As 2025 comes to a close, it’s time to begin the annual review of the top music business stories of the year. To kick things off, we’ll start with the engine that helps music reach the world: the record labels, which have gone through yet another period of seismic change. Whether it was the overarching theme of consolidation, the technology-driven reorganizations that resulted in more layoffs and realignments, dealing with the broader threats and opportunities that new tech has presented, the generational shifts, the merry-go-round atop various C-Suites and more, the labels have once again been at the center of much of what has been shifting and evolving in the music business in 2025.

Some of the changes have been long in the works; others represent new issues or evolutions. There were sh

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