This week, Deezer revealed that nearly a third of all tracks uploaded to its platform are now fully AI-generated, marking a dramatic surge to over 30,000 AI tracks daily.
Meanwhile, Spotify finally launched its long-awaited lossless audio feature for Premium subscribers in select markets, though it’s not part of a rumored super-premium tier.
Elsewhere, TikTok’s SoundOn distribution platform, which has seen over 1.1 million artists register to access its services since launching in 2022, is expanding into Germany.
Also this week, a US Appeals Court temporarily reinstated copyright official Shira Perlmutter after blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to remove her from office.
Plus, we learned that US streaming subscriptions hit 105.3 million in H1 2025, but recorded music revenue was up by less than 1% YoY.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…
1. NEARLY A THIRD OF ALL TRACKS UPLOADED TO DEEZER ARE NOW FULLY AI-GENERATED, SAYS PLATFORM
Fully AI-generated music now constitutes 28% of all tracks delivered to Deezer each day, according to new data from the French streaming service.
The platform says it now receives over 30,000 fully AI-generated tracks daily, marking a sharp increase from the 20,000 figure it reported in April and the 10,000 it disclosed in January when it first launched its proprietary AI detection tool. According to Deezer, up to 70% of plays for these fully AI-generated tracks have been detected as fraudulent, with the company filtering these streams out of royalty payments.
Although fully AI-generated music currently accounts for only around 0.5% of all streams on Deezer, the platform believes the primary purpose of uploading these tracks is fraudulent activity rather than genuine creative expression.
“Following a massive increase during the year, AI music now makes up a significant part of the daily track delivery to music streaming and we want to lead the way in minimizing any negative impact for artists and fans alike,” said Alexis Lanternier, CEO of Deezer… (MBW)
2. SPOTIFY IS FINALLY LAUNCHING LOSSLESS – BUT IT’S NOT PART OF A ‘SUPER PREMIUM’ TIER
Spotify has finally added lossless audio to its platform.
The new feature comes amid Spotify’s ongoing efforts to develop a new “super-Premium” tier, possibly branded as “Music Pro,” previously reported to be launching as soon as this year.
Despite reports that the company would likely gate lossless behind a higher-priced subscription tier, the feature will be available for Premium subscribers starting Wednesday (September 10) in select markets. The rollout arrived a couple of weeks after Spotify launched a direct message feature inside its app, which the platform said is meant to make sharing music and other content easier.
A big question the wider music industry will be asking this week is whether these new features, direct messaging and lossless audio, could one day become perks of a pricier ‘super Premium’ subscription tier…. (MBW)
3. OVER 1 MILLION ARTISTS HAVE REGISTERED WITH TIKTOK’S SOUNDON. NOW IT’S EXPANDING INTO GERMANY.
TikTok’s SoundOn has seen over 1.1 million artists register to access its services since launching in 2022.
Now, the platform is launching in Germany, the world’s fourth-largest recorded music market.
The Germany roll-out marks the distribution and services platform’s latest expansion following its initial launch in markets such as the UK, US, Brazil and Indonesia, and Australia.
According to its website, SoundOn currently counts 1.158 million “partners and growing”. MBW understands this to mean artists who have registered (i.e. signed up) on the platform.
Of these registered artists, TikTok noted, SoundOn has seen “hundreds of thousands” of acts release music and generate revenue on the platform… (MBW)
4. TOP US COPYRIGHT OFFICIAL SHIRA PERLMUTTER REINSTATED, AS APPEALS COURT BLOCKS FIRING BY TRUMP
A US federal Appeals court has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to remove Shira Perlmutter from her position as the Register of Copyrights and Director of the US Copyright Office. The injunction pending appeal, filed on Tuesday (September 10), temporarily reinstates Perlmutter and prevents the Trump administration from installing Executive Branch officials to run the Library of Congress and the Copyright Office.
The saga around Perlmutter’s ousting started in May 2025 after the Trump Administration fired Carla D. Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, and replaced her with Todd Blanche, the Deputy Attorney General with the Department of Justice.
Blanche then immediately fired Perlmutter and replaced her with Paul Perkins, an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the DoJ. The Appeals Court’s 2-1 decision rules that Perlmutter’s removal in May was likely unlawful and temporarily restores her as Register of Copyrights while the case continues. “The President does not have the authority to remove the Register of Copyrights or to install his own officials to run the nation’s library,” said Brian Netter, Legal Director at Democracy Forward… (MBW)
5. US STREAMING SUBSCRIPTIONS HIT 105.3M IN H1 2025, BUT RECORDED MUSIC REVENUE WAS UP BY LESS THAN 1% YOY
The United States’ recorded music industry saw revenue growth of just 0.9% YoY in the first half of 2025.
That’s according to the new data published by the RIAA on Tuesday (September 9), which shows the United States generated USD $5.59 billion in wholesale recorded music revenue in the six months to end of June.
(Unlike previous years, the RIAA has shifted to reporting industry revenues on a wholesale, rather than retail, basis. This represents actual revenue flowing to music companies rather than total consumer (retail) spending, but makes comparisons with earlier years more complicated.)
One positive stat: There were 105.3 million total paid premium music subscriptions in the period, up 6.3 million YoY.
That +6.3 million YoY net growth was significantly higher than the equivalent growth seen in H1 2024 (+2.5m)… (MBW)
Partner message: MBW’s Weekly Round-up is supported by BMI, the global leader in performing rights management, dedicated to supporting songwriters, composers and publishers and championing the value of music. Find out more about BMI here. Music Business Worldwide
