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Music Industry News 2025
by Alex Cosper

Cumulus Media Accuses Nielsen Ratings as Monopolistic

Cumulus Media, which owns several hundred radio stations in America, announced it has filed a federal lawsuit against TV and radio ratings technology provider Nielsen for charging inflated prices. Nielsen ratings information dominates radio industry data, as Cumulus accuses the researcher of blocking competitors. Advertisers use radio ratings to determine purchasing schedules on specific stations that target their markets. The suit asks the judicial system to prevent Nielsen from continuing its current business practices.



Industry Plants Identified by Music Critic

Online music critic Jay Diggs posted an analysis video on October 2, 2025 about "5 Levels of Industry Plant." He explains how the pool of pop stars has become shallow in the sense real artists are drowned out by market hype and born-connected artists who are allowed to fail until they sell. Those 5 levels are: Organic Plant, The Obvious, The Puppet, Nepo Baby and The Superplant.



FTC Sues Live Nation and Ticketmaster Over Ticket Pricing

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced in early October 2025 it was suing concert giant Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster over deceptive pricing practices. This video hosted by Ari Herstand features an interview with Stephen Parker, Executive Director of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). The organization represents over 1,500 venues in the United States. This discussion examines how the two companies may be broken up due to monopolistic implications, as the parent company controls 80 percent of the concert ticketing market.



Documentary on Why Artists are Broke

MocoWAVE has produced a documentary about why recording artists in the music industry are broke. Several notable artists appear in the video. Snoop Dogg, for example, notes that even though he's gotten a billion streams on Spotify, it's only translated to $45,000 in revenue. Some artists point out that the biggest checks still come from terrestrial radio airplay, not so much online. The documentary emphasizes that artists are stage to pose as rich as part of their marketing, but many are broke and in debt and cannot afford to buy a home.



How AI is Changing YouTube

Tech analyst Kate Cassidy explains how AI is changing the YouTube experience for viewers and listeners. What is now called "AI slop" is widespread on the internet and threatens to lower the quality of video content while exploiting quantity. YouTube, however, is working on demonetizing mass-produced videos using AI technology. Even so, there's a sense that YouTube content is declining and becoming more robotic than human.

Wyclef Jean at OpenWav Creates New Opportunities for Indie Artists

R&B recording artist Wyclef Jean is now Chief Music Officer of the new music streaming platform OpenWav, which launched over the summer. "The music industry is broken," Jean said in September 2025 at a Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference. The firm's CEO and co-founder Jaeson Ma pointed out recently that it takes a million streams on Spotify to get $3,000, which he called a rip-off. He calls that a broken business model for the music industry and wants to counter the problem with a direct-to-fan music platform. He has further observed that "the algorithms are not rewarding music."

Ma thinks all an indie artist needs to succeed are 1,000, not a million, fans. This concept of "super fans" has permeated the past decade about the music/tech community. Spotify even attempted to harvest the idea in 2018 but was discouraged by the major labels, who feared it would cut into sales. Read more about OpenWav in this recent Tech Crunch article.

Spotify Faces Criticism on Music Industry Imbalances

Musician Mary Spender released a new music industry commentary video on May 12, 2025, giving her views on how "Spotify vampires are killing music." Her opinion is that only a handful of well-known major label artists are making a good living off Spotify streams. The company's system favors these artists while indie artists remain obscure. She explains how 296 songs reached a billion streams in 2024 but only 13 were released that year.



YouTuber Debunks Myths About Music Quality vs Streams

Independent artists who get low Spotify streams are told by music industry veterans like Bob Lefsetz that it's "because their music sucks." But that's just a myth that overlooks the reality that those who get the most streams on Spotify are major label acts with the benefit of expensive promotion. YouTube channel "Keys To The Castle Music" hosted by Tony Romano gives an interesting and valuable commentary on this issue.

Spotify Reports Rising Revenue and Subscribers

Sweden-based music streaming company Spotify announced its 2024 fourth quarter earnings on February 4, 2025. Total revenue increased 16% year-over-year to $4.24 billion, while the subscriber base grew 11% to 263 million. The stock price jumped from $549 to $608 at the next session's open and climbed to an all-time high of $652 on February 13 before pulling back. The good news for Spotify was that 2024 marked its first full-year of profit. The company was founded by Daniel Ek in 2006 and went public in April 2018.

Recording Artists Who Died in 2025

• Pop singer Wayne Osmond of The Osmonds died January 1, 2025 at 73 of a stroke
• 1960s soul singer Brenton Wood died January 3, 2025 at 83
• Folk legend Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary died January 7, 2025 at 86 of bladder cancer
• Sam Moore of Sam & Dave died January 10, 2025 at 89 following surgery
• Garth Hudson, keyboardist and saxophonist of The Band, died January 21, 2025 at 87
• Barry Goldberg, who co-founded The Electric Flag,
died January 22, 2025 at 83
• Anthony Platt, aka rapper Unk, died January 24, 2025 at 43
• Pop singer Marianne Faithful died January 30, 2025 at 78
• Drummer Rick Butler of The Jam died February 17, 2025 at 75
• Percussionist Jamie Muir of King Crimson died February 17, 2025 at 82
• Singer Jerry Butler of The Impressions died February 20, 2025 at 85
• R&B singer Gwen McCrae died February 21, 2025 at 81
• Singer/songwriter/musician Roberta Flack died February 24, 2025 at 88
• Hit artist Robert John died February 24, 2025 at 79
• New York Dolls singer David Johansen died February 28, 2025 at 75
• R&B singer Angie Stone died March 1, 2025 at 63 in an automobile accident
• Guitarist Joey Molland of Badfinger died March 1, 2025 at 77
• R&B singer Angie Stone died March 1, 2025 at 63 in an automobile accident
• Brian James, guitarist of The Damned and Lords of the New Church died March 6, 2025 at 70
• Tony! Toni! Tone! founding member D'Wayne Wiggins died March 7, 2025 at 64
• Parody songwriter Bob Rivers died March 11, 2025 at 68
• Singer/songwriter Jesse Colin Young of The Youngbloods died March 16, 2025 at 83
• Gang of Four bassist Dave Allen died April 5, 2025 at 69
• Blondie and Ramones drummer Clem Burke died April 7, 2025 at 70
• Vocalist Lenny Welch died April 8, 2025 at 86
• Nino Tempo of The Wrecking Crew died April 12, 2025 at 90
• The Alarm vocalist Mike Peters died of cancer April 29, 2025 at 66
• Singer/songwriter Jill Sobule died in a house fire May 1, 2025 at 66
• Country singer Johnny Rodriguez died May 9, 2025 at 73
• McCoys singer and rock musician Rick Derringer died May 26, 2025 at 77
• Atlantic Starr vocalist and keyboardist Wayne Lewis died June 5, 2025 at 68
• Sly & The Family Stone singer Sylvester Stewart aka Sly Stone died June 9, 2025 at 82
• Nitzer Ebb vocalist Douglas McCarthy died June 11, 2025 at 58
• Beach Boys vocalist/songwriter Brian Wilson died June 11, 2025 at 82
• Pop singer Lou Christie died June 18, 2025 at 82
• Guitarist/songwriter Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople and Bad Company died June 23, 2025 at 81
• Jazz composer/conductor Lalo Schifrin died June 26, 2025 at 93
• Co-founder Walter Scott of R&B group The Whispers died June 26, 2025 at 81
• Pop singer Connie Francis died July 16, 2025 at 87
• Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne died July 22, 2025 at 76
• Jazz musician Chuck Mangione died July 22, 2025 at 84
• Turtles guitarist and backing vocalist Mark Volman died September 5, 2025 at 78
• Supertramp founder and keyboardist Rick Davies died September 6, 2025 at 81
• Pop songwriter Bobby Hart of Boyce and Hart died September 10, 2025 at 86
• Crickets, Mary Tyler Moore Show theme songwriter Sonny Curtis died September 19, 2025 at 88
• Producer Ike Turner Jr (son of early rock artist) died October 4, 2025 at 67
• Moody Blues singer/bassist John Lodge died October 10, 2025 at 82
• Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley died October 16, 2025 at 74
• Soft Cell producer David Ball died October 22, 2025 at 66
• Jazz composer Ray Drummond died November 1, 2025 at 78
• Grateful Dead backing vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux died November 2, 2025 at 78
• Reggae singer Jimmy Cliff died November 24, 2025 in 81
• Booker T & The MGs musician Steve Cropper died December 3, 2025 at 84
• R&B singer Carl Carlton died of a stroke December 14, 2025 at 72
• Singer/songwriter Chris Rea died December 22, 2025 at 74
• Warner Brothers executive Howie Klein died December 24, 2025 at 77

2025 Grammys Show Falls to 15 Million Viewers

The 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards Show was broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 2, 2025. Like last year, the event was hosted by Trevor Noah. The show only attracted 15.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen, an 8% decrease from 2024, which drew 16.9 million viewers. Big winners of the night were Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar.

RECORD OF THE YEAR: Kendrick Lamar - "Not Like Us"
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Beyonce - Cowboy Carter
SONG OF THE YEAR: Kendrick Lamar - "Not Like Us"
BEST NEW ARTIST: Chappell Roan
BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE: Sabrina Carpenter - "Expresso"
BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM: Sabrina Carpenter - Short N' Sweet
BEST ROCK ALBUM: Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds
BEST ROCK SONG: Annie Clark - "Broken Man"
BEST R&B ALBUM: Chris Brown - 11:11 (Deluxe)
BEST R&B SONG: Songwriters Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, Solana Rowe, Jared Solomon, Scott Zhang - "Saturn"
BEST RAP ALBUM: Doechii - Alligator Bites Never Heal
BEST RAP SONG: Kendrick Lamar - "Not Like Us"
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM: Beyonce - Cowboy Carter
BEST COUNTRY SONG: Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves, Josh Osborne - "The Architect"
BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM: Samara Joy - A Joyful Holiday
BEST JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM: Chick Corea and Bela Fleck - Remembrance



Paul McCartney Warns AI Copyright Issues Could Hurt Creativity

Paul McCartney said in an interview January 26, 2025 with BBC Sunday host Laura Kuenssberg he was concerned about how AI can infringe on the copyrights of creators. "When we were kids in Liverpool," the ex-Beatle reflected, "we found a job that we loved, but it also paid the bills. So it allowed us to be creative ... and bring joy to people." The songwriter warned that not protecting copyrights takes incentive away from artists and could lead to loss of creativity.

In February that The Beatles won a Grammy for "Best Rock Performance" for its single "Now and Then," which used AI to revive a 1970 demo recorded by John Lennon. "I think AI is great," McCartney said, "So it has its uses. But my worry is in this rip-off area .. I think I'm on the internet singing 'God Only Knows' by The Beach Boys, but I never sang it, but AI made me sing it. So somebody's getting some sort of payoff there and it's not me, I'm not interested."

Audacy CEO David Field Resigns

David Field, who served as Audacy's president and CEO through its volatile ride into bankruptcy as a publicly-traded radio chain, resigned in late January 2025. The company, once called Entercom, at one time was worth billions in market capitalization, but announced Chapter 11 proceedings in early 2024. At its height, Entercom borrowed cash to purchase CBS Radio in 2017, but the acquisition contributed to rising debt. Field's father Joseph Field founded the company in 1968.

In October 2024 the FCC approved a deal for investor George Soros to purchase Audacy, which owns about 220 radio stations. Soros became the company's largest shareholder after agreeing to assume $400 million of the company's debt for 50 cents on the dollar. The company continues to have 20% foreign ownership taking on its debt. The transaction is through a Soro-funded nonprofit firm based in Delaware called Fund for Policy Reform. One of the four board members is George Soros' son Alexander Soros.

This FCC approval occurred during President Biden's term as the FCC chair was democrat Jessica Rosenworcel. In January 2025 the new FCC chair became republican Brendan Carr under President Trump. Republican congress members since then have raised questions about the deal since Soros is a donor to democrats. Carr has told the press the approval was rushed at the tail-end of the Biden term without conducting standard investigations, to ensure approval. At the end of Biden's term, he presented Soros with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's top civilian honor.

See 2024 Music News



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