Artists sue Suno! Soft rock! Virtual snarky record-shop clerks! A 16-year old 'song of the summer'! And... chicken ice cream?

<p><strong>Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works. As ever, Stu and Joe take a closer look at this week&#39;s music industry news, including:</strong></p><p>→ <a href="https://musically.com/2026/09/01/a-2011-katy-perry-hit-is-tiktoks-song-of-the-summer-in-2026/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">TikTok’s ‘Song of the Summer’ this year</a> is by HOT NEW BREAKING artist, erm, Katy Perry, and her 16-year old song ‘The One That Got Away’. So what is a summertime hit nowadays anyway?</p><p>→ Yes, yes, another lawsuit against AI-music firm Suno – but this one <a href="https://musically.com/2026/09/02/suno-sued-by-musicians-including-david-lowery-and-jason-isbell/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">has a twist</a>: it’s from musicians, rather than labels or publishers… and these artists won&#39;t back down easily.</p><p>→ Meanwhile, another artist, <a href="https://musically.com/2026/09/04/suno-pulls-unapproved-mary-j-blige-ad-campaign-citing-deception/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Mary J. Blige</a>, was (we think) very supportive of Suno, but now (we think) she very much isn&#39;t. Or is she? It&#39;s complicated...</p><p>→ Sonos, the popular connected-speakers firm, is <a href="https://musically.com/2026/09/02/sonos-is-opening-its-devices-up-to-more-ai-assistants-and-agents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">getting into AI agents</a>. And apparently that means a you can have a virtual snarky record-shop clerk as your AI song-picking pal (or anything else you&#39;d like).</p><p>→ <a href="https://musically.com/2026/08/28/ten-data-points-from-luminates-india-streaming-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">India has had *how many* music streams in the first half of 2026</a>? (It&#39;s a lot, as you&#39;d imagine).</p><p>→ Joe doesn&#39;t know who Captain &amp; Tennille are, but they got <a href="https://musically.com/2026/09/03/captain-tennille-saw-biggest-spotify-spike-from-gta-vi-trailer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">the biggest spike in Spotify streams</a> from Grand Theft Auto IV’s big reveal – but there’s one caveat to their <strong>130,730%</strong> boost…</p><p>→ Joe also doesn&#39;t know who Young Roddo is –but he&#39;s <a href="https://musically.com/2026/09/04/metaverse-music-update-kacey-musgraves-soapbox-young-roddo/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">the first artist to film a music video entirely within Roblox</a>. (Young Roddo is nine years old).</p><p><strong>→ </strong>The New York Yankees stadium hosts concerts and now you can eat ice cream that looks like fried chicken while you watch the show. Are we entering a new phase of stadium gig snacking?</p><p><strong>And in the special post-show lock-in section just for our </strong><a href="https://www.patreon.com/12218634/join" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">⁠⁠<strong>Patreon Superfans</strong>⁠⁠</a><strong>, Stu and Joe prop themselves up at the bar – in this week&#39;s bonus material:</strong></p><p>→ What are the best-ever &quot;songs of the summer&quot;, and are they even important now, anyway?</p><p>→ Who or what would your ideal &quot;AI agents&quot; be for music recommendations (and why not, Joe and Stu, wonder, just switch on the radio and listen to a human DJ?)</p><p>→ A conversation about snacks and music venues turns into a speculative series of suggestions for food that could be served at an Oasis show</p><p>→ And then, we regret to inform you, that it then turns into a too-much-information chat about using toilets at music festivals, and novel festival toilet strategies.</p><p>→And finally... Superfan Ian issues a Very Important Correction to Joe&#39;s misremembered Blue Peter time capsule story.</p><p>===================================</p><p><strong>As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular</strong> – any questions you might have about how the music biz works!</p><p