
Gatefolded launches as a dedicated platform that lets musicians share music both publicly with fans and privately with labels, media and collaborators. Founder Jasen Samford, a former DistroKid executive, built the service after hearing workflow frustrations from thousands of artists. The app costs $49 per year, offering unlimited track storage, password‑protected private pages, and built‑in tipping via Venmo, PayPal and Cash App. Integrated analytics track listens, page views, downloads and access logs, giving creators real‑time insight into audience engagement.
Music Ally’s Sandbox Guide titled “Vibe coding for music marketers” introduces a new methodology that converts audio characteristics into actionable audience insights. The guide, part of a series released ten times a year, combines case studies, expert interviews, and benchmark...

Taylor Swift’s *The Life of a Showgirl* topped the IFPI’s 2025 global album‑sales chart with 6.05 million units, despite ranking only eighth in streaming. The album’s strength came from 2.34 million vinyl copies, far outpacing the nearest competitor. Asian acts, especially K‑Pop, dominated...
Virgin Music Group, the Universal Music Group subsidiary, closed its $775 million acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings after securing European Commission approval. The deal elevates VMG’s footprint in the independent music services market, adding Downtown’s 5,000 business clients and four million...

Music‑marketing startup Plates captured the top prize at Music Ally’s SI:X startup contest. The platform offers a unified dashboard that aggregates artist streams, followers, and growth metrics across a label’s entire roster. Built‑in AI features, including a chatbot, deliver instant...

Google has integrated DeepMind’s Lyria 3 generative‑music model into its Gemini app, expanding the multimodal AI assistant’s capabilities to include music creation. The update reaches Gemini’s more than 750 million monthly active users, allowing them to generate 30‑second tracks from text, images...

Social music‑remixing platform Hook announced a $10 million Series A round, led by Khosla Ventures with participation from Waverley Capital, Point72 and Imaginary Ventures. The funding comes as the app’s licensed catalogue has expanded to over 20 million tracks and its user base...

Openstage is extending its Ticket Unlocks platform, which uses fan data to prioritize ticket access, to a broader roster of artists after successful pilots with superstars like Bad Bunny and Radiohead. The system validates fan profiles, blocks bots, and lets artists...

Social music‑remixing startup Hook announced a $10 million Series A funding round led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Waverley Capital, Point72 Ventures and Imaginary Ventures. The capital will fund the launch of an Android app, new community‑driven features and expanded video...

New South Wales has introduced the Music Bill 2026, a pioneering legislative package aimed at safeguarding grassroots music venues. The bill establishes a Sound NSW advisory board and an accreditation system that classifies venues as dedicated, significant or live‑music spaces....

Round is hiring an Account Manager for its Influencer Marketing team in London, targeting music and entertainment clients. The role involves leading creator campaigns on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts while managing client relationships and presenting strategic decks. Candidates...

TikTok and Apple Music have launched a beta “Play Full Song” feature that lets Apple Music subscribers stream entire tracks inside the TikTok app, generating standard royalties. The button opens a full‑screen player powered by Apple’s MusicKit APIs and is...