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Musixmatch Launches Pro for Labels — Why Lyrics Are Becoming Valuable Artist Data

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Musixmatch launched Pro for Labels on September 2 to help labels manage and distribute lyrics at scale. The move highlights why accurate lyrics and metadata increasingly affect discovery and fan engagement. Independent artists obsess over the master. Good. They should. But after the WAV is finished, an entire layer of information still determines how the song moves through the internet. Title. Writers. Credits. Lyrics. Translations. Identifiers. Metadata. Today, Musixmatch launched Musixmatch Pro for Labels, a platform designed to let record companies manage, enrich and distribute lyrics across catalogs at scale. The company says the system is built for labels ranging from small independent rosters to organizations handling thousands of artists. On the surface this is software news. Underneath it is a bigger shift: Lyrics are becoming structured data. Lyrics Used to Be Packaging Remember CD booklets? Lyrics were something printed inside. Fans read along. Maybe l...
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BMG & Concord Complete Merger — What the New Global Music Company Means for Artists

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BMG and Concord completed their merger September 1, creating a larger global music company headquartered in Nashville. Bertelsmann owns roughly 67%, with Great Mountain Partners affiliates holding about 33%. Another giant piece of the music business just moved. On September 1, BMG and Concord officially completed their previously announced merger after receiving required regulatory approvals. The combined business will operate under the BMG name, with global headquarters in Nashville and a European headquarters in Berlin. Bertelsmann owns approximately 67% of the combined company, while affiliates of Great Mountain Partners own roughly 33%. As part of the transaction, Bertelsmann made a one-time $1.16 billion payment to Great Mountain Partners affiliates. Those are corporate numbers. The more interesting question for Born Evill is: Why does the music industry keep getting bigger while artists keep getting smaller and more independent? Both trends are happening simultaneously....
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Lalah Hathaway Announces Made in Chicago Album for October 1

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Lalah Hathaway has announced Made in Chicago, arriving October 1, alongside new single “Can’t Let Go.” The project draws directly from her Chicago roots and family history. Some artists spend their entire careers trying to become bigger than where they're from. Lalah Hathaway is going the opposite direction. The Grammy-winning singer has announced a new album titled Made in Chicago, scheduled for release October 1, and introduced the project with the new single “Can’t Let Go.” The song is built around the emotional pull of a relationship that's difficult to release, while the larger album connects Hathaway's current voice with the city and musical history that shaped her. The title immediately carries extra weight because Lalah is the daughter of the late Donny Hathaway, whose own relationship with Chicago became part of one of soul music's most important legacies. But Made in Chicago doesn't need to become a museum for her father's career. The stronger...
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Jason Isbell & Other Artists Sue Suno Over AI Copycats — Can Musicians Own Their Musical Identity?

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Jason Isbell, David Lowery, Guy Forsyth and Eduardo Calle have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Suno, alleging the AI music platform enables unauthorized imitation of artists’ identities and styles. The AI music fight just opened another door. And this one may eventually matter to rappers, singers and producers more personally than arguments over training data. Musicians including Jason Isbell, David Lowery, Guy Forsyth and Eduardo Calle have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against AI music platform Suno in Massachusetts federal court. Unlike several previous music-AI lawsuits centered heavily on copyright infringement, this case argues that Suno enables users to create music mimicking artists’ identities and distinctive characteristics without permission. Suno disputes the allegations and says its technology is designed to facilitate original music creation, with safeguards intended to prevent misuse. So let's make the legal status clear: These are alle...
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Busta Rhymes & J Dilla’s DILLAGENCE II Proves Legacy Rap Still Matters

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Now that the full album is here, Busta Rhymes and J Dilla have delivered the kind of hip-hop project the streaming era rarely makes room for: patient, personal, technically sharp, and completely uninterested in chasing the sound of the week. Released August 25, DILLAGENCE II brings Busta back together with the late Detroit production visionary across 19 tracks. The album follows their beloved 2007 mixtape Dillagence , but it feels like more than a sequel. It is a reminder that chemistry can survive changing eras—and, in this case, even survive the loss of one-half of the partnership. A Project Built on Trust, Not Trend-Chasing J Dilla died in 2006 at only 32, but the music he left behind has continued to influence generations of producers. According to The Associated Press , Dilla sent Busta Rhymes more than 300 beats during their friendship and working relationship. Busta did not rush to release everything. He kept much of that collection private and used it selectively. Th...
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Is Rap Releasing Too Much Music? How the Algorithm Changed the Album Cycle

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  Rappers are under constant pressure to release more music and stay visible. But could the algorithm-driven release cycle be making songs more disposable? There's a piece of advice independent rappers hear constantly: Drop more music. Didn't get enough streams? Drop again. Nobody watched the video? Drop again. Algorithm slowing down? Drop again. Haven't posted this week? What are you doing? Drop something. At some point we should ask whether this strategy is actually building careers—or simply producing more content for platforms. Complex's August 2026 ranking of the hottest active rappers unintentionally captures the pressure perfectly. In describing the current environment, the publication points to an overcrowded field, shrinking attention spans and unstable industry support, where active rappers increasingly release frequently and hope algorithms sort out what connects. That's understandable. It might also be destroying the lifespan of music. Music Used to Have...
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Post Malone’s August 26 Mixtape Is Finally Coming to Streaming After 10 Years

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 Post Malone’s 2016 debut mixtape August 26 is headed to streaming platforms for its 10th anniversary, preserving an important piece of his early career. Before the stadium tours, country records and global pop success, Post Malone was another young artist trying to figure out what he sounded like. That version of Post is about to become much easier to revisit. Complex reported on August 13 that Post Malone’s debut mixtape August 26 is finally headed to streaming , ten years after the project originally arrived during the period when his career was beginning to explode. For longtime listeners, this is nostalgia. For younger fans, it's history becoming accessible. And for independent artists, it's a reminder that early work can become much more important than it seemed when you made it. Mixtapes Used to Live Outside the System There was a period when mixtapes were essential to hip-hop discovery. DatPiff. Mixtape sites. Blogs. YouTube uploads. MediaFire links someb...
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