Picking Apart AI Hot Takes; Plus: The Lost Dust Brother

Why you probably shouldn't listen when an LLM tells you your business is cooked. Plus: Author Peter Relic opens the drapes on the life of late producer Matt Dike, of "Paul's Boutique" and Delicious Vinyl fame

The Hot 100’s First AI Doping Controversy is Here

Doubts hang over L.A. rapper Fenix Flexin’s “Rubberz.” But until the music industry agrees on standards for AI detection, we may be stuck in a he-said, she-said netherworld.

A Pocket Guide to Madison Square Garden's Surveillance Web

How James Dolan's venues accumulate tens of millions of eventgoer profiles.

Qobuz's Boom Shows the Spotify Backlash Isn't Just a Media Thing

Plus: The best sleeper record of 2026 so far

Welcome to Music's Snapchat Filter Era + Inside the Qobuz Buzz

The Anti-AI Album is Coming; plus: We Get Meta on the NYT Songwriters List

A Second Opinion on Blue Dot Fever; Plus: Ambushed by Vegas Elvis

Is Production Music "Toast"?

Apple Music Chief: We're Drowning in AI Music That No One Listens To

And optional labeling isn’t going to fix it

More Bots Blowback; Why Do Artists Hate Touring?; Peak Gen X at the Rock Hall

The Last Spotify Holdout; Plus: Coachella vs. Stagecoach Fan Buy-Off

"Streaming is Broken," says Breaking Rust Mastermind

Tracking Hot 100 Winners and Losers in Billboard's Post-YouTube World

Can Songwriters Get Some of That Anthropic Money?

Apple's AI Baby Steps + the Mighty Billy Preston

The Wildest Copyright Case in Music is Reaching a Critical Stage

A dancehall reggae production duo want credit for the beats to "Despacito," "Titi Me Preguntó," and 1800 other reggaetón songs; they'll soon find out if they have a shot

Spotify's Music Video Player is Worth a Toggle

Did Taylor Swift and Lyor Cohen Just Give the Music Streamers a Video Strategy?

The history of video on music streaming platforms is long, expensive and extremely uneven. But a feud between YouTube and Billboard -- and Taylor Swift's reaction to it -- might have changed things.

TikTok's Black Box, Plus: Napster is Back, and It's Weird

Why Did Music Docs Dip? + Our Favorite New Streamer

Is the World Making Fewer Music Fans? + Remembering James Bernard

Adventures in Music Fans' Shopping Habits

Holiday Special! Stems digs into whose fans dig what brands

Those AI Hits Are Coming From Inside The Building

Plus: The Associated Press Jacked Our Scoop!

Can Music Streamers Fend Off Peak AI Slop?

Exclusive: Is this Blanco Brown Songwriter the Man Behind AI Hitmaker Breaking Rust?