Policy Download – October 2025

Fan-Led Review of Live Music
Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee has launched a fan-led review of live and electronic music, a major opportunity to influence how government supports the UK’s live-music and wider cultural ecosystem. The review will explore:
• The future of grassroots venues and the night-time economy
• Barriers facing emerging artists and touring work
• The fan and audience experience, including ticketing, safety and access
• How government policy can better sustain the live performance sector

With hundreds of grassroots venues closing in recent years, this review recognises the urgent need to strengthen the UK’s cultural infrastructure. The outcomes could shape policy on funding, licensing, planning protections and cultural investment areas that affect the music sector as a whole.

Considering the wide scope of the inquiry, the MPA worked with UK Music to develop a joint music industry response to the inquiry. We have also written to the committee to ensure that live music is recognised as essential to local economies and that venues have the appropriate license to play live music.

Spotify AI announcement
Spotify have published an updated policy package focused on tackling the influx of low-quality, fraudulent or misleading AI‐generated music and protecting artists from impersonation. The key components of the strategy include:
• A new impersonation policy: Vocal deepfakes or other forms of unauthorised imitation of an artist’s voice are only permitted if the original artist has authorised the usage.
• A strengthened music spam filter: Designed to catch mass uploads, duplicates, ultra-short tracks, SEO hacks and other tactics used by bad actors exploiting AI.
• AI disclosures in music credits: Spotify is backing an industry standard (via DDEX) for metadata that allows artists and rights-holders to indicate where AI tools were used (vocals, instrumentation, production, etc.) Streaming services will begin showing this information.

The MPA welcomes Spotify’s new measures to tackle AI-generated music and strengthen protections for rightsholders. We recently took part in a roundtable discussion with the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) and its members to explore how the music industry and DSPs can work together to address the growing influx of AI-generated “slop” on music platforms. The meeting was a positive first step, and we will continue to collaborate with ERA and its members to ensure that rightsholders are effectively protected against copyright infringement arising from unauthorised AI content.

CMA confirm Google and Apple SMS status
Following a consultation earlier in the year, the CMA have designated Google and Apple app stores as having strategic market status (SMS). The designation enables the CMA to make individually tailored interventions to promote effective competition and fair treatment of consumers and business users. These could take the form of Conduct Requirements (CRs) or Pro-Competition Interventions (PCIs), but the details are not yet final. A consultation is expected later this year to determine the specific interventions.
In addition to submitting evidence to the consultation, the MPA has held a series of meetings with the CMA to emphasise the crucial role that app stores play in facilitating unauthorised access to music. We will continue to engage closely with the CMA and provide recommendations on how the new designations of Google and Apple can be utilised to address this issue and strengthen protections for rightsholders.

DBT announce new initiative to unlock trade
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) have set out a major new policy instrument, the Ricardo Fund. The new fund is designed to help UK-based organisations (including those in the arts, creative industries and cultural export sectors) navigate regulatory and trade barriers abroad and unlock new international opportunities.
The MPA attended a session with the DBT to discuss how the DBT can remove existing market access barriers for MPA members, foster robust regulatory environments and encourage the adoption of international standards. During the meeting, the DBT stressed that the government’s commitment to the creative industries is one of its key growth industries.