisher Seeker Music, led by CEO Evan Bogart, acquired full master and publishing rights to the catalog of 1980s synthpop duo Nu Shooz — best known for “I Can’t Wait,” a track now celebrating its 40th anniversary. The stated strategy is straightforward: revitalize sync and digital placement potential for a catalog that has serious nostalgic currency across advertising, gaming, and streaming playlist culture. 40-year anniversaries have a way of opening doors.

SYNC / SUPERVISION

Jen Malone on the Record

Music supervisor Jen Malone — whose credits include Atlanta, Euphoria, and Beef — has been in the spotlight this awards cycle for her work on FX’s Love Story, the Ryan Murphy series following the romance of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Malone’s process: build a master playlist organized by year (1991, 1992, etc.) and work outward from personal favorites. Key clears for the season include Peter Gabriel’s “Blood of Eden,” Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work,” and Lenny Kravitz’s “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over.” The show is an active Emmy contender, and Malone’s work is part of the conversation. For supervisors watching the season, it’s a case study in period-authentic music strategy.

TECHNOLOGY / INFRASTRUCTURE

OnChain Music Launches Unified Sync + Distribution Platform

CEO Ben Kopec’s OnChain Music announced a platform integrating independent distribution, sync licensing, and Content ID management on June 9. The sync infrastructure is the piece worth watching: independent artists can pitch directly to active music requests from film and TV supervisors, with blockchain-based processing for instant licensing fee payouts in stablecoins. It’s early infrastructure, but the direction — removing middlemen between indie catalogs and active briefs — is where the market is heading.

GAMING / LIVE

Game Music Festival 2026 Kicks Off in London

The Game Music Foundation launched the London leg of Game Music Festival 2026 on June 6 with an orchestral concert celebrating the 30th anniversary of Diablo, performed by the London Mozart Players. The broader festival includes appearances from composers Hitoshi Sakimoto, Austin Wintory, Darren Korb, and Shoji Meguro. Game music’s ongoing ascension as a concert-hall art form continues — and the sync implications for catalog legitimacy are real.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

• Jean-Sébastien Permal exits Sony Music (VP of A&R, Continental Europe & Africa) → joins Warner Music as SVP of A&R, EMEA and Central Europe, based in Germany. Overseeing Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

  

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• Jeff Stempeck joins Stem as VP of A&R and Label Partnerships. Former three-year tenure at TikTok’s SoundOn. Concurrent promotions: Alison Junker and Chris Allen elevated to VP of Artist & Label Relations at Stem.

  

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• Billboard’s 2026 Indie Power Players list was published during Indie Week in New York. AMPED Distribution’s Dean Tabaac, Jocelynn Pryor, and Pip Smith all honored — the company saw a 39% year-over-year revenue increase in independent retail channels.

Editorial Disclaimer: AMM content is intended for editorial, informational, and educational purposes using publicly available sources, industry announcements, interviews, and reports believed to be reliable at the time of publication. If any information requires correction or updating, please contact us:
americanmm.news @ gmail.com

Playback: Sync in 60 is produced by American Music Media. Questions, news, tips, submissions: https://bit.ly/AMMNewsDesk

Happy Friday from AMM.

The Croisette is buzzing, the Stanley Cup chase has a new soundtrack, and the rights-and-royalties world just fired a warning shot heard from the auction house to the federal government. It was a week about ownership — who holds the catalog, who scores the moment, and who pays to use the music. Grab a coffee; here’s your weekend rundown.

🔥 AMM hot takes

🔥 Blumberg signs to UMPG + 45RPM.

Blumberg signs to UMPG + 45RPM. Universal Music Publishing Group announced Thursday it has signed The Brutalist Oscar winner Daniel Blumberg to a global deal, struck jointly with sync-and-supervision partner 45RPM Music Publishing and landing him in UMPG’s Classics & Screen division. It’s a reunion — 45RPM co-founder Ayla Owen first signed Blumberg years ago at Warner Chappell. A marquee screen-composer capture for the venture. (More in Spotlight.)

🔥 Jelly Roll scores the playoffs.

The NHL and Amazon Music announced Thursday that Jelly Roll will provide the official 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs theme, “Rise Up” — an Amazon Music Original featured in broadcasts, in-arena, and across NHL channels, debuting during Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. A textbook artist-meets-league sync-and-branding play. (More in Featured Campaign.)

🔥 Peanuts music owner goes to court.

Lee Mendelson Film Productions filed four copyright suits Wednesday over alleged unlicensed use of Vince Guaraldi’s Peanuts compositions — naming a video-game publisher, an auction house, a belt-maker, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. A pointed reminder that “iconic” doesn’t mean “free.” (More in Behind the Brief.)

🔥 Cannes turns up the volume on composers.

The Marché du Film’s Spot the Composer (7th edition, with SACEM) and a new Composers on the Rise pilot ran through the festival (May 13–24), pairing film composers with directors hunting for scores. Cannes isn’t only a sales market anymore — it’s increasingly a scoring marketplace.

🔥 Two soundtracks, one Boroughs.

Netflix Music dropped John Paesano’s score for the supernatural series “The Boroughs” on May 21, while Legacy Recordings released a companion songs album the same day. The dual-album rollout — score on one label, songs on another — is fast becoming the default streaming-launch playbook (see also: Off Campus last week).

🔥 Djawadi rides again.

Amazon released the soundtrack to Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War on May 20, scored by Ramin Djawadi with Andrew Bernstein and William Marriott — extending one of the most reliable franchise-scoring partnerships in streaming.

👀 AMM worth watching

👀 Sync-forward publishing is the new flex.

Sync-forward publishing is the new flex. Majors are increasingly structuring around screen revenue — dedicated “screen” divisions, sync-and-supervision joint ventures — rather than treating placements as an afterthought. For example, The Blumberg deal landing inside a UMPG division explicitly built around “Classics & Screen,” routed through a dedicated sync-and-supervision partner. Watch which composers get developed inside those lanes.

👀 Theme parks are a scoring frontier.

Theme parks are a real scoring category. Purpose-built, commercially-released themed-entertainment scores are emerging as their own briefs — a growing opportunity for composers and a new catalog class for libraries and publishers to think about. Isle of Berk and the broader Epic Universe rollout, themed-entertainment music is generating real, commercially-released soundtracks.

👀 Catalog re-recordings keep coming.

Reigning Phoenix Music’s The Transformers: The Movie “Reformatted Edition” (re-recorded by Stan Bush, Sebastian Bach and others, out July 24) shows how legacy screen music is being re-cut for fresh masters — a sync-clearance workaround worth watching as classic-catalog prices climb.

👀 Enforcement season for legacy catalogs.

As classic-catalog values climb, expect more aggressive policing of “sound-alike” and unlicensed use — and more catalog re-recordings created to sidestep clearance friction.

🌟 Spotlight feature 🌟

🌟 Daniel Blumberg — composer & artist (newly signed to UMPG / 45RPM)

This week’s biggest screen-composer headline. The London-based Blumberg — former Yuck and Cajun Dance Party frontman turned film composer — won the Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Original Score for Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” in 2025, after an Ivor Novello for Mona Fastvold’s “The World to Come”. His Thursday signing to UMPG and 45RPM (into the Classics & Screen division) reunites him with 45RPM’s Ayla Owen, who first signed him at Warner Chappell. Recent work includes scores for Fastvold’s “The Testament of Ann Lee” and Gianfranco Rosi’s “Below the Clouds”.

What makes Blumberg compelling for AMM readers: he’s a genuine artist-composer hybrid — a Mute Records solo discography, a silverpoint-drawing practice exhibited from Paris to Berlin — who brings an experimental, hands-on recording sensibility to picture. As majors restructure around screen music, signing a composer like Blumberg is a statement about where prestige and sync value intersect.

🌟 Ayla Owen — Managing Director & co-founder, 45RPM Music Publishing

The dealmaker behind the headline. Owen co-founded 45RPM Music Publishing, the venture launched in October 2024 through a strategic partnership between 45RPM and UMPG, and her fingerprints are all over this week’s Blumberg signing — a relationship she originated years earlier at Warner Chappell, where she rose to VP, Sync & Creative Services for Europe by January 2020. Owen represents a specific and increasingly powerful archetype: the sync-and-creative executive who builds a roster around screen relationships, then anchors it to a major’s infrastructure for global reach.

In a year when “Classics & Screen” is becoming a competitive battleground among publishers, Owen is exactly the kind of creative-side architect quietly shaping which composers get developed and where their music lands.

One to know — and to watch as 45RPM’s roster grows.

🥂 Tastemakers

🥂 John Paesano.

Reliable franchise-builder (Marvel’s Daredevil, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Maze Runner) adds Netflix’s “The Boroughs” to a deep résumé, with the score album out this week via Netflix Music.

🥂 Keegan DeWitt.

“The Hearts Beat Loud” and “Friendship” composer’s “Off Campus Season 1” score landed via Milan last week — the score half of the now-standard score-plus-songs streaming combo.

🥂 Eli Keszler.

The percussionist-composer (Pet Shop Days) scored indie Bunnylovr, with the soundtrack out via Deeper Into Movies — a reminder that the experimental-musician-to-screen pipeline keeps widening.

🥂 The Marché du Film “Composers on the Rise” cohort.

Five early-career international composers got one-on-ones with directors, a masterclass, and Roland tooling support at Cannes this year — the festival betting on the next generation of screen scorers.

✍️ The storytellers

✍️ John Powell — composer, How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk (Back Lot Music)

Powell has spent nearly two decades building the sonic identity of How to Train Your Dragon — three animated features, last year’s live-action film, and now an entire Universal Epic Universe land in Orlando. The themed-entertainment score, released this week, is a fascinating storytelling problem: music that has to work not as a linear narrative arc but as an environment guests move through at their own pace, looping seamlessly while still feeling emotionally complete. Powell’s Dragon themes are some of the most hummable in modern animation, and translating them into spatial, experiential scoring is a craft most film composers never touch.

Why his approach matters: as immersive entertainment expands, the composers who can make a theme work both on screen and in a physical space become uniquely valuable — and Powell is writing the playbook in real time.

✍️ Ramin Djawadi — composer, Jack Ryan: Ghost War (Amazon)

Few composers have shaped the sound of prestige streaming like Djawadi (Game of Thrones, Westworld, House of the Dragon), and his ongoing stewardship of the Jack Ryan universe — this week’s Ghost War soundtrack arriving May 20 with collaborators Andrew Bernstein and William Marriott — shows the other side of his craft: the propulsive, geopolitical-thriller mode. Djawadi’s storytelling instinct is rhythmic and architectural; he builds tension through pulse and restraint rather than melody alone, letting the score function almost like a second editor cutting between continents.

For a franchise that lives or dies on momentum, his music is the connective tissue. A masterclass in how recurring-franchise scoring keeps a long-running property feeling urgent.

🎬 Featured release

🎬 “How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk” — Universal Epic Universe (Back Lot Music, May 21)

A genuinely novel release: the original music composed by John Powell for Universal’s new themed land, based on the DreamWorks Animation franchise he’s scored from the beginning. This isn’t a film soundtrack repackaged — it’s purpose-built experiential scoring, designed to live inside a physical space guests walk through.

For AMM readers, it’s a window into one of the fastest-growing and least-discussed corners of screen music: the theme-park score as a standalone, commercially-released body of work. Listen for how Powell’s established Dragon motifs are reshaped to loop, layer, and reward repeat visits rather than resolve in a single sitting.

🎧 Featured campaign

“Rise Up” — Jelly Roll × NHL × Amazon Music (2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs)

Announced Thursday, the Grammy-winning artist’s new Amazon Music Original is the official theme of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs — featured in game broadcasts, in-arena integrations, and across NHL social and digital channels, with a music video (Jelly Roll, the Cup, and league highlights) that debuted during Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. A documentary short featuring NHL stars Jack Eichel and Seth Jarvis follows in June.

For AMM readers, it’s a clean case study in modern sports-media music: an artist-meets-league partnership engineered as a multi-platform branding asset, with the track living exclusively on a single streaming service to drive platform value. The deal pairs marquee-artist energy with postseason urgency — exactly the kind of music-as-brand integration leagues are leaning into harder every season.

💼 Behind the brief

💼 The score-plus-songs split is now standard.

Twice this week — The Boroughs (John Paesano’s score on Netflix Music; songs on Legacy Recordings) and the continued Off Campus rollout (Keegan DeWitt’s score on Milan; an Island “mixtape” songs album days earlier) — productions released score and songs as separate albums on separate labels, dropping in the same window.

The logic: score albums serve the film-music audience and awards consideration, while songs albums work as artist-development and playlist plays, often through a label better positioned for pop promotion.

One project, two catalogs, two audiences — and two revenue lines. Expect this to be the default for any streaming title with both an original score and a curated needle-drop identity.

💼 Behind the brief

💼 “Iconic” doesn’t mean “free.”

Lee Mendelson Film Productions — the family-owned company that has stewarded the Peanuts television/film music catalog since the 1960s — filed four copyright suits Wednesday over alleged unlicensed use of Vince Guaraldi’s compositions and arrangements, including “Linus and Lucy,” “Skating,” and Guaraldi’s arrangement of “O Tannenbaum.”

The defendants are an unusually broad set: video-game publisher GameMill Entertainment (over its 2025 Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club, where the suit alleges sound-alike cues too close to the originals), Heritage Auctions and Buckle-Down over promotional social posts, and the U.S. Department of the Interior over a holiday digital card.

The firm is seeking at least $300,000 from GameMill plus injunctions, with counsel framing it as a stand against an “intolerable digital glut” of unlicensed use. The takeaway for anyone touching beloved catalog: a recognizable melody — even a newly recorded “in the style of” version — can still require clearance, and rights holders are getting more litigious in the social-and-streaming era.

✨ Industry moves

✨Daniel Blumberg signs a global publishing deal with UMPG and 45RPM Music Publishing, joining UMPG’s Classics & Screen division (reuniting with 45RPM’s Ayla Owen).

✨The NHL and Amazon Music partner with Jelly Roll on the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs theme “Rise Up.”

✨John Powell’s How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk themed-land score released via Back Lot Music. Ramin Djawadi (with Andrew Bernstein, William Marriott) scores Jack Ryan: Ghost War via Amazon.

✨ Varèse Sarabande announces deluxe/expanded reissues including Timecop (Mark Isham) and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (John Debney).

✨ Reigning Phoenix Music + Hasbro set a re-recorded The Transformers: The Movie “Reformatted Edition” for July 24.

✨ John Paesano scores Netflix’s The Boroughs (score album via Netflix Music; songs via Legacy).

✨ The Marché du Film runs Spot the Composer (7th edition, with SACEM) and a new Composers on the Rise pilot at Cannes.

➡️ AMM Weekend recommends:

➡️ Listen: John Powell’s How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk (Back Lot Music) — the theme-park score as its own art form

➡️ For the sports crowd: Cue up Jelly Roll’s “Rise Up” against this round’s playoff highlights — then notice how the league threads it through broadcast, arena, and social.

➡️ Djawadi’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War (Amazon)

➡️ Worth a revisit: A Charlie Brown Christmas and the Guaraldi songbook — this week’s lawsuit is a good prompt to appreciate just how much cultural weight a few jazz piano cues can carry (and why their owners guard them).

➡️ John Paesano’s The Boroughs (Netflix Music)

➡️ Keegan DeWitt’s Off Campus Season 1 score (Milan)

➡️ Revisit: Daniel Blumberg’s Oscar-winning The Brutalist score (Milan) and his Testament of Ann Lee soundtrack — essential listening before his next UMPG/45RPM chapter.

➡️ Follow from afar: Cannes 2026’s music programming through May 24 — the Marché du Film’s composer initiatives and the Cannes Soundtrack Award are where next year’s prestige scores get discovered.

➡️ For the crate-diggers: Varèse Sarabande’s Timecop deluxe (Mark Isham) — a reminder that the catalog-reissue world is having a moment, and that re-recorded and expanded scores are quietly reshaping clearance economics.

Editorial Disclaimer: AMM content is intended for editorial, informational, and educational purposes using publicly available sources, industry announcements, interviews, and reports believed to be reliable at the time of publication. If any information requires correction or updating, please contact us.

Welcome — hope you had a great weekend!

Last week opened with Cannes launching in full cinematic fashion: a Beatles cover, a custom Miri Ben-Ari violin score, and the global film business descending on the Croisette. 

Closer to home, the Guild of Music Supervisors gathered Saturday at Position Music in Burbank for its annual Member Summit — another reminder that the sync community continues to organize around relationships, education, and deal flow even as the broader business shifts underneath it.

Meanwhile, consolidation continues to accelerate across music rights. Sony moved to acquire Recognition Music Group, BMG and Concord advanced merger plans, UMG finalized its Downtown Music acquisition, and Pershing Square’s $63.5 billion UMG bid remains active. The larger story: control of high-performing catalogs — and the leverage that comes with them — is concentrating quickly.

On the AI front, the UK’s BPI delivered one of the clearest policy arguments yet for a structured AI licensing economy, while companies across music and tech continued drawing sharper lines between licensed AI training and unlicensed ingestion. At the same time, executive reshuffling continued across publishing, finance, and live representation as companies position for a very different second half of 2026.

AMM WEEKLY PLAYBACK🔥

💰 CATALOG & DEAL FLOW

💰Sony scoops up Recognition

Sony Music Publishing confirmed its agreement Monday to acquire Blackstone’s Recognition Music Group  — the former Hipgnosis Songs Fund catalog of 45,000+ songs,  including “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Single Ladies,” “Under the Bridge,”  “Bad Romance” and “Hallelujah.”  This includes works by Beyoncé, Fleetwood Mac, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eurythmics, and more under SMP’s roof. 

Reported price runs $2B–$4B depending on the outlet. Translation: an enormous chunk of the sync-active classic canon now lives under one roof.

The transaction reunites Recognition with Hipgnosis Songs Group, which SMP bought in 2025  — consolidating what was once the most aggressive independent publishing buyer of the early 2020s under one roof. 

Why it matters: a huge slice of the most-licensed catalog in pop history just moved from a financial owner to a strategic one — expect SMP to push these works harder into sync, brand, and AI-licensing pipelines. 

💰Paramount + Warner Music Group go first-look

A multi-year theatrical deal announced last week opens the WMG catalog — Bowie, Cher, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Charli xcx, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Cardi B and more — for scripted and animated film development through WMG’s Unigram (Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron). No titles have been announced yet, but the deal signals continued studio appetite for music-driven IP development and catalog-based storytelling.

💰WMG sync revenue dips

Warner’s calendar Q1 2026 print showed synchronization revenue at $50M, down 2% YoY at constant currency, even as total revenue grew 12.1%. A small but rare contraction worth watching for pricing pressure signals.

💰BMG buys Jet’s publishing

BMG closed on the publishing interests of Nic Cester, Cam Muncey and Mark Wilson — expanding its 2023 recordings deal. ANZ/SEA president Heath Johns called out Jet’s “global sync track record of the rarest order.”  “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” remains a trailer-house workhorse.

💰Primary Wave x Pete Townshend 

Variety reports a $100M+ partnership covering “certain music rights,” NIL, and future creative projects from The Who co-founder. Larry Mestel’s team is already lining up sync exploitation around “Baba O’Riley,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and the Tommy/Quadrophenia universes.

📡 AI + TECHNOLOGY 

📡 Suno reportedly closing a Series D at a $5B valuation (double its November mark) while ElevenLabs disclosed $500M ARR and an $11B raise alongside BlackRock, NVIDIA’s NVentures, Jamie Foxx and Hwang Dong-hyuk. Eleven Music’s  Merlin/Kobalt licensing posture is making it the most “supervision-safe” option of the bunch.

📡 Sony’s pending summer fair-use ruling against Suno and Udio is the next major shoe to drop — and the BPI report has now given UK policy a clean script to follow regardless of outcome.

📡 The BPI released a major new report on May 14, “Driving UK Growth: The Role of Licensing Music in the Age of AI,” arguing the UK is “on the cusp of an AI licensing boom” if the government maintains existing copyright law, mandates transparency of AI training data, and asserts UK legal sovereignty over models deployed in the country. 

The report tallies 274 commercial AI licensing deals struck globally by rightsholders, 26 of them music-specific (with Suno, Udio, Klay Vision, Stability AI, Nvidia, ElevenLabs, Spotify, ElevenLabs, BandLab, Google and others), and finds 16% of BPI indie label members are already exploring AI licensing partnerships, with 77% open to licensing for “ethical use by AI”.

📡 Two new academic studies (Stanford/Reed; Kiel/Hamburg) found listeners engage less and are willing to pay less when music is labeled “AI-composed” — even when the music itself is identical. The findings give the industry some of its first measurable data around consumer skepticism toward AI-generated music and perceived creative value.

📡 Tencent Music’s leadership publicly accused competitors of flooding catalogs with infringing AI content this week — a sharper tone than anything Western majors are saying on the record.

📡 Believe + TuneCore officially partnered with Google’s Flow Music (powered by Lyria 3 Pro), offering generative tools to artists while simultaneously blocking unlicensed AI uploads. The distinction between licensed AI ecosystems and unlicensed ingestion is quickly becoming operational — not theoretical.

💼 RIGHTS + REGULATION + LEGISLATION 

💼 Kanye West lost his legal battle on May 13 over an uncleared sample on a version of his “Donda” track “Hurricane” that was played at one of his 2021 listening parties . Notable for supervisors and brand teams: listening events are not exempt from clearance.

💼 The UK government confirmed in the May 13 King’s Speech that promised ticket-touting ban legislation will only be drafted this year, not passed . Live economics — which fund tour-adjacent sync and brand budgets — remain in limbo.

🎬📺  FILM + TELEVISION 

🎬📺Göransson lands his first Star Wars feature “The Mandalorian and Grogu”

Walt Disney Records released full details for The Mandalorian and Grogu, with Ludwig Göransson scoring his first Star Wars theatrical release. Digital arrives today, followed by a helmet-shaped 10” die-cut vinyl on May 22 and a standard 12” release June 5. One of the week’s highest-profile soundtrack launches.

🎬📺 CBS’s “Marshals” Soundtrack

CBS’s “Marshals” approaches its season finale May 24, with Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian’s score and Kevin Edelman’s music supervision continuing the Yellowstone-universe sound system. The “Marshals” Season 1 Original Soundtrack was released digitally on March 6, 2026 under Milan Records  — and renewed for Season 2 before Season 1 finished airing. Procedural-meets-prestige scoring is now a stable category.

🎬📺 Apple TV+ Music Supervision

Apple TV+‘s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, music-supervised by Ciara Elwis, is drawing attention for placements from Hotwax, Clairo, Dire Straits, and Rico Nasty — with Robyn’s “Blow My Mind” anchoring the opening credits and Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” used as a key character cue. A textbook example of indie + legacy needle-drop balancing on a prestige half-hour.

🎬📺 Netflix’s “Legends” Score & 90’s Soundtrack

Netflix’s Legends (premiered May 7) continued to pick up critical traction. The score was composed by Sion Trefor (Say Nothing, Toxic Town), with director Brady Hood building the soundtrack around 1990s tracks from The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Manic Street Preachers, EMF, and Cocteau Twins — using a method where each actor sent two songs to define their character.  A useful model for period sync.

📺💰 ADVERTISING

📺💰Dua Lipa filed a $15M lawsuit against Samsung on May 11, alleging unauthorized use of her image on retail TV packaging across the US, with copyright, Lanham Act, and California right-of-publicity claims. Samsung responded May 12, stating the image came from a free streaming service content partner who provided “explicit assurance that permission had been secured, including for the retail boxes” . Why it matters for music-for-media: every brand using artist likeness or sound-alikes through a partner chain just got a reminder that downstream usage is not a legal shield.

➡️ EXECUTIVE MOVES 

➡️ BMG and Concord named Björn Bauer CFO of the merged music company on May 12, effective at deal close. The combined entity, operating under the BMG name will be the de facto fourth major. Finance leadership is now in place ahead of closing in H2 2026.

The merger, expected to close in H2 2026, will operate under the BMG name with Concord’s Bob Valentine as CEO. Finance leadership for what will effectively be the industry’s fourth major is now set.

➡️ WME made several changes to its London music team on May 14, adding Jana Recmanikova as an agent in the London contemporary music department, and elevating Kath Butler and Giulia Spadaro to agent roles. Recmanikova joins the international festival team from Festival Republic, where she spent nine years working on Reading & Leeds, Gunnersbury Park, and Finsbury Park.

🥂INDUSTRY  

🥂 Cannes Film Festival — Opening Week 

The 79th Festival de Cannes opened May 12 with Pierre Salvadori’s The Electric Kiss and a stacked music ceremony. Grammy-winning violinist Miri Ben-Ari composed a specially written score for the opening remarks by host Eye Haïdara . Theodora and Oklou performed a cover of The Beatles’ “Get Back” — a nod to Peter Jackson’s documentary series The Beatles: Get Back, after Jackson received an Honorary Palme d’Or . Park Chan-wook is jury president.

🥂Marché du Film’s Spot the Composer program ran May 15–18, hosting 10 international film composers for curated one-on-ones with directors and producers seeking original scores. Eiko Ishibashi (Drive My Car, Evil Does Not Evil Exist) was the key speaker of “Composing Without Borders: Film Music on the International Stage,” the main panel of this year’s Spot the Composer . The Marché also launched a new Composers on the Rise pilot program with Nainita Desai mentoring five early-career composers.

🥂31 Marché du Film sessions in 2026 mentioned AI, up from 21 in 2025 — including a two-day “AI for Talent Summit” running May 15–16 . The framing has shifted from “what is AI” to operational questions like synthetic voice licensing and AI-agent sales workflows.

🥂 The Guild Of Music Supervisors Member Summit

The Guild of Music Supervisors held its Member Summit on Saturday, May 16, hosted at Position Music in Burbank. The half-day summit focused on professional development, networking, and craft, building on the Education Committee’s expanded programming. Hosted at Position — one of the industry’s most active independent sync and publishing companies — is notable: it reinforces Position’s continued positioning as a creative hub for the supervisor community.

AMM Take: this event for music supervisors at a sync-forward independent’s HQ is a healthy signal at a moment when major-publisher consolidation is reshaping clearance dynamics.

👀 Worth Watching

👀 Sony’s move on Recognition Music Group increases pressure on the remaining independent mega-catalog players — including Primary Wave, Reservoir, and Round Hill — as large-scale rights consolidation continues accelerating. The next phase may not simply be acquisition volume, but who can most effectively monetize catalogs across sync, branding, gaming, AI licensing, and global media pipelines.

👀 The BPI’s AI transparency push could quickly become a reference point for U.S. lobbying efforts as the industry waits for summer rulings in Sony’s cases against Suno and Udio. Expect licensing infrastructure — not just litigation — to become the real battleground in the second half of 2026.

Editorial Disclaimer: AMM content is intended for editorial, informational, and educational purposes using publicly available sources, industry announcements, interviews, and reports believed to be reliable at the time of publication. If any information requires correction or updating, please contact us.

Happy Friday from AMM! This week the music-for-media world has been working overtime — a once-in-a-decade publishing megadeal landed Monday, a Göransson Star Wars score drops today, and a Toronto sync panel quietly became the supervision conversation of the spring. Pour something cold and scroll slowly. There’s a lot to celebrate.

AMM HOT TAKES 🔥

🔥Sony scoops up Recognition

Sony Music Publishing confirmed its agreement Monday to acquire Blackstone’s Recognition Music Group  — the former Hipgnosis Songs Fund catalog of 45,000+ songs,  including “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Single Ladies,” “Under the Bridge,”  “Bad Romance” and “Hallelujah.”  Reported price runs $2B–$4B  depending on the outlet. Translation: an enormous chunk of the sync-active classic canon now lives under one roof.

🔥Göransson lands his first Star Wars feature

Walt Disney Records released full details for “The Mandalorian and Grogu”, with Ludwig Göransson scoring his first Star Wars theatrical release.  Digital out today; helmet-shaped 10” die-cut vinyl on May 22; standard 12” June 5.  The marquee soundtrack drop of the May 15 wave.

🔥Theodore Shapiro named BMI Icon 

At Wednesday’s BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards in Beverly Hills, Theodore Shapiro (“Severance”, “The Devil Wears Prada”, “The Housemaid”) collected the Icon Award  — with a tribute video from Paul Feig, Göransson, Ben Stiller, and Jay Roach.  Shapiro also took three other award wins the same night. 

🔥Primary Wave x Pete Townshend

Variety reports a $100M+ partnership covering “certain music rights,” NIL, and future creative projects from The Who co-founder. Larry Mestel’s team is already lining up sync exploitation around “Baba O’Riley,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and the Tommy/Quadrophenia universes.

🔥Paramount + Warner Music Group go first-look

A multi-year theatrical deal announced last week opens the WMG catalog — Bowie, Cher, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Charli xcx, Coldplay, Dua Lipa,  Cardi B  — for scripted and animated film development through WMG’s Unigram (Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron).  No projects yet; expect plenty.

🔥WMG sync revenue dips

Warner’s calendar Q1 2026 print showed synchronization revenue at $50M, down 2% YoY at constant currency, even as total revenue grew 12.1%. A small but rare contraction worth watching for pricing pressure signals.

🔥BMG buys Jet’s publishing

BMG closed on the publishing interests of Nic Cester, Cam Muncey and Mark Wilson — expanding its 2023 recordings deal.  ANZ/SEA president Heath Johns called out Jet’s “global sync track record of the rarest order.”  “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” remains a trailer-house workhorse.

AMM WORTH WATCHING 👀

The AI music valuation curve is bending vertical — 

Suno reportedly closing a Series D at a $5B valuation (double its November mark) while ElevenLabs disclosed $500M ARR and an $11B raise alongside BlackRock, NVIDIA’s NVentures, Jamie Foxx and Hwang Dong-hyuk. Eleven Music’s  Merlin/Kobalt licensing posture is making it the most “supervision-safe” option of the bunch.

Meanwhile, two new academic studies (Stanford/Reed; Kiel/Hamburg) found listeners engage less and pay less when music is labeled “AI-composed” — even when it isn’t. The first hard data behind a hunch sync execs have been carrying for two years.

Tencent Music’s leadership publicly accused competitors of flooding catalogs with infringing AI content this week — a sharper tone than anything Western majors are saying on the record.

And Believe + TuneCore officially partnered with Google’s Flow Music  (powered by Lyria 3 Pro), offering generative tooling to its artist base while Believe simultaneously blocks unlicensed AI uploads. The line between “licensed AI” and “everything else” is now an operational reality. 

🌟 AMM SPOTLIGHT 🌟

🌟Ludwig Göransson — composer, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” (Walt Disney Records) 

Göransson’s first feature-length Star Wars score arrives today, on the back of a “Sinners” victory lap and a BMI Icon-Award tribute appearance this week for friend Theodore Shapiro. The 21-track album reflects years of Mandalorian world-building stretched to theatrical scale: an 8-minute “This Is the Way,” and a charmingly weird Anzellan diegetic cut, “Hugo Durant’s Snack Shack,” recorded with Andreas Öberg, Luanne Homzy and Mike Valerio. 

Disney is rolling the release in stages — digital today, helmet-shaped die-cut 10” vinyl on May 22, standard 12” June 5  — a release strategy treating the score as both event soundtrack and collectible object. 

Why he matters this week: when a single composer is simultaneously delivering the tentpole score of the summer, anchoring an Icon Award lineup and quietly setting the tone for the next decade of cinematic scoring conversations, you pay attention.

🌟 AMM SPOTLIGHT 🌟

🌟Jessica Powell — co-founder & CEO, AudioShake

A profile of Powell’s AI stem-separation company this spring revealed a quietly remarkable trajectory: roughly 25 employees, 40+ business clients including UMG, WMG, Disney Music Group and NFL Films, and audio processing volumes that have grown from single-digit-millions to hundreds of millions of minutes a year.  

Sync licensing was the entry wedge — supervisors and rights teams needing clean stems for re-records, dialog edits and dub-friendly mixes — and that wedge cracked open backends for two major streaming services. In a year defined by generative-AI noise, AudioShake represents the other AI story: profitable, supervisor-facing, made-of-actual-workflow. 

As a female founder operating at the intersection of rights and tooling, Powell is one of the most consequential music-tech leaders to know in 2026.

AMM TASTEMAKERS 🥂

🥂Theodore Shapiro. 

Newly minted BMI Icon, fresh off scoring “Severance”, “The Housemaid” and “Another Simple Favor”. Three additional wins the same night underscored the run.

🥂Breton Vivian.

Quietly building one of the most consequential résumés in cable scoring inside the Taylor Sheridan-verse — “The Madison” (Pfeiffer-led, sliding strings as landscape metaphor) and Brian Tyler co-credit on the “Dutton Ranch” score landing today via Milan. 

🥂1500 or Nothin’.

The Grammy-winning collective (Larrance “Rance” Dopson, James Fauntleroy) scoring Courtney A. Kemp’s new Netflix crime drama “Nemesis”. A high-profile composing assignment for a producer crew known mostly for hits.

🥂Andrew Watt × Michael Stipe.

Watt makes his TV scoring debut on HBO’s “Rooster” (Bill Lawrence, Matt Tarses, Steve Carell), with a main-title song “I Played the Fool” co-written by Watt and performed by Stipe.  WaterTower drops the soundtrack today. 

AMM STORYTELLERS ✍️

✍️ Scotty Taylor — music supervisor, “Heated Rivalry” (Crave / HBO Max)

Taylor was on stage at Toronto’s Departure Festival on May 7 alongside showrunner Jacob Tierney and composer Peter Peter for a Variety-moderated session unpacking the show’s now-famous needle drops  — Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything” and t.A.T.u.‘s “All The Things She Said,” both driving real catalog streaming spikes. Taylor’s approach treats hockey-rink intimacy as a song-led emotional engine, where music functions as the unspoken language between two men who can’t say what they mean. 

He’s also nominated at the 2026 Canadian Sync Awards (Best Sync, Drama TV Series) for the same work.  “Heated Rivalry” is the year’s clearest case study in how a supervisor’s instincts, more than algorithm or playlist culture, still drive both narrative impact and back-catalog revival.

✍️ Beethoven & Dinosaur — Annapurna Interactive, “Mixtape”

“Mixtape” launched May 7 on Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, and it might be the most ambitious music-supervision experiment in gaming this year. The 80s/90s coming-of-age narrative game runs on a 28-song licensed soundtrack — Joy Division, The Smashing Pumpkins, Roxy Music, Alice Coltrane,  Devo, Iggy Pop, Stan Bush — clearance-heavy in a way that’s rare for interactive media. The team explicitly chose not to include a streamer mode that would silence licensed audio, calling the music “the soul of Mixtape.”  A character, Stacy Rockford, narrates each track in-game. Annapurna built parallel Spotify and Apple Music companion playlists for launch day. It’s a small game with outsized implications for what sync can become inside playable storytelling — and a model for game-music supervisors arguing for clearance budgets at the pitch stage.

AMM’s FEATURED RELEASE 🔦 

🔦“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” — Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Walt Disney Records, May 15)

Ludwig Göransson’s first theatrical Star Wars score arrives in three deliberately staggered formats: digital today, a Mandalorian-helmet-shaped die-cut 10” vinyl on May 22, with two exclusive cues, and a standard 13-track 12” on June 5. The album foregrounds the show’s established theme architecture while expanding the orchestral palette to feature scale. Look for the Anzellan diegetic moment, the long-form “This Is the Way” centerpiece, and a continued blurring of Göransson’s pop-production sensibility with classical Star Wars motifs. Film opens May 22. 

AMM’s BEHIND THE BRIEF 💼

The “mixtape” soundtrack returns.

Two music-driven companion albums dropped this week using nearly the same format. Island Records released “Off Campus: The Mixtape” on May 13 — executive-music-produced by Alana Da Fonseca, with Remi Wolf covering “Dancing with Myself,” tracks from Asha Banks, Chloe Lilac and Will Linley, plus a finale co-written by Amy Allen and Ethan Gruska — supporting Prime Video’s Elle Kennedy adaptation. 

Madison Gate’s “The Boys” Season 5 album drops today with Christopher Lennertz and Matt Bowen score plus two Daveed Diggs-featured pieces. 

Both projects treat the soundtrack as parallel artist-development engine — supervision, label sync and A&R all working the same brief. Expect more of this template across YA streaming launches in particular.

INDUSTRY MOVES ⬆️🏆💰

⬆️ Jim Mahoney was promoted to newly created Chief Membership Officer at Merlin (with senior promotions for Bela Zecker, Joe Mercer Danher and Ben Sperling).   

⬆️ Leslie Ahrens elevated to Managing Director & EVP, Creative, Latin America at Kobalt, succeeding Nestor Casonu after 11 years; May-Ling Mediavilla and Lea Moussa also promoted on the LatAm team.  

⬆️ Björn Bauer named CFO of the combined BMG-Concord upon close,  reporting to CEO-designate Bob Valentine.   

🏆Guy Moot (Warner Chappell Co-Chair/CEO) named 2026 recipient of the UK Music Industry Trusts Award — the first publisher to win in the prize’s 34-year history.  

💰Kobalt announced a strategic admin partnership with LAA Music, the indie publisher founded by NFL agent Zac Hiller and Justin Goldman.   

📝The War and Treaty signed to Atlantic Outpost. 

📝Angine de Poitrine signed worldwide publishing to Third Side Music (Sofi Tukker, UMO, Sky Ferreira, Courtney Barnett).

🎼 Kier Lehman returns as music supervisor on Netflix’s “Forever” Season 2, with Khris Riddick-Tynes added as Executive Music Producer. 

✍️ Bill Werde joins Music Business Worldwide as a regular columnist.  

🎼Mychael Danna signed to score Ang Lee’s “Gold Mountain”.

🎼Camille to score Marie Kreutzer’s “Gentle Monster”.

🎼Zbigniew Preisner to score Asghar Farhadi’s “Parallel Tales”.

🎼Michael Abels to score Na Hong-jin’s “Hope”.

🎼Dan Romer to score animated feature “Tangles”.

AMM’s WEEKEND RECOMMENDATIONS 🎧📺

🎧 Listen: 

🎧 Göransson’s “The Mandalorian and Grogu” (Walt Disney Records)

🎧 Power Glove’s “Devil May Cry” Season 2 score (Netflix Music)

🎧 Kris Bowers’ “The Punisher: One Last Kill” (Hollywood/Marvel Music)

🎧 Island’s “Off Campus: The Mixtape”

🎧 Play:

Annapurna Interactive’s “Mixtape” — and queue the official 28-track Spotify or Apple Music playlist alongside it.

📺 Watch/Hear:

Variety’s “Daily Variety” podcast episode capturing the “Heated Rivalry” music panel from Toronto’s Departure Festival (Tierney / Peter Peter / Scotty Taylor, moderated by Jem Aswad).  The clearest hour on supervision craft you’ll get this month.

📅 Calendar this:

➡️ Canadian Sync Awards + Sound + Vision at NXNE Toronto, June 10–11  (GMSC’s 10th anniversary; Serena Ryder receives the Impact Award).  

➡️ SYNC Summit AI and Sync Symposium, July 14.  

➡️ PMC 2026 at Hilton Universal City, October 6–8 — and Mark Awards submissions are open through July 17. 

➡️ GameSoundCon 2026 in Burbank, October 20–21 (with a dedicated AI-in-game-audio track).  

Editorial Disclaimer:

AMM content is intended for editorial, informational, and educational purposes using publicly available sources, industry announcements, interviews, and reports believed to be reliable at the time of publication. If any information requires correction or updating, please contact us.

TikTok (via Spotify “Tik Tok Hits: September 2025”)

Top Tracks on the Trending TikTok Playlist:

1. “ANXIETY” – Sleepy Hallow & Doechii

2. “Messy” – Lola Young

3. “PUSH 2 START” – Tyla

4. “APT.” – ROSÉ & Bruno Mars

5. “Ordinary” – Alex Warren
   Spotify

Spotify – HITS 2025: September 5, 2025 (“Top Songs”)

Top Tracks Featured:

1. “Ordinary” – Alex Warren

2. “back to friends” – sombr

3. “Love Me Not” – Ravyn Lenae

4. “Golden” – HUNTR/X ft. EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI
   Spotify

Apple Music – New Music Friday (Sept 5, 2025)

Headline Releases & Singles:

1. “The Dead Dance” – Lady Gaga

2. SWAG II – Justin Bieber (surprise album)

3. “Butterfly” – Zac Brown Band ft. Dolly Parton

4. “last forever” – LANY
   Additional singles dropping today: “A COLD PLAY” by The Kid LAROI, “Ocean” by Calvin Harris & Jessie Reyez
   Apple Music - Web Player+1

Tidal – My New Arrivals (via High-Fidelity Playlist)

A look at fresh discoveries from Tidal’s Friday-curated list:

• “Truth or Dare” – Tyla

• “MY HOUSE” – Beyoncé

• “179 Deli” – BasAJ Tracey

• “Lover/Friend” – KAYTRANADA & Rochelle Jordan

• “Into Your Room” – Holly Humberstone & MUNA

End-of-Week Assessment — September 5, 2025

AMM Takeaway

• Crossover King: Alex Warren’s Ordinary — viral + editorial + sync-ready.

• Theatrical Pop Anchor: Lady Gaga’s The Dead Dance — dramatic sync magnet.

• Buzz Factor: Justin Bieber’s SWAG II — surprise drop equals press + playlist momentum.

• Indie Depth: Tyla, Holly Humberstone, and KAYTRANADA expand the sync palette.

• Screen Synergy: Apple TV+ and Hulu premieres prime lanes for moody, textured cues.

Formula this week = Big-name drama + Viral intimacy + Indie discovery = September sync blueprint.

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American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

Global Rights + Music Administration

India to Launch Centralised Digital Music Licensing Registry by October
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) in India will roll out a unified digital licensing registry by October 2025. The registry—shaped in collaboration with rights societies—is designed to simplify music licensing processes, reduce disputes, and boost live event sustainability.
The Economic Times

Streaming + Fan Experience

YouTube Music Rolls Out ‘Taste Match’ Playlists, Comments & Concert Alerts
To celebrate its 10th year, YouTube Music launched shared Taste Match playlists that update daily based on joint listening habits—think Spotify Blend. Fans can now also comment directly on albums/playlists and receive alerts about upcoming concerts, merch drops, and music milestones, thanks to the expanded Bandsintown integration.
Android Central

Publishing + Artist Support

Spotify & Kobalt Ink U.S. Licensing Deal to Boost Songwriter Returns
Spotify has struck a multi-year licensing agreement with independent publisher Kobalt in the U.S. The deal aims to enhance transparency and potentially improve payouts for songwriters—marking a gradual shift away from bundled royalty models.

🔥 WRAP‑UP INSIGHT
Sync, publishing, and rights are entering Phase 2 of modernization. It’s not just about placing music—it’s about making clarity and access the new baseline. If your songs are fast, clean, and discoverable, you’re not just in the sync game—you’re leading it.

Drop your thoughts in the comments and tag someone who needs to track these shifts. Stay tuned, stay sync’d.

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American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

The industry never sleeps, and neither do its résumés. From label powerhouses to streaming giants, sync shops to publishing pros, here’s who’s swapping seats, leveling up, or making bold moves across music and media.

Here’s your end-of-week movers & shakers rundown (Aug 29–Sep 5, 2025) — tight, verified, and cut for sync folk, supes, publishers, and dealmakers. If I missed anyone on your radar, ping me and I’ll fold them into the next blast.

Monti Olson → EVP, Publishing (North America), BMG
The Litmus Music co-founder (Carlyle-backed catalog deals with Katy Perry, Randy Newman, etc.) returns to BMG to run U.S. publishing — explicitly tasked with “new signings and catalog acquisitions.” Translation: BMG’s deal engine is revving back up across L.A./Nashville/NYC. BMG

Christopher Södergren → EVP, Direct-to-Consumer Strategy & Ops, Sony Music
Ex-UMG commerce lead gets a newly created global DTC seat at Sony. Expect tighter pipes between artist stores, merch, fan clubs, and data — the kind of plumbing that makes or breaks campaign ROI. (Official release.) Sony

Jenni Pfaff → Chief People & Transformation Officer, HYBE America
Warner Chappell alum (strategy/integration) is tapped by HYBE America CEO/Chairman Isaac Lee. Read this as culture + org design underpinning the HYBE/BMLG/QC chessboard in the States.

Cindy Gu → GM, Southeast Asia, Virgin Music Group (UMG)
Ex-Fabled/Astralwerks/Spinnin’ exec takes the SEA hub (Singapore-based) with Liza Fuady reporting in from Jakarta. Indie services in the region keep getting real — Gu’s resume is pure cross-border repertoire building. (Photo: Argel Ramiro)

Big Machine Label Group (HYBE) → International Team Upgrades
Promotions for Alex Hannaby (adds VP, International Marketing & Ops to Head of UK), Iren Coutiel, Roxanne Gwillam-Kelly, and Flo Myerscough-Harris; plus a new addition, Cary Dal-Lago. Country keeps globalizing; BMLG’s UK/Aus radio wins aren’t a fluke.

In the press release announcing the news, BMLG noted that the all-female team will continue to lead the label’s international efforts across key markets, including the UK, Australia, and beyond.

(Pictured (L-R): Flo Myerscough-Harris, Roxanne Gwillam-Kelly, Alex Hannaby, Cary Dal-Lago, Iren Coutiel - Photo Credit: Carsten Windhorst)

Victor Roque → Sr. Director, A&R & Client Dev (LATAM), Symphonic Distribution
Alongside a new Puerto Rico partnership with High Ground Music (ex-Rimas leadership - the home of talents like Bad Bunny, Eladio Carrión, and Mora). Symphonic plants a firmer flag in the Caribbean/LATAM pipeline. Useful lane for independent repertoire looking beyond Miami.

Jordi Tello → Managing Director, Iberia, Sony Music Publishing
Succeeds longtime Spain MD Juan Ignacio Alonso (retired end of Aug). Oversight of Spain/Portugal with a clear A&R pedigree — Rels B, Arde Bogotá, Morad, RVFV — and direct line to Guy Henderson. (Courtesy of Sony Music Publishing)

James Moodie → Managing Director, Distiller Music Group (UK)
Ex-The Orchard/Vevo exec jumps to indie Distiller; announcement paired with a YONAKA signing. Expect artist-services DNA to shape Distiller’s next phase.

Warner Music realigns UK/US label leadership
Ed Howard & Briony Turner (Atlantic UK) join Atlantic Music Group’s global leadership under Elliot Grainge; Joe Kentish (Warner Records/Parlophone UK) joins Warner Records’ global leadership under Aaron Bay-Schuck/Tom Corson. This is about accelerating cross-Atlantic A&R/marketing flow while WMUK CEO Tony Harlow exits in October.

Daniel Monaghan → Exec Director, Entertainment Content, Foxtel (Australia)
Streaming-adjacent but relevant: longtime Network 10/Paramount ANZ programming lead heads to Foxtel Group, impacting commissioning/licensing lanes for music-driven TV in the region. Variety Australia

✨ Closing Note

That’s a wrap for this week’s Movers & Shakers. From publishing power plays to global streaming strategy, the music and media industry never stays still. Check back next Friday for more moves — and don’t forget, in this business, the beat always goes on.

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American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

Spotify – New Music Friday (U.S.) – August 29, 2025

Top featured tracks in the U.S. playlist:
1. 925 – Sammy Virji & Chris Lake, RoRo
2. Set Me Free – Martin Garrix & Arcando
3. Monsoon – Emma Louise & Flume
4. Hold On, Let Go – ANOTR, WAYNE SNOW, 3DDY
5. Legumes – Mochakk, Kwengface
Spotify

Apple Music – New Music Daily (U.S.) – August 29, 2025

Today's top tracks include:

• Cover Star: Tears – Sabrina Carpenter (from Man’s Best Friend)

• Additional new releases featured today:

  • When a Good Man Cries – CMAT

  • Jealous Type – Doja Cat (lead single from Vie)

  • SE LO JURO MOR – Feid

  • What – Doja Cat (from Vie)
    These are among the freshest drops featured today.
    Apple Music - Web Player

U.S. Media & Sync Highlights

Apple TV+ – KPOPPED Special (August 29 Premiere)

• Highlights: Spice Girls (Emma Bunton & Mel B) reunite with K‑pop group Itzy for reimagined versions of “Wannabe” and “Say You’ll Be There.” Hosted by PSY and Megan Thee Stallion, blending Western icons and K‑pop flair.
  The Sun

Album Release – Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend

Released today (August 29, 2025), this synth‑pop/post‑disco album features:

• Lead single: Manchild (charted #1 U.S., UK, Ireland)

• Second single and playlist centerpiece: Tears
  Spotify

Friday Anthem

Sabrina Carpenter – “Tears” stands out across platforms: it’s the Apple Music Daily cover pick, a sync-ready emotional anchor, and a focal point of her full album release today.

End-of-Week Assessment (U.S.-Focused)

Takeaway: A dual-strength Friday—dancefloor catalysts (“Set Me Free,” “925”) for high-energy sets, and emotionally resonant storytelling (“Tears”) ideal for sync and narrative-driven moments.

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American Music + Media

American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

Theresa Wolters named Executive Director of MusiCares

Formerly: Senior Director of Public Policy & Advocacy at the National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors
Source: Morningstar / Business Wire
Commentary: From community champion to the helm of MusiCares — Wolters is stepping into the spotlight, ready to orchestrate support for artists with all the finesse of a conductor.

Ariana Arciniega joins Intercept Music as EVP, Global Operations & Business Development Strategy

Formerly: Global Head of Business Operations, UMG’s Ingrooves Music Group
Source: PR Newswire
Commentary: Arciniega’s global prowess hits the dance floor at Intercept — she’s now spinning the strategy that’ll amplify indie artists around the world.

James “Jamie” Cerreta appointed President, US & Canada at Peermusic

Formerly: EVP, Global Synchronization & Licensing at Peermusic
Source: Record of the Day
Commentary: Cerreta’s leveling up to steer Peermusic’s North American ship — time for the independent publishing powerhouse to sail even smoother.

Austen Adams becomes President of Warner Chappell Music Nashville

Formerly: COO at Big Loud
Source: Warner Music Group
Commentary: Adams is trading his Big Loud COO chair for the president’s throne at Warner Chappell Nashville. With a songwriting roster that reads like a hit parade, Nashville just got a new captain steering the publishing ship.

Lo Ting-Fai (Lofai) named President of Warner Music APAC

Formerly: CEO of Media Asia Group Holdings Ltd.
Source: Warner Music Group
Commentary: Lofai takes the helm of Warner Music’s Asia-Pacific division, bringing his entertainment empire chops to the global stage. From Hong Kong to Hollywood, expect some serious cross-Pacific waves.

Rayna Bass & Selim Bouab appointed Co-Presidents of Hip-Hop, R&B & Global Music at Atlantic Records

Formerly: Co-Presidents at 300 Entertainment
Source: Record of the Day
Commentary: Dynamic duo Bass and Bouab are turning up the volume at Atlantic, moving from 300 to co-pilot the label’s hip-hop and R&B empire. Expect playlists to get hotter, faster.

Lanre Gaba named Executive VP, Artist Strategy & Development at Atlantic Music Group

Formerly: Co-President at 300 Entertainment
Source: Record of the Day
Commentary: Gaba shifts gears into a top AMG strategy role, bringing her artist-first vision to the forefront. If you thought Atlantic was already artist-centric, Lanre just turned the dial all the way up.

Vanessa Rose to become President & CEO of New Music USA

Formerly: Executive Director of the American Composers Forum
Source: EarRelevant
Commentary: Rose takes the baton at New Music USA this fall, succeeding Vanessa Reed. Two Vanessas, one legacy — and Rose is ready to write the next movement.

Steeve Führ joins Amuse as Chief Financial Officer

Formerly: CFO at Epidemic Sound
Source: Record of the Day
Commentary: Führ’s next act? Crunching the numbers at Amuse, where indie distribution meets major ambition. If growth is the goal, he’s the CFO with the calculator — and the swagger — to do it.

✨ Closing Note

That’s a wrap for this week’s game of Musical Chairs. From publishing power plays to global streaming strategy, the music and media industry never stays still. Check back next Friday for more moves — and don’t forget, in this business, the beat (and the seats) always goes on.

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American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

Streaming + Social + Music

Spotify Adds In-App Messaging (DMs)
Spotify now lets users send music, podcast, and audiobook recommendations directly within the app. The new Messages feature is rolling out to Free and Premium users aged 16+ in select markets. The goal? More hype, more shares, more in-platform engagement.
Source

Tech + Live Music

YouTube Names Bandsintown Exclusive Global Concert Partner
Bandsintown is now the exclusive source of concert listings for YouTube and YouTube Music. Fans will see local tour dates embedded in artist videos, Shorts, official channels — and soon, the homepage. That’s 2.3 million concerts annually delivered into billions of views.
Source

AI + Streaming Trends + Music

Ghost Artists Quietly Dominate Mood Playlists
From The Velvet Sundown to “Peaceful Retreat” curations, AI-generated artists are filling up DSP playlists. These ghost musicians are designed to blend seamlessly into ambient, classical, and lo-fi mixes — offering streaming platforms catalog control and maximum mood-fit precision.
Source

Gaming + Music Artist Partnership

Lady Gaga Joins Roblox Game ‘Dress to Impress’ as Guest Judge
Roblox’s viral fashion game Dress to Impress (7.9B visits since 2023) just landed Lady Gaga as its first-ever celebrity judge. From August 16–29, players can design looks inspired by Gaga’s Mayhem album, unlock branded items, and join a virtual Q&A.
Source

Streaming + Artist Sentiment + Music

Indie Artists Quietly Exit Spotify Over AI + Ethics
Artists like Deerhoof and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are leaving Spotify, citing CEO Daniel Ek’s AI military investments and streaming disillusionment. Unlike prior boycotts, this one feels quieter — and more permanent.
Source

Streaming + Business + Music

Spotify’s Superfan Tier Still on Hold — Labels Want Premium Access Pricing
Spotify’s long-rumored Superfan subscription tier hasn’t launched yet — and now we know why. According to Bloomberg, Spotify can’t agree on which features would actually entice users to pay. Meanwhile, labels and promoters are pushing for premium-priced early access to new music and ticket presales, complicating rollout plans.

In parallel, Spotify’s Discovery Mode — which boosts track visibility in exchange for lower royalties — is gaining attention. One label exec says it now represents 10% of their total Spotify payouts, down from a 15% peak last year.

Source

Wrap-Up Insight:
Sync isn’t slowing — it’s shifting. If your catalog isn’t built to move across platforms, avatars, and playlists with metadata and mood precision, you’re not being left behind — you’re standing still.

American Music + Media is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, music rights management, and brand relationships — covering the essential connection between music and visual media across Film, Television, Advertising, Gaming, Sports, Theater, Streaming, and Tech.

Why AMM Matters Now:
AMM was created to fill a crucial gap in the market of music and visual media — offering insightful coverage, expert analysis, and real-world guidance by music professionals for professionals who are driving music’s role in visual media and technology.

The music licensing, publishing, and media industries have never been more competitive and lucrative. AMM aims to be the essential bridge between these worlds, offering the clarity, community, and connections professionals need to thrive.

Dive into the future of the music business & media with American Music + Media:

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American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

(Photo Courtesy of YouTube)

Here’s what’s rolling out:

• Playlist Conversations – Fans will soon be able to comment directly on albums and playlists, turning passive listening into active dialogue.
  

• Taste Match Playlists – New auto-updated playlists built around shared listening habits, refreshed daily so you can discover music through people who hear the world like you do.
  

• Bandsintown Partnership – Concert listings now surface across YouTube and YouTube Music, making it easier to catch your favorite artists live. Expect real-time alerts on tour dates, merch drops, and new releases.
  

• Fan Badges – Features like First to Watch and Top Listener give listeners bragging rights and artists more visible superfans.
  

• View Milestones – When a music video is about to cross a big number (100K, 1M, 1B), YouTube will spotlight it—nudging fans to help push it over the top.
  

With 300M+ tracks already in its catalog, YouTube’s play here is bigger than streaming. It’s building a fandom hub—where discovery, community, and loyalty all live in one place.

(Original announcement by T. Jay Fowler, YouTube Music. Rewritten and reported for highlights.)

American Music + Media

American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

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American Music + Media — Where Music Meets the Screen

American Music + Media

American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

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American Music + Media — Where Music Meets the Screen

On July 14, 2025, our music community lost two cherished figures: Robin Kaye, longtime American Idol music supervisor and founder of SyncroniCity, and her husband, Thomas “Tom” Deluca, a songwriter and musician whose career stretched from Nashville to national tours and into Hollywood’s creative circles. The couple, both 70, were tragically killed during a break-in in their Encino, California home. Their beloved dog was also lost in the attack.

Robin Kaye: The Steady Hand Behind the Music

Robin Kaye was the rare presence in television music supervision who could navigate the chaos of live broadcast with calm, empathy, and ingenuity.

• She joined American Idol in 2009 and stayed with the series through 2023, supervising nearly 300 episodes. For contestants under intense scrutiny, she was often the first and last advocate in the room—the one who fought for the right song, the right arrangement, the right moment.

• She secured clearances once thought impossible, from Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” to Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”, helping contestants like Didi Benami and Adam Lambert carve indelible memories into pop culture.

• Beyond Idol, Robin guided music for Miss America, Miss USA, Miss Universe, Lip Sync Battle, The Singing Bee, and even early cult-TV like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Robin also founded SyncroniCity, her own consultancy, representing and working with artists including Andrea Bocelli and Kenny Loggins.

Her colleagues remember her not just for skill but for grace:

• “Robin was a joy to work with… if there was a piece of music she couldn’t get permission for, she’d have numerous other ideas,” recalled Nigel Lythgoe, longtime Idol executive producer.

• Ken Warwick, another Idol EP, said: “She always kept a cool head in a job that was difficult and manic… she always had a friendly and pleasant demeanor.”

• Artists felt her imprint deeply, too. “Robin was such a huge part of my success… she fought for my song choices,” said Kris Allen, Season 8 winner. Nick Fradiani, Season 14 winner, remembered: “She looked after me like a son.”

Robin’s impact was quiet, steady, and deeply human. Contestants came and went, hits rose and fell, but her presence was constant—ensuring music’s power always served the story.

Tom Deluca: The Melodic Heart

While Robin worked behind the camera, Tom Deluca’s life was spent writing, performing, and recording music that traveled across rock, country, and film.

• A Pittsburgh native who grew up in South Florida, Tom moved to Nashville in the late 1970s and quickly found himself signed to Charley Pride’s publishing company, Pi-Gem Music.

• He co-wrote “Satisfied Man”, recorded by Molly Hatchet, and went on tour with the band. That exposure led to a contract with Epic Records, where his album was produced by James Guthrie—best known for his work with Pink Floyd.

• Tom also wrote for artists including Kid Rock, Jennifer Rush (“Heart Over Mind”), and others, building a reputation as a versatile, reliable songwriter who could bridge rock edge with melodic accessibility.

• His songs appeared in films like Adventureland (2009) and Below Utopia (1997), and in TV series including Oh Sit! (2012).

• In 2022, Tom returned to his roots with the release of his album Street Rock, a deeply personal statement that reintroduced him to fans as an artist in his own right.

Those who worked alongside him describe a musician of generosity and grit—someone who carried the ethos of Nashville song-craft into every project.

A Life Together

Robin and Tom’s lives intertwined across decades of music and partnership. Robin built bridges between artists and rights holders; Tom built songs that gave those artists something to sing. Together, they were an anchor for friends, colleagues, and family alike—a couple defined by creativity, kindness, and commitment.

They are survived by extended family and a wide circle of collaborators and friends, many of whom gathered for a candlelight vigil at Encino Park on August 10, 2025, to honor their lives. Candles flickered as neighbors, colleagues, and strangers alike remembered two lives lost too soon, but never forgotten.

What We Carry Forward

Robin and Tom’s story reminds us that behind every song cleared, behind every track written, there are people who pour their lives into the music that moves ours.

And though silence now rests in their Encino home, the legacy of Robin Kaye and Tom Deluca carries on—in the contestants they championed, the songs they wrote, the lives they touched, and the community that will remember them.

A Moment for Us All

In just a swift moment, friends and family can be taken from us. Robin and Tom’s passing is a heartbreaking reminder of how fragile our time together truly is. As we move through our own work—whether supervising, composing, or producing shows—let’s remember to cherish every person and every moment.

Take a moment. Call a friend or family member you haven’t spoken with in a while, the one you’ve been meaning to catch up with. Share a laugh, a memory, or just a moment of kindness. In doing so, we honor Robin and Tom—not only by remembering what they gave to music, but by taking care of ourselves and the community they cared about so much.

May Robin and Tom's memories always be a blessing.

American Music + Media

American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

If sync royalties had a bookmark, the case of Heaven 17 vs. Rockstar Games would be that marked page everyone’s going back to—with a sigh. Did Rockstar lowball them? Absolutely. Is the conversation still raging? You bet. Welcome to the ongoing debate/drama around fair pay for music in video games.

A $7.5K Offer for a Forever Sell-Off?

Back in September, Heaven 17 co-founder Martyn Ware publicly slammed an offer from Rockstar Games to license their synth-pop classic Temptation for Grand Theft Auto VI. The ask? $7,500. And—get this—a buyout that would erase any future royalties, forever. Ware’s response, dripping with sharp wit and righteous intensity:

“To put this in context, GTA V grossed… $8.6 billion. Ah, but think of the exposure.”
“Go f**k yourself.”
(GTA Forums + Music Ally + The Sun)

Ouch. That kind of open frustration reignited the sync debate—not just in a niche corner of music licensing, but across forums, writers’ rooms, and Slack channels alike.

Why the Anger’s Still Smoldering

• Buyouts vs. Royalties
  Traditional sync deals for games have often been one-off payments—great for short-sighted budgets, lousy for long-term artist value. According to The Guardian, these contracts strip out future income opportunities.
  (The Guardian)
  

• Value Disparity
  GTA V's nearly $9 billion haul dwarfs the $7,500 offer. Exposure isn’t compensation—it’s promotional vanity. Ware turned down a counteroffer of £75K, too.
  (Tophitz + The Sun + Digital Music News)
  

• No Transparency, No Trust
  A growing number of creators want licensing models that pay across the board—not just once and gone. Sync shouldn’t feel like a casino gamble.

The Bigger Picture: This Isn’t Just Rock

In fact, it's part of a broader shift. Gaming’s sync tension isn’t the only flash point:

• The Voice Actors' AI Fight
  SAG-AFTRA’s video game strike, which formally ended in July 2025, included landmark AI protection clauses—consent, transparency, compensation—building a precedent around creators' control and rights.
  (Ari's Take + Synchtank + AP News + Polygon + Wikipedia)
  

• Sync Platforms Leveling Up
  Tech-forward companies like SourceAudio are creating infrastructure that respects metadata accuracy and rights clarity—helping creators avoid “blind buyouts” and maintain control.
  (iqmgmnt.com + musicbusinessworldwide.com + Synchtank)

The Sync Takeaway

Let’s simmer this down to the essence:

In Closing

Rockstar’s offer to Heaven 17 slapped the music community awake. Sync in video games isn’t about pixel-perfect soundscapes—it’s about legacy, value, and fairness. And the conversation isn’t going quiet anytime soon.

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American Music + Media

American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

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American Music + Media — Where Music Meets the Screen

This week, sync wasn’t just about placements — it was about platforms and partnerships. From Spotify scoring the Esports World Cup to SEVENTEEN headlining Airbnb’s first global music experience, the intersection of music, branding, and media is widening fast. And with SZA stepping in as Vans’ new Artistic Director, artists aren’t just featured — they’re at the creative table.

Sync Infrastructure & AI Licensing

SourceAudio Builds Market-Making Infrastructure Across Sync Verticals
Los Angeles–based SourceAudio is quietly transforming sync licensing with a scalable, data-driven platform. In 2024, they handled over 6,000 sync briefs, delivered 23 million music searches, and supported 59 million downloads. With 34 million tracks in its catalog and more than 600,000 professional users—including Netflix, Disney, and Paramount—SourceAudio is setting the stage for streamlined licensing across content, gaming, AI, retail, and immersive media.
Music Business Worldwide

Why it matters: If you’ve been frustrated by analog sync pipelines and manual pitches, this is your moment. SourceAudio’s infrastructure—and its upcoming API rollouts—could be the backbone of a more transparent and efficient music-rights ecosystem in 2025 and beyond.

Gaming + Music

Spotify Named Official Audio Streaming Partner of Esports World Cup 2025
Spotify has secured a deal with the Esports World Cup Foundation to be the official audio streaming platform for the global tournament running July–August in Riyadh—blending digital music strategy with gaming entertainment. Fans will experience curated playlists, artist content, and sonic branding built into the tournament flow. (Campaign Middle East + The Economic Times)

Partnership + Music

Airbnb’s First Global Music Partnership Features SEVENTEEN
Airbnb announced a global music partnership featuring K-pop superstars SEVENTEEN, launching exclusive live concert experiences in Seoul, LA, and Tokyo. The initiative represents Airbnb’s first major foray into live music activations tied to travel and cultural lifestyle branding. (Airbnb Newsroom)

Brands + Music

SZA Appointed Artistic Director at Vans
Grammy winner SZA steps into a creative leadership role at Vans as Artistic Director, heading up a multi-year partnership that blends her artistic vision with the iconic skate brand’s aesthetic. (recordoftheday.com + newindustryfocus.com + m.youtube.com)

Publishing & Rights:
UMG’s Deal Under EU Scrutiny

European Commission Deepens Investigation into UMG’s $775M Downtown Music Takeover

Universal Music Group’s unit Virgin Music entered an agreement to buy Downtown for $775 million in cash in December. Photo: Reuters

The European Commission has launched a formal, in-depth investigation into Universal Music Group’s proposed acquisition of Downtown Music for $775 million. Regulators are scrutinizing potential competition concerns—especially UMG’s access to data from rival labels served by Downtown. UMG expects the acquisition to close in H2 2025, but Brussels now has until November 26 to reach a decision.
(Music Business Worldwide + Wall Street Journal)

Why it matters: Beyond sync, this merger could reshape the infrastructure of music administration and publishing. If regulators push back, this could delay access to Downtown’s services and influence rights transparency across the industry.

Wrap-Up Insight:
The sync space is expanding beyond licensing lanes into brand identity, fan experience, and strategic positioning. Whether you’re pitching a track or building a campaign, integration is the new placement — and your catalog better be ready to live across culture, not just content.

American Music + Media: Where Music Meets the Screen

American Music + Media is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, music rights management, and brand relationships — covering the essential connection between music and visual media across Film, Television, Advertising, Gaming, Sports, Theater, Streaming, and Tech.

Why AMM Matters Now:
AMM was created to fill a crucial gap in the market of music and visual media — offering insightful coverage, expert analysis, and real-world guidance by music professionals for professionals who are driving music’s role in visual media and technology.

The music licensing, publishing, and media industries have never been more competitive and lucrative. AMM aims to be the essential bridge between these worlds, offering the clarity, community, and connections professionals need to thrive.

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American Music + Media

American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

Here’s what we know—and why this matters for anyone aiming to license music for media.

1. Chordal-Powered Commercial Library Levels Up

In July, TikTok struck a multi-year deal with sync-tech firm Chordal, integrating its InstantClear platform into TikTok’s Commercial Music Library (syncmoney.ai + Music Business Worldwide). That means rights holders can now band together (even if multiple CoWriters are involved), pre-clear tracks, and automate payments—directly through TikTok’s ad-licensing ecosystem.

2. Indies Are Getting Special Attention

Former Merlin-aligned labels and independent distributors—once shielded by collective deals—are now negotiating directly with TikTok. The shift isn’t subtle: licensors are now paid based on video views rather than sheer volume of video creations (Music Business Worldwide + RouteNote). It’s still early-stage math, but the model favors virality—aka, moments like “I Love You So” by The Walters, revived by TikTok memes years after release.

3. The Sync Surge Is Real

Music supervisors are noticing it too: there’s a noticeable uptick in sync placements that trace back to catalog cuts—especially when a sync is inspired by something blowing up on TikTok.

Why This Matters (Besides Your Heart Rate Spiking)

• Accessibility Wins. No longer does music licensing feel like pulling teeth—it's more like hitting "Buy Now" if you’ve got metadata and rights in order.

• Indie Power — Upgraded. Even boutique rights-holders can tap into streaming's sync economy without losing ownership or needing big-label leverage.

• Data-Driven Placement. TikTok’s model rewards engagement data over quantity—so relevance trumps volume.

Snap Take: What You Should Know

TL;DR Takeaway

TikTok isn’t just a thirst trap for audio—it’s now a sync powerhouse. Whether you're sitting on vintage ambient grooves or modern indie gems, if your track can move hearts and meters—and has clean metadata—it might just move into high-velocity licensing.

Stay sharp, stay ready. And hey, if your song goes viral this week, don’t say we didn’t warn ya.


Dive into the future of the music business & media with American Music + Media:
Subscribe to stay informed, inspired & in the know:

American Music + Media

American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

> Follow us for the latest.
> Drop news and stories we need to know to our NEWS DESK - Tips & Story Ideas Submissions: https://bit.ly/AMMNewsDesk

American Music + Media — Where Music Meets the Screen

Neon. Speed. Light cycles slicing through the dark. And underneath it all, a score that doesn’t just hum in the background—it stalks you. TRON: Ares is coming to theaters on October 10, 2025, and Disney handed the keys to the soundtrack over to… NINE. INCH. NAILS.

That’s right—Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are back in film-score mode, but this time they’re not writing under their individual names. For the first time ever, the credits will read: Score by NINE INCH NAILS. That’s more than a branding choice—it’s a creative permission slip. In Reznor’s own words, going in as NIN meant “playing by different rules.” Translation: they ditched the orchestral safety net, went all-in on sexy synthetic textures, and weren’t afraid to make it ugly when it needed to be.

The result? A lean, precise, sometimes “unpleasant” sonic assault — exactly what director Joachim Rønning wanted to slam against the clean geometry of “The Grid” and the grit of the real world.

What’s Coming—and When

• Lead single: “As Alive as You Need Me to Be” dropped July 17, 2025. Think metallic synths colliding with ’80s electro-retro, then funneled through NIN’s industrial venom. Co-written and co-produced with Boys Noize, it’s already laced into the trailer—and it hits.

• Full soundtrack: Tron: Ares (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) arrives September 19, 2025 via Interscope Records. Twenty-four tracks. No filler. All NIN, all Grid.

How It Stacks in TRON History

The sonic lineage here is serious. Wendy Carlos’ 1982 score put synths on the map for sci-fi. Daft Punk’s 2010 Legacy soundtrack turned it into a cult obsession. Now, NIN is taking the franchise into darker, more dangerous territory—industrial precision instead of glowing nostalgia.

Some fans weren’t sure—Daft Punk is sacred ground—but after San Diego Comic-Con footage paired with the new track, skepticism turned into sold-out hype. One critic even admitted the fit might be better than Legacy.

Meet the Music Department

The credits on IMDb read like a who’s-who of the people who make sure every beat lands exactly where it should:

• Featuring music from: Nine Inch Nails

• Composers: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

• Music Editors: Sally Boldt, Timeri Duplat, Nicholas Fitzgerald, Andy Patterson, Del Spiva

• Music Coordinator (Walt Disney Studios): Jon Bower

• Music Research: Ray Plaza

This is the crew that took the raw industrial voltage of NIN and wired it clean into Disney’s machine.

Why It Matters

The score is a character. The pulse you feel in your chest when a light cycle screams past? That’s the music, doing its job. The jagged edges? Intentional. The absence of lush strings? Absolutely on purpose.

With Ares, Disney isn’t just reviving a franchise—it’s rebooting its heartbeat. And with NIN behind the wheel, it’s not a gentle pulse. It’s a weapon.

Dive into the future of the music business & media with American Music + Media

Subscribe to stay informed, inspired & in the know:

American Music + Media

American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

> Follow us @americanmusicmedia for the latest.
> Drop news and stories we need to know to our NEWS DESK - Tips & Story Ideas Submissions: https://bit.ly/AMMNewsDesk

American Music + Media — Where Music Meets the Screen

The first of our new series: AMM Locked: Upcoming Film Releases
Tomorrow on American Music + Media: we’re jacking into TRON: Ares and the industrial thunder of Nine Inch Nails. First-ever NIN film score under the band name. No strings, no safety net—just pure, precise, synthetic grit. Full breakdown, insider credits, and why this soundtrack might just outshine Daft Punk’s legacy.

Drops tomorrow, August 21st — only on American Music + Media.

Dive into the future of the music business & media with American Music + Media:
Subscribe to stay informed, inspired & in the know: @americanmusicmedia

American Music + Media

American Music + Media: Where Music Meets The Screen AMM is a trade publication dedicated to the business of sync licensing, publishing, rights, and brand partnerships — covering the essential connection of music and visual media.

#TRONAres #NineInchNails #FilmMusic #Score #AMM #AmericanMusicMedia

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