Daily Music Headlines July 31st, 2026

**Brian Ibbott** (0:01)
It's Friday, July 31st, 2026 I'm Brian Ibbott, and here are your music headlines for today. Live Nation reported record quarter to revenue of $7.7 billion, up 9% from 2025, despite World Cup interruptions. Concert revenue increased 8% to $6.4 billion, with a 10% growth in fan attendance. The company projects full year fan attendance growth of 10%, and double-digit adjusted operating income growth. SiriusXM Holdings reported a 1% increase in second quarter revenue, reaching $2.16 billion, driven by a record low churn rate and a successful strategy to gain and retain subscribers. The company added 22,000 net new subscribers, marking its first positive second quarter result in four years. This growth, coupled with increased advertising revenue and strong performance from Pandora, led SiriusXM to raise its full year guidance. Universal Music Group reported a 5.3% revenue increase to $7.2 billion in the first half of 2026, driven by the downtown acquisition and strong performance in recorded music and music publishing. Despite a decline in net profitability due to acquisition costs and legal fees, UMG generated $1.37 billion in EBI TDA. CEO Lucian Grange highlighted UMG's competitive advantages, including its strong artist roster, global presence and strategic partnerships in AI and streaming.
Las Vegas' Sphere Entertainment's second quarter revenue rose 11% to $313.6 million, driven by increased demand for The Wizard of Oz at Sphere. Despite this growth, the company reported a $61.3 million operating loss, primarily due to higher expenses. Sphere Entertainment is exploring new content and venue opportunities to further capitalize on the Sphere's potential.
And finally, a German court ruled that Suno illegally trained its AI model on unlicensed German songs, including hits by Boney M, Alphaville and Lou Bega. The court ordered Suno to pay damages, a decision the company plans to appeal. This ruling strengthens copyright protections for European music and contrasts with ongoing copyright infringement litigation against Suno in the US.
And it's Friday. This week's new album and single releases include Ariana Grande's eighth studio album, Petal, and Cardi B's new single, Ah Ha.
Other notable releases feature collaborations from Benny Blanco, Selena Gomez, and Becky G on Te Olvido, La La, and Shaboozey's 20-track concept album, The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales. The new releases also include new singles from Remi Wolf, Davido, Isaiah Falls, Kapo, Eric Bryan, Dale Petudi, Nesty, Billy Strings, and Stephen Wilson Jr. featuring Miranda Lambert. Want to be the first year about future live streams, discuss the latest news, talk about music and help shape the future of the show? Join the Daily Music Headlines Discord at tiny.cc slash DMH Discord. This show is produced by Hammond Chamberlain and Anthony Lemus. It's written and hosted by Eileen Rivera and me, Brian Ibbott. Tom Merida is our executive producer. The music is by Lex Dallas and the State Street Players. Thanks for listening. That's it for today. We'll catch you on the flip side.

**SPEAKER_2** (3:48)
The DTNF's family of podcasts, helping each other understand. Diamond Club hopes you have enjoyed this broker.

**Brian Ibbott** (3:59)
It's good because I actually had a big old typo in there. All right, one more time.