DEALS
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Irish song rights collecting society IMRO has partnered with music recognition tech company Audoo. “IMRO continuously invests in new technologies and services to ensure faster and more accurate royalty payments, providing the best service to members”, says Chief Commercial Officer Seán Donegan. “Partnering with Audoo adds another layer of advanced technological tools and music usage data, ensuring IMRO distributions are as precise as possible”.
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Budde Music has announced a new agreement with songwriter Billy Mann. Confirming his new deal with the music publisher, Mann bigs up the “entrepreneurial spirit that the entire team consistently demonstrate towards their songwriters. They share my passion and competitive spirit for songs and possess a tenacious, independent mentality – with the results to prove it. I look forward to learning from them in this next chapter”.
LEGAL
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has asked for two of his companies to be removed as defendants on one of the sexual assault lawsuits against him. Bad Boy Entertainment and Combs Enterprises are named on a suit filed by Joi Dickerson-Neal over an alleged rape. However, he says that neither company was in existence in 1991 when the attack is alleged to have taken place. “Furthermore, even if the company defendants existed at that time, no allegations of wrongdoing are pled against them”, his filing states.
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A new York judge has denied former model Jeanne Bellino’s request to amend her dismissed sexual assault lawsuit against Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. She proposed filing the lawsuit under the Gender Motivated Violence Protection Law, which came into effect 25 years after the alleged assault in 1975. The judge said that the law is not applied retroactively, so the allegations are outside the statute of limitations.
LIVE BUSINESS
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New Manchester arena venue Co-op Live has assured ticketholders that its opening night will be A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s show tomorrow night. The venue was supposed to open last week, but issues with its power supply meant that all events were postponed, resulting in the resignation of General Manager Gary Roden.
INDUSTRY PEOPLE
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Music producer and entrepreneur Vikram Gudi has founded Lila, a company aiming to improve the inclusion of South Asian talent in the UK music industry. “The idea of Lila has been in the back of my mind throughout my music career”, says Gudi. “I’ve always known that I wanted to do something more, after seeing a distinct lack of funding, initiatives and the infrastructure for South Asian musicians and music professionals. There’s an overwhelming amount of South Asian talent in the UK, and we want Lila to act as an accelerator”.
GIGS & FESTIVALS
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Billie Eilish has announced UK and Ireland tour dates in July 2025, including a six night run at the O2 Arena in London. Tickets go on general sale on Friday.
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Composer Max Richter and film and television composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer are among the new line-up additions to The Other Songs Live. The event in aid of The BRIT School, The Ivors Academy Trust and Nordoff & Robbins takes place on 20 May at the London Palladium.
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Overmono have announced a show at London’s Brixton Academy on 11 Oct. Tickets go on general sale on Friday.
RELEASES
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Eivør has released new single ‘Hugsi Bert Um Teg / Still Just You’. Her new album ‘ENN’ is out on 14 Jun.
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Patrick Higgins has released ‘Versus’, the title track from his new album, which is set for release on 12 Jul.
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Faux Real have released new single ‘Love On The Ground’. Their debut album ‘Faux Ever’ is out on 11 Oct.