Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has offered to buy Universal Music Group — home to musicians such as Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Elton John — in a $64 billion deal. Universal Music is the world’s largest record company and one of the big three record labels, alongside Sony Music Group and Warner Music. As part of the deal, Ackman has proposed naming Michael Ovitz, the one-time Walt Disney Company president, as chairman, along with two representatives from Pershing Square. Universal Music has opposed tech firms using copyrighted material to create AI-generated music. Research from French streaming service Deezer suggests that 97 per cent of people cannot tell the difference between AI-generated music and human-composed music.

Source: The Telegraph April 08, 2026 03:19 UTC