UK Sets Music Plan, CRB Eyes Mechanical Rates Through 2032, US Groups Challenge EU Royalty Flows

How The Music Business Works - Issue #70

July 16, 2026

Welcome back to How the Music Business Works.

Before we get into this week’s news, here’s a useful watch on the machinery behind live music: The Absurd Logistics of Concert Tours.

Touring depends on routing, trucks, crews, venues, timing, production costs, and a lot of behind-the-scenes coordination that most fans never see. That context is useful this week, because several stories are about the systems around music, not just the music itself.

In the UK, the government has pulled its music priorities into a new national plan, with added funding for growth, libraries, mentoring, and live-event licensing. In the US, the Copyright Royalty Board is considering a settlement that would keep physical and download mechanical royalty rates on their current path through 2032.

The rest of the week shows how uneven music rights policy remains across markets. US industry groups are pushing back on possible EU changes to royalty flows, UK Music is pointing to another strong year for music tourism, and South Korea is weighing a pre-release screening rule that has already raised censorship concerns.

Let’s get into it.

UK government publishes new music plan

The UK government has published “Turn It Up: Our Plan for Music,” a new strategy outlining how it plans to support the music sector in the years ahead. The plan brings together existing schemes and initiatives across ten main strands, while adding new announcements around funding, libraries, mentoring, and licensing. An extra £15 million will be added to the three-year Music Growth Package, bringing total support to £45 million. The government says that package is expected to support more than 2,000 projects and at least 40,000 artists and music industry professionals. There will also be at least £22.5 million for a Music in Libraries initiative and Creative Mentoring programme, funded through the Dormant Assets Scheme. The plan also includes licensing reforms, including more flexibility around temporary event licences and longer, more secure licences for festivals and events, plus the appointment of Michael Dugher as Music Champion.

CRB proposes extending mechanical rates through 2032

The US Copyright Royalty Board has published a proposed settlement covering mechanical royalty rates for physical music, permanent downloads, ringtones, and music bundles from 2028 through 2032. The proposal would keep the existing rate structure in place, with annual inflation adjustments continuing for physical phonorecords and permanent downloads. Comments and objections are due by August 10. Sony Music, UMG Recordings, Warner Music Group, A2IM, NMPA, NSAI, and the Music Artists Coalition filed the settlement. The 2026 statutory rate is 13.1 cents per track, or 2.52 cents per minute of playing time, whichever is larger. The proposal does not cover interactive-streaming mechanical rates paid by services like Spotify and Apple Music. Those rates remain part of the wider Phonorecords V proceeding, with written direct statements due by October 5 if no settlement is reached, setting up a possible trial over the remaining streaming issues.

US groups challenge EU royalty-flow proposals

US record industry groups have asked the US government to oppose possible European Union changes affecting whether broadcast and performance royalties generated in Europe should flow to American artists and labels. The groups say nearly $300 million in annual income could be at risk if the European Commission changes the rules following debate around the 2020 RAAP ruling. That ruling pushed EU countries toward a national-treatment approach, meaning American recordings can receive royalties in Europe even though US law does not require AM/FM radio stations or businesses playing music publicly to pay performers and labels. Many European indie groups argue for a flexible system that would allow reciprocity, where money flows to countries with equivalent rights. IMPALA says it is not calling for mandatory reciprocity, but wants EU law to clarify that member states can choose their approach while encouraging fuller protections elsewhere.

UK music tourism spending grew in 2025

UK Music says music-tourism spending in the UK reached £11.2 billion in 2025, up 11.3% year-on-year. Its latest report counted 24.7 million music tourists attending concerts and festivals, a 4.8% increase from 2024. That total includes 22.6 million domestic music tourists, meaning people who travelled within the UK to attend events, and 2.1 million overseas visitors. UK Music broke the spending down into £5.7 billion in direct spending on tickets, travel, accommodation, and meals, plus £5.5 billion in indirect spending by companies involved in staging concerts and providing surrounding services. The body estimates music tourists supported 74,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the live music sector, up 3% year-on-year. Oasis, Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Lana Del Rey, and Kendrick Lamar were among the performers cited as helping fuel the growth, while UK Music called for action on ticket touting, Brexit red tape, and grassroots challenge.

South Korean bill proposes music-release pre-screening

A proposed amendment to South Korea’s Music Industry Promotion Act would require music distributors to pre-screen tracks before release to determine whether they contain content considered harmful to minors. Under the bill, if a song is judged harmful and its creator is under 19, the distributor would have to block the track from release. If the artist is an adult, the distributor would need to notify them in advance that the track may be designated harmful to youth, which would restrict it to adult listeners only. The proposal would shift South Korea away from its current system, where songs are reviewed by a government committee after release. Musicians and representative bodies have raised concerns that the plan could bring back a form of pre-release censorship, even if labels and distributors rather than government bodies conduct the screening. There are also concerns over the bill’s broad definition of music likely to cause serious harm to youth.

Random Ramblings:

• Madison Square Garden says it did not keep a celebrity sexuality dossier, but that VIP database story is still raising eyebrows.
• Karol G is turning cocktail-making into a shot at free tour tickets.
• The World Cup final apparently looked at the Super Bowl and said, “we’ll take one of those.”
• AI speed-altering is now in the “please stop inventing new royalty nightmares” category.