The 7 Biggest Music Publishing Stories of 2025: PRO Scrutiny, AI, Spotify & More

The past year was a big one in the publishing world: In 2025, the U.S. government — which already regulates licensing rates for mechanical and, to a large degree, public performances royalties — began scrutinizing how the U.S. music publishing business operates. 

On Feb. 10, the Copyright Office launched a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) into U.S. performing rights organizations (PROs) at the request of the House Judiciary Committee, which raised questions about the “proliferation” of new PROs in the market and their apparent “lack of transparency.” After months of deliberation and comments, the Copyright Office resolved the NOI on Nov. 20 in a letter in which it said it required no changes to current PROs, given that GMR and SESAC separately agreed to join Songview. But the fight for transparency is not over: This week, a member of the House Judiciary Committee took his complaints to the Federal Trade Commission, urging an investigation into possible “deceptive practices” by the two newest PROs, Pro Music Rights and Alltrack.

But that was just one of a myriad of stories that came to define the year in music publishing. The other biggest issues this year included the licensing deals between publishers and artificial intelligence companies; the evolution of music publishing asset sales; the ongoing re-designation review of the Mechanical Licensing Collective; the leadership flux at the U.S. Copyright Office; the ongoing bundling war between the NMPA and Spotify; and more.

Here, Billboard takes a look at some of the big issues that helped to define the year in music publishing.