Music-Tech & Startups
Music Ally has a strong focus on music-tech, startups, and technology adjacent to music. This page pulls all of our coverage into one place. Like what you see? Every morning, our flagship Bulletin newsletter is sent to ambitious decision-makers all around the world. Sign up to receive it here!
QUICK LINKS
EVENTS
ANALYSIS
- Latest Analysis: Music-tech
- Latest Analysis: Startups
- Latest Analysis: AI
- Latest Analysis: Gaming
- Latest Analysis: Social platforms
- Latest Analysis: DSPs
REPORTS
- Insight Report: Music Tech
- Insight Report: DSPs
Latest music-tech stories
Ella Langley hosts TikTok in-app album experience
Country sensation Ella Langley is celebrating the release of her sophomore album ‘Dandelion’ with an in-app TikTok…
Spotify roll out its own AI-transparency feature in beta
Last September, Spotify announced a series of measures relating to AI music, spam and deepfakes. They included supporting…
Behind The Single: Justė, Jaxstyle, Jon – “Turn The Lights Off”
Track: Justė, Jaxstyle, Jon – “Turn The Lights Off”Released: 7 Nov 2025Label: Spinnin’ Records (Warner Music Group)…
Study explores how and why US teens use TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat
As moves for social-media bans for under-16s increase around the world, the US-based Pew Research Center has published…
Audiotool launches a global hackathon for music apps
Music-production firm Audiotool has unveiled ‘Let’s Build’, a series of online and in-person events designed as a…
Label vets reveal new ventures: 26.2, Joan of Arc, Cofvnders
The recent rounds of reorganisation within major labels have seen some big-name executives exit those companies –…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
SIGN UP NOW: FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
The Knowledge: free, fun*, and every Friday!
It’s your weekly mix of news, analysis, strategies, and insider tips from Music Ally. (Plus all the weird links & odd music we find online.) Sign up & impress your friends/boss/dog!
*actual levels of fun may vary wildly
Latest music-tech insight report
Music Ally Insight Report :: Startups 2025
Welcome to Music Ally’s music-tech startups Insight Report for 2025. As in previous years, this report aligns with our annual startup showcase, contest and mentorship support program, Music Ally SI:X, which is supported this year by Amazon Music, ASCAP Lab, Push Entertainment, Reed Smith LLP, Rock Paper Scissors, and Universal Music Group Digital Innovation. Each…
Read full report >>LATEST MUSIC-TECH NEWS – TOPIC FOCUS
Laufey is the headline artist for season 14 of Fortnite Festival
Fortnite’s in-game music game Festival is into its 14th season now, having originally launched in December 2023. As ever, the season has an artist as its headliner: Laufey is the star this…
Roblox to roll out ‘age-based accounts’ and new subscription
Roblox is excluded from Australia’s ban on social media for under-16s, but it’s very much part of the wider global conversation about children’s digital lives, potential harms and regulation. Its…
About those web3-metaverse land-plots that were so hot in 2022…
Remember the heyday of web3 metaverses? When Snoop Dogg was building a mansion in virtual world The Sandbox, followed by Warner Music Group?
Epic Games layoffs follow ‘downturn in Fortnite engagement’
Are things alright in Fortnite-land? Seemingly not, according to the announcement by its publisher, Epic Games, that it is laying off more than 1,000 staff. “The downturn in Fortnite engagement…
The Open Innovation CMO: Sacem Lab, New Tech, and Creator Tools – with Julien Lefebvre, Head of Innovation and SACEM Lab
Collective management is no longer just about collecting royalties; it’s about innovating infrastructure and offering direct services. In the second in a special series of Music Ally Focus we were…
Chaar Diwaari, Arpit Bala to play finale of Indian esports tournament College Rivals
Gaming has become a regular feature at Indian music festivals—NH7 Weekender and Sunburn being two prominent examples—so it’s no surprise that music is also becoming a highlight of esports events…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Spotify roll out its own AI-transparency feature in beta
Last September, Spotify announced a series of measures relating to AI music, spam and deepfakes. They included supporting – and, indeed, revealing for the first time – a new industry standard…
Audiotool launches a global hackathon for music apps
Music-production firm Audiotool has unveiled ‘Let’s Build’, a series of online and in-person events designed as a hackathon for music apps.
UMG’s Michael Nash sees ‘no audience’ for explosion in AI music
Universal Music Group’s digital chief Michael Nash sat down with Splice CEO Kakul Srivastava at last week’s HumanX AI conference, offering the latest insight into how both companies see the…
Report explores ‘streaming paradox’ for artists in five countries
The latest study exploring musicians’ views on the music-streaming economy comes from the Oxford Internet Institute and researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. They surveyed 1,200 musicians…
Chapter Two adds clients for Baltazar AI rights-analysis tool
Outside the GenAI-music arguments, there are plenty of other opportunities for AI technologies to be used positively by the music industry. For example, in the world of catalogue sales and…
Danish jazz artists rage at AI tracks released under their names
“I woke up one morning and saw a track with a horrible cover that says I’m a saxophonist – which I’m not. But it also says I produced this record…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Audiotool launches a global hackathon for music apps
Music-production firm Audiotool has unveiled ‘Let’s Build’, a series of online and in-person events designed as a hackathon for music apps.
Label vets reveal new ventures: 26.2, Joan of Arc, Cofvnders
The recent rounds of reorganisation within major labels have seen some big-name executives exit those companies – either as part of planned cuts, or because the time seemed right to…
Synclicity sees more sync opportunities for emerging artists
I’ve always been drawn to authentic storytelling. Sync is such a great opportunity to get our artists’ stories in front of a large audience.
Chapter Two adds clients for Baltazar AI rights-analysis tool
Outside the GenAI-music arguments, there are plenty of other opportunities for AI technologies to be used positively by the music industry. For example, in the world of catalogue sales and…
How CMOs are scaling globally, collaborating across industries, and rethinking the creator relationship
Music consumption today is borderless, but the systems that manage it have historically been national. Collective management organisations are undergoing their most significant transformation in decades. On one hand, they…
PassPass wants artists to join its real-world scavenger hunts
PassPass claims to be “the #1 viral giveaways platform in America” with its real-world scavenger hunts and contests. Now it wants to get more artists involved with its promotions. The startup…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Ella Langley hosts TikTok in-app album experience
Country sensation Ella Langley is celebrating the release of her sophomore album ‘Dandelion’ with an in-app TikTok experience. While commonplace for major artists, this highlights her rapid rise seeing as…
Behind The Single: Justė, Jaxstyle, Jon – “Turn The Lights Off”
Track: Justė, Jaxstyle, Jon – “Turn The Lights Off”Released: 7 Nov 2025Label: Spinnin’ Records (Warner Music Group) Rising 23-year-old Lithuanian DJ and producer Justė joins Danish singer and producer Jon…
Study explores how and why US teens use TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat
As moves for social-media bans for under-16s increase around the world, the US-based Pew Research Center has published an interesting new study on how and why teenagers use three key platforms: TikTok,…
Arguments rage over Chaotic Good, Geese and ‘trend simulation’
You may or may not like Geese (the band, not the birds). Their 1.8 million Spotify listeners and plenty of critical acclaim for their 2025 album ‘Getting Killed’ suggests plenty…
TikTok’s SoundOn is using ACRCloud to crack down on music fraud
An announcement last week by TikTok’s distribution arm SoundOn sounds dry, but it’s part of the bigger debate about distributors’ role in the spread of fake or infringing music on…
Meta launches new ad placement options
Meta recently unveiled a suite of updates including new Reels ad placement options, improved creator partnership discovery, and new AI creative tools. Reels trending ads – which enable ad placement…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Laufey is the headline artist for season 14 of Fortnite Festival
Fortnite’s in-game music game Festival is into its 14th season now, having originally launched in December 2023. As ever, the season has an artist as its headliner: Laufey is the star this…
Roblox to roll out ‘age-based accounts’ and new subscription
Roblox is excluded from Australia’s ban on social media for under-16s, but it’s very much part of the wider global conversation about children’s digital lives, potential harms and regulation. Its…
About those web3-metaverse land-plots that were so hot in 2022…
Remember the heyday of web3 metaverses? When Snoop Dogg was building a mansion in virtual world The Sandbox, followed by Warner Music Group?
Epic Games layoffs follow ‘downturn in Fortnite engagement’
Are things alright in Fortnite-land? Seemingly not, according to the announcement by its publisher, Epic Games, that it is laying off more than 1,000 staff. “The downturn in Fortnite engagement…
Chaar Diwaari, Arpit Bala to play finale of Indian esports tournament College Rivals
Gaming has become a regular feature at Indian music festivals—NH7 Weekender and Sunburn being two prominent examples—so it’s no surprise that music is also becoming a highlight of esports events…
PRS for Music sues Steam games-store owner over soundtracks
Good news if you’ve been hankering after a music-industry lawsuit that has nothing to do with either AI or the live sector. UK collecting society PRS for Music is taking…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
