On this week's show we discuss the bidding war compounding the latest in a long line of dramas at Hipgnosis, the faltering start for Manchester’s new Co-op Live arena and more.  SECTION TIMES 01: Hipgnosis (00:04:59) 02: News in brief (00:18:48) 03: Co-op Live (00:12:15) (Timings may be slightly different due to adverts) THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES • Hipgnosis debacle might be over as Concord offers to acquire entire share capital of SONG - but there’s a catch… • Blackstone tops Concord offer for SONG, hints at invoking call option • The state of Hipgnosis • To the moon! Concord reaches for the high notes as it ups its SONG bid to $1.25 • Co-op Live GM says grassroots venues are “poorly run”, before cancelling thousands of tickets to test event at the very last minute • Manchester’s new Co-op Live arena cancels launch shows as power issues delay opening NEWS IN BRIEF • The clock is now TikTokking as US Senate votes through sell-or-be-banned law • Amazon AI employee claims she was told to breach copyright rules because “everyone else is doing it” • Moving BBC radio to an ad-funded model would be a disaster, says Radiocentre • Drake threatened with legal action over AI Tupac in Kendrick diss track ALSO MENTIONED • AI and music one year later: What happened? And where are we at? (Spot Festival, 3 May, 1pm) • Dissecting The Digital Dollar: What’s changed? (Spot Festival, 4 May, 11.45am) • The new pay-out models: What are the consequences for you as an artist and as a songwriter? (Spot Festival, 4 May, 1.15pm) • The great streaming swindle: That’s how much money is swindled every year in the music industry (Spot Festival, 4 May, 2.15pm)