Top Music Industry Predictions for 2026: AI on the Hot 100, UMG–Downtown Deal and More

In the latest edition of Billboard’s new music business podcast, On the Record w/ Kristin Robinson, members of Billboard’s music business editorial team gather to discuss their top predictions for the music industry in 2026.

In conversation, Dan Rys (executive editor, business), Bill Donahue (senior legal correspondent) Elizabeth Dilts Marshall (senior finance correspondent) and Kristin Robinson (senior correspondent, host) debate hot topics like whether an AI song will crack the Billboard Hot 100 chart, how the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Ticketmaster will shake out this year, what top catalogs will hit the market in 2026 and whether or not Universal Music Group’s proposed acquisition of Downtown will go through.

The group also discusses which music companies are set up to have strong years, what marketing tactics will be most popular for artists, and whether an artist will figure out how to work with the trend of prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket into their rollouts this year.

It’s the weekly music business podcast’s first episode of 2026, and it kicks off the final leg of its first season. To date, On the Record has featured conversations with some of the top executives in the music business, including Elliot Grainge (CEO, Atlantic Music Group), Harvey Mason jr. (CEO, Recording Academy), Rob Light (managing director, CAA), Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall (CEO and COO, Warner Chappell) as well as talents like Charlie Puth, Imogen Heap and Amy Allen.

Season 1 of On the Record will conclude on February 12 and will return after a short hiatus in mid-March with even more conversations about the ins-and-outs of the music business for season 2.

Listen or watch the latest predictions episode of the podcast on Spotify, YouTube or Apple Podcasts here, or view the video below: