And The Update Is… Rap Lyrics Banned in Court, AI Deals Stalling, and a $64B UMG Bombshell
And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan
And The Writer Is
4.9 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 10 April 2026
⏱️ 4 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Every week, And the Writer Is brings you the most important news moving through the music industry — straight, sharp, and no fluff. This week: Maryland just passed the RAP Act, making it illegal to use rap lyrics as courtroom evidence, potentially setting the stage for federal law. Suno's licensing negotiations with Sony and Universal have stalled, leaving major AI royalty questions unresolved. And Pershing Square submitted a $64 billion bid for Universal Music Group, revealing just how undervalued the music industry is to outside investors. Plus: Ticketmaster's face value integration, HYBE's new Indian girl group audition, and moves at Warner. Follow us on socials and don't miss our new episodes every Tuesday — the hottest conversations in music, with the people making it.
This week:
- Maryland passes the RAP Act — rap lyrics can no longer be used as courtroom evidence
- Pershing Square submits a $64B bid for Universal Music Group
- Suno's licensing talks with Sony and Universal stall over AI royalties
- Ticketmaster partners with Cash or Trade on face value resale integration
- HYBE auditions for a new Indian girl group as Asian streaming dominance grows
- Myles Gersh promoted at Warner — the exec who signed Zach Bryan
- Taylor Swift resigns with Warner Chappell
- Lasso signs to Interscope Records
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ladies and gentlemen, we are back, and the writer is used to release a weekly news update, |
| 0:17.6 | and so we are bringing it to you. |
| 0:20.7 | Some news around the music industry this week of |
| 0:23.3 | April 6th. The most important news of course was that my birthday was April 8th. So happy birthday |
| 0:28.6 | to me. But actually breaking news this morning, Maryland has passed a law, the rap act, |
| 0:36.3 | that would make it illegal for prosecutors to use rap lyrics |
| 0:41.6 | against defendants that should hopefully set a stage for a federal law that would follow that. |
| 0:50.6 | Congratulations, Dina Lapult and the team who push for that. |
| 0:56.1 | The biggest news of the industry this week that people are talking about is Pershing Square submitted a $64 billion bid for a Universal |
| 1:01.7 | Music Group. What's most interesting about that is that it shows how the company is highly |
| 1:08.1 | undervalued and despite their strong performance. So I think the, there are still |
| 1:16.5 | outside investors looking at the music industry as a distressed asset. Fascinating to watch |
| 1:25.3 | what happens there. Soono's licensing negotiation with major labels has stalled. |
| 1:30.5 | They, you know, of course, did their deal Warner, |
| 1:32.7 | but they have not progressed their deals with Sony and Universal, |
| 1:37.7 | which leaves a lot of key questions about how their royalty system is unresolved. |
| 1:43.5 | We will see how that pans out, as they say, with AI, that it's like Ozempic. |
| 1:50.6 | Everyone uses it, just people don't want to admit it out loud. |
| 1:55.6 | So Tickamaster teamed up with cash or trade on face value resale integration. Fascinating because this is what |
| 2:03.9 | artists have been pushing for is that to reduce scalping and bots, you know, to bring it back to |
| 2:11.9 | the cost of a ticket, you know. This is about fans. It's about fans. It, about artists. It's not about bots making more money |
| 2:20.1 | and scalpers outside of the United States and other regions trying to sell you tickets against |
... |
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