Established in Milan in 1882 with the active participation of some of Italy’s leading artists and intellectuals, SIAE (an acronym for “Italian Society of Authors and Publishers” in Italian) is one of the oldest collection societies in the world. But for years, this significant historical legacy had made it impervious to innovation — until market liberalization and technological evolution came knocking. Today, with new leadership and a completely different strategic vision than in the past, SIAE is facing the most radical transformation in its history, and is placing itself at the forefront of the technological revolution.

The year 2025 marked a true milestone for SIAE, which for the first time surpassed 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) in revenue, with the distribution of €849 million ($987 million) to rights holders — up 15% compared to 2024.

Simplification of processes, digitalization, stronger negotiation capacity with digital platforms, and a progressive reduction in commissions are some of the ingredients that, according to SIAE CEO Matteo Fedeli, have contributed and will increasingly contribute to the growth and modernization of the former monopolist, now the Italian market leader with a renewed vocation for innovation.

What drove such significant growth in 2025, which had been maintained at this pace for several years?

There are three main factors. One is beyond our control: it’s the market, which continues to grow for both recorded music and live events. With a market in recession, it would be much tougher. The other variables are internal. First, the issue of negotiation: our ability to negotiate with major players has certainly improved compared to the past. And then there’s the profound transformation of SIAE’s structure and functioning.

Speaking to financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore about SIAE’s 2023-2025 business plan, you said, “We’ve moved from a predominantly legal structure to a model in which data, technology, and analytical capabilities are central.” Can you explain?

SIAE should be seen as a digital infrastructure serving the author. We’re moving from being a body that focuses solely on the formal/legal aspects of the business to building a data-driven structure. To move in this direction, it’s also essential to bring in new skills and attract “future-proof” people.

We see AI in two different ways: on one hand, we must protect our rights holders from those who want to exploit it in the most unfair way possible; on the other, if you as a company don’t use tools like Claude (Cowork and Code) nowadays, you’re certainly missing out.

What are some new professional skills that the world of copyright protection is actively seeking out today?

The AI ​​engineer is the person you need to implement artificial intelligence in the best possible way. Now we have an in-house software development kit. For the first time, we can give AI — not the developer — the guidance on how we want SIAE to behave, from the code of ethics to the user experience. If you use the right tools, properly configured, the barrier between the person with an idea and the object that is created is completely broken down. We are therefore looking for professionals who can lead us from a world without AI to an “AI first” world.

There is also the need to restructure knowledge, which in every company around the world is designed for humans. Sooner or later, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Microsoft will come up with good solutions that allow this to happen, but today the challenge is figuring out the steps to transform knowledge in the broadest sense: you can have it in network folders, on OneDrive, on SharePoint, or even in emails or on paper. The moment you activate these knowledge pillars and attach a good AI to them, your capabilities become supernatural compared to before.

The future of copyright protection depends on interaction with generative AI platforms. What are your proposals and what licensing models could be applied?

We’re operating in a market that’s just beginning to look for solutions. Take Udio, for example. It managed to secure more deals than Suno but remains a “closed” platform: if I go in, distort a song and then upload it to Spotify pretending to be its author — it’s hard for us and creators to accept that.

The real issue is a structural problem of the market. With the AI ​​Act, the European legislation was one of the first interesting attempts at solving it. But the opt-out formula tends to fail because it’s very impractical. Anyway, I’m optimistic about this. Think about those first laws that introduced the concepts of the internet and digital rights: were they the perfect norms we still use today? No, but it’s the first step.

The Court of Justice recently issued a ruling against Meta and in favor of the Italian state, highlighting a fundamental issue facing these big players: transparency. If we don’t know the business model and how training works, any licensing solution will be flawed. The risk is that we’ll end up with a flat tax, like this: I’ll ask you for 2% of your revenue without even understanding how it works. Even if one of these players gave us €100 million ($116 million), who would we redistribute it to?

My hope is that someone will come along and build training algorithms that connect the training data to output generated. If you participated in the part of the training data that influenced output, then the latter should provide you with a micro-fraction of value that is truly connected to the value you put into that product.

How can streamlining processes — simplifying administration, digitizing services — reduce commissions and therefore increase earnings for the rights holders?

Our goal isn’t to generate a billion in revenue, but to redistribute as much as possible. And the fact that, as a percentage, distributions are growing faster than revenues is a wonderful result because it means that our efficiency has more than proportionally repaid those entitled to them.

From 2013 to today, our average commission has decreased from 16% to 13.7%. We’ve already reduced digital commissions from 10% to 8%, and a further cut to 7% is planned for next year. We’ve also reduced TV commissions from 11.5% to 10.5%. Both of these figures are among the most competitive in the world. We’ve increased the commission on live events to 5%, and reduced the audiovisual sector — Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, etc., worth €50-€60 million a year to us — from 10% to 8%. If you look at it in absolute terms, it doesn’t change much: two percentage points. But if you look at it in relative terms, it means we’ve reduced our costs by a fifth.

Catalogs have returned to the center of music industry strategies for a few years now. What is the strength of the catalog from SIAE’s perspective, with its nearly 30 million registered works?

It lies in the field of negotiation. Some catalog conglomerates in small countries lack the bargaining power to secure a good license. We’re probably somewhere in the middle: SIAE is the sixth-largest collection society in the world, but compared to the large conglomerates, we’re considered small.

However, the catalog is large enough to secure excellent contractual conditions with major players like Google, Meta, Spotify and Netflix. All of this leads to a higher value per stream. In the global market, 50% of a SIAE author might be worth more than 50% of their co-author abroad.

Looking at the present and future of musical creativity, what strategies are you implementing to attract new talent and build tomorrow’s catalogs?

We need to be as frictionless as possible, providing the digital infrastructure that allows you to avoid worrying about copyright. Until about 10 years ago, to file a copyright application you had to send a registered letter or come to our offices. The SIAE+ app was created for this: the author should not have to deal with unnecessary complications. Last year, we had 225,000 applications filed via the app — without even touching a computer.

How do you envision the collection society of tomorrow?

We must remain at the service of our authors. How do we do this? By maximizing their catalog, fighting — if necessary — for greater transparency from platforms, increasingly focusing on digital infrastructure and maximizing efficiency. We are building the foundations for the next five years to become a company that brings more money to rights holders more quickly and at the lowest possible cost, especially through digitalization and artificial intelligence.

Ariana Grande seems to be getting brutally honest on her new song “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” with the pop star revealing what appears to be a lyric from the track on Instagram that — despite being just four words — cuts deep.

In a post on Instagram on Tuesday (May 26), Grande shared a black-and-white photo of herself looking over her shoulder at the camera that matches the demure, monochromatic aesthetic of the visuals she’s been rolling out for her third studio album, Petal, in recent weeks. In the caption, she wrote, “cause i barely tried.”

The Wicked star also reshared the post on her Instagram Story and added a countdown to the fast-approaching release of “Hate That I Made You Love Me” on Friday (May 29).

The track will mark the first taste of Petal fans get ahead of the album’s arrival on July 31. The project will feature 12 tracks total, and, as Grande teased in an Instagram video earlier in May, “It’s a little feral … definitely from a place I’ve been maybe too shy or polite to tap into before.”

The Grammy winner also shared a snippet of “Hate That I Made You Love Me” on May 18, though it didn’t feature any vocals or lyrics. The clip did, however, seemingly preview the eerie, droplet-like sounds in the song’s instrumental.

Before she drops Petal, Grande will hit the road for her Eternal Sunshine Tour kickoff in June, marking her first trek in six years.

See Grande’s post revealing what appears to be a lyric from “Hate That I Made You Love Me” below.

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It was a great day to be a New Yorker on Monday (May 25), and even better one if you were Cardi B. Cardi took to her IG Stories to celebrate her three wins at the 2026 American Music Awards and celebrated the New York Knicks clinching the team’s first NBA Finals berth since ’99.

After racking up a few more trophies thanks to the Bardi Gang, Cardi promised her fans that she’ll attend and perform at the 2027 AMAs no matter what she has going on next year.

Cardi ended up taking home best female rapper, best hip-hop album (Am I the Drama?) and best hip-hop song (“ErrTime”).

“AMAs! Thank you so much for giving me three awards tonight. Best female rapper, best hip-hop song and best hip-hop song,” she said of the fan-voted honors in her Monday video. “Thank you so much and I promise you, not only am I gonna attend next year, I’m gonna perform.”

Cardi B continued: “That’s word to everything, I don’t give a f–k what I’m doing. Thank you so much. Please send my award to my house. Don’t send to my mom house because she be keeping my awards … What a great day: the Knicks is going to the motherf–king finals, I won three award shows! What’s next?”

Am I the Drama? finally arrived in September and topped the Billboard 200 with 200,000 total album units earned, according to Luminate. As for “ErrTime,” Jeezy hopped on the official remix, while the LP standout reached No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Rhythmic Airplay chart.

The Bronx native also posted footage Monday of watching the Knicks game with her engineer, who was fittingly rocking a Jalen Brunson T-shirt, while in the studio.

The Knicks ended up smashing the Cleveland Cavaliers in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals by 37 points to complete the sweep and advance to the franchise’s first NBA Finals in the 21st century.

She later posted a clip of the Empire State Building lit up in orange and blue for the Knicks. “Fire! We ain’t f–king around,” the 33-year-old said in awe.

Perhaps Cardi B could be in the building as part of celebrity row when the NBA Finals scene returns to Madison Square Garden during games three and four of the series in June. She previously pulled up to a Knicks playoff game last May, which saw her make her first public appearance with NFL star Stefon Diggs when the NYK faced the Boston Celtics.

Drake returns with another blockbuster week on Billboard’s charts (dated May 30), following the release of his three new albums: ICEMAN, HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR.

The three projects, all released concurrently May 15, debut at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, on the Billboard 200, making Drake the first artist to hold the top three simultaneously in the chart’s 70-year history. ICEMAN opens atop the chart with 463,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States, according to Luminate, while HABIBTI launches with 114,000 and MAID OF HONOUR begins with 110,000.

ICEMAN posts the second-biggest week of 2026 for an album, after only BTS’ ARIRANG, which opened with 641,000 units in April. The set is Drake’s 15th career Billboard 200 No. 1, as he passes Jay-Z and ties Taylor Swift for the most among solo artists. Only The Beatles have more overall, with 19.

Drake’s dominance also extends to the Billboard Hot 100, where he places 42 total songs on this week’s chart — every chart-eligible track from the three albums — setting a new record for the most concurrent entries in a single week. He surpasses the previous mark of 37 set by Morgan Wallen on the May 31, 2025-dated list when his album I’m the Problem made is chart debut. The country star previously set the record with 36 songs on March 18, 2023, thanks to his LP One Thing at a Time. Prior to that, however, Drake held the record for five years, as he charted 27 songs from his Scorpion album on the July 14, 2018-dated ranking.

Here’s a rundown of Drake’s 42 entries on this week’s Hot 100:

Of Drake’s 42 Hot 100 entries this week, 40 debut (also, thus, a single-week record). He extends his career totals, and ups multiple all-time records, to 47 top five hits, 90 top 10s, 154 top 20s, 241 top 40s and 402 overall entries.

Drake also becomes the first artist to reach 400 total Hot 100 entries in the survey’s 67-year history. He also remains the only act with at least 300 career appearances, as Swift ranks second with 276.

Here’s a look at the artists with the most career Hot 100 hits:

Thanks to his massive week, Drake also rebounds to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 chart for a 39th total week atop the chart, the second-most in the ranking’s 12-year history, after Swift (137 weeks).

Drake’s “Janice STFU” debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart. The song is from his album ICEMAN — as the set and his HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR blast in at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, on the Billboard 200, where he becomes the first artist to hold the top three simultaneously in the chart’s 70-year history. Also as previously reported, “Janice STFU” launches at No. 1 on the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100.

Drake debuts eight songs in the Global 200’s top 10, all from ICEMAN, upping his total to a record 45 top 10s since the chart began in September 2020.

Meanwhile, BTS’ “Swim” scores a seventh week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart.

“Janice STFU” drew 69.4 million streams and sold 3,000 worldwide in its first week (May 15-21), according to Luminate.

Here is a rundown of Drake’s eight new Global 200 top 10s, all from ICEMAN and all of which debut, along with their worldwide streaming totals:

Drake joins BTS (April 4) and Taylor Swift (May 4, 2024) in claiming the Global 200’s top seven titles in a single week. Drake also holds eight of the top 10 for a second time, following the debut week for his album Certified Lover Boy (Sept. 18, 2021). BTS and Swift have each taken a record nine of the top 10, the former once and the latter four times.

Drake achieves his fourth Global 200 No. 1 (and fourth No. 1 debut), as “Janice STFU” follows “IDGAF,” featuring Yeat (Oct. 21, 2023); “Rich Flex,” with 21 Savage (Nov. 19, 2022); and “What’s Next” (March 20, 2021).

Plus, now up to 45 Global 200 top 10s, Drake surpasses Swift (42) for the most. Bad Bunny ranks third with 25. Future pushes his top 10 total to nine, while Santana notches her first.

“Swim” extends its No. 1 run on Global Excl. U.S. with 45.3 million streams (down 3%) and 2,000 sold (down 15%) outside the U.S.

Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” rises 3-2 for a new Global Excl. U.S. best; Justin Bieber’s “Beauty and a Beat” drops 2-3 after two weeks at No. 1 earlier this month; and Tame Impala and JENNIE’s “Dracula” is steady at No. 4.

Drake debuts five songs in the Global Excl. U.S. top 10: “Janice STFU” (No. 5), “National Treasures” (No. 7), “Ran to Atlanta” (No. 8), “Whisper My Name” (No. 9) and “Make Them Cry” (No. 10). He has tallied 11 top 10s on the chart; Future, three; and Santana, now one.

The Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

The latest charts, dated May 30, 2026, will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, May 27 (a day later than usual due to the Memorial Day holiday in the United States May 25). For both tallies, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.