Spotify has landed a major airline partnership, securing placement across United’s more than 680 aircraft fleet.

The deal gives Spotify access to over 130,000 seatback entertainment screens, allowing the company to showcase its video and audio podcasts, audiobooks, and playlists for free to millions of travelers annually.

In 2024, United carried 173.6 million passengers, up 5.3% from a year earlier. According to Airways magazine, United is the largest airline in the world based on available seat miles, which represent an airline’s total passenger-carrying capacity.

Following the Spotify integration, Spotify will appear as a new content option in in-flight screens of more than 680 United aircraft, replacing “audio” under the home menu. Over the coming months, most of United’s fleet will receive a dedicated Spotify featured channel where all Spotify content — songs, podcasts, video podcasts, audiobooks and playlists — will be housed together.

United explains that from 2026, passengers will be able to log into the Spotify app on the in-flight entertainment screen of using their personal devices, allowing them to enjoy personalized content on Starlink-equipped aircraft

Live music giant Live Nation plans to invest $1 billion in 18 new and renovated venues across the US over the next 18 months, stressing the positive impact of the investment on the US economy.

The new or refurbed venues, ranging in size from intimate clubs to large amphitheaters, are in markets ranging in size from large cities like Denver, Pittsburgh and Seattle, to smaller markets like Allentown, Pennsylvania, Birmingham, Alabama, and Riverside, Missouri.

It’s part of Live Nation’s ongoing strategy to build a network of owned-and-operated venues, of which the company now owns 150 in the US, or about 4% of all music venues across the country.

The idea for the venue investment is to bring “more big shows to smaller cities across America,” Live Nation said in a statement on Tuesday (June 10).

“Our mission is simple: help artists deliver more unforgettable live experiences – and in doing so, create jobs, revive cities, and lift up the communities we touch,” CEO Michael Rapino said.

“As an American company, we drive impact here at home while also helping elevate and export the very best of what this nation represents: freedom, creativity, grit, and boundless possibility.”

Anthem Music Publishing has acquired the song catalog of the late country singer-songwriter Marty Robbins.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition covers Robbins’ hits from a career that spanned the late 1940s through the early 1980s, including more than 500 songs released across 72 albums.

The catalog includes Big Iron, which climbed to No. 5 on the US Country chart in 1960 and peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was featured in the 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas. The Western Writers of America ranked it 11th among Western songs of all time.

The Coca-Cola Company has deepened its long-running involvement in the music business, launching a new record label in partnership with Universal Music Group.

Dubbed real thing records., the “genre-agnostic” label will focus on elevating emerging talent from around the world and deepening the connection between artists and fans, Coca-Cola said in a statement on Wednesday (June 11).

The plan is to leverage UMG’s leading position in artist development and its global network of labels and partners, combining it with Coca-Cola’s reach and cultural influence.

The new label has already announced its first two signings, both of whom are already signed to UMG-affiliated labels: French-New Zealand artist Max Allais (Better Now Records/Universal Music Germany) and Indian singer-songwriter and producer Aksomaniac (Def Jam Recordings India/Universal Music India).

Given the lacklustre growth in US recorded music revenues last year, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if music publishing revenues also showed signs of weakening.

But that hasn’t happened. New numbers from the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) show that publishing revenue growth actually accelerated in 2024, compared to the year before, rising 13.41% to $7.039 billion.

That marks a notable increase from the 10.7% growth rate seen in 2023, and it marks the 10th consecutive year of double-digit music publishing revenue growth in the US, NMPA President and CEO David Israelite told the audience at the trade organization’s annual general meeting on Wednesday (June 11).

“To put that in perspective, consider this: Just 10 years ago, the recorded music industry was 220% larger than the music publishing industry. Today, it’s just 60% larger,” Israelite said.

Five trade groups representing South Korea’s K-pop industry have warned that the ongoing dispute between HYBE, its label ADOR, and K-pop girl NJZ, formerly known as NewJeans, could destabilize the industry if it sets a precedent.

The groups urged the government to take action against “tampering” – the practice of attempting to poach artists who are under an exclusive contract.

“If tampering attempts succeed, Korea’s entertainment management industry will collapse,” the groups said in a statement issued Wednesday, as quoted by The Korea Times.

“This issue extends beyond domestic disputes — foreign capital could step in and take over the K-pop industry entirely.”

The groups behind the statement are the Korea Management Federation, the Korea Entertainment Producer’s Association, the Record Label Industry Association of Korea, the Recording Industry Association of Korea, and the Korea Music Content Association.

While the groups didn’t directly allege that tampering has occurred in the case of NewJeans – who rebranded themselves as NJZ earlier this month – their statement did reference news reports last fall alleging that Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of ADOR and the person credited with creating NewJeans, had attempted to lure the group away from ADOR.