And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan - And The Update Is… Live Nation Ruled an Illegal Monopoly, D4VD Arrested for Murder, Udio Pays Up on AI

Episode Date: April 17, 2026

Every week, And the Writer Is brings you the most important news moving through the music industry — straight, sharp, and no fluff. This week: a jury ruled Live Nation and Ticketmaster violated antitrust laws and operate as illegal monopolies, with a judge now weighing whether to force a breakup or sale. Max Lousada and Julie Greenwald — the A&R legends behind Warner's modern run — launched a new long-term international label with Sony Music investment and distribution. And Udio signed a licensing deal with Kobalt, becoming one of the first AI companies actually paying creatives for training on their work. Plus: D4vd arrested on murder charges and dropped by Interscope, Foster the People ink a new deal, and Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" holds the #1 song. Follow us on socials and don't miss our new episodes every Tuesday — the hottest conversations in music, with the people making it.This week:Jury finds Live Nation and Ticketmaster violated antitrust laws — a judge will now decide whether to break them upMax Lousada and Julie Greenwald launch a new international label with Sony MusicUdio signs a licensing deal with Kobalt — the first real AI-pays-creatives move of the cycleD4vd arrested on murder charges; Interscope removes him from their rosterFoster the People sign a new dealElla Langley's "Choosin' Texas" remains #1 song of the weekRoss previews live episodes coming from Stagecoach and the week's Billy Corgan drop Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All right, we are back with, and the update is, The And the Writer is news segment. I am Ross Golan. This is the news for the week of April 13th. The number one album is still BTS. That is no surprise. And neither is the number one song by Ella Langley, Choosin, Texas.

In the sad news, D4VD has been arrested for murder. He will be charged likely this week, so we will all be watching that. Interscope has scrubbed them from their site. I imagine that many organizations will follow that. In industry news, a jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster have violated antitrust laws that makes them illegal monopolies. A judge will now decide whether to disband and require a sale of part, if not all,

of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. We will learn more about that soon as, well. Exciting news is that Max Loussauda and Julie Greenwald, the A&R Legends from Warner Music Group, have started a new label with Sony Music. They now have taken on an investment and distribution and will build a long-term international label over there that is exciting to watch. They are great at what they do. Udio signed a deal with Cobalt. That's news for the AI industry. As we know, we are all watching the AI companies to see which ones actually will pay creatives for training their models on our work. Udio is trying to do the right thing there.

And then some cool, nice artist news, Fawse of People send a new deal. And we all like Mark Foster and Fosser of the People. Shout out to you, Mark. And that's pretty much the news for this week. So we will be doing some live episodes from Stagecoach next week and we'll air those after that. You can listen to our Billy Corrigan episode this week. That was an amazing experience to sit down with such a legend. One of my favorite conversations we've ever had.

Check that out and stay tuned for next week. Talk to you soon.