Welcome back to the MMBC Newsletter!

November was a fun month for MMBC: we conducted our annual team photoshoots, handed official promotion for KennyHoopla’s concert at The Blind Pig, and partnered with Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan to raise money for Mott Children’s Hospital. With winter break right around the corner, we’re excited to finish off the year strong before going home for the holidays.

Go Blue!

November appeared in a flash, and MMBC was instantly in lights, camera, and action mode. Our annual teams photoshoot brought members together around album covers, guitars, and creative vision. The result was sick graphics and high energy for the month ahead! 

We kept the momentum high with a skateboarding competition promoting Kenny Hoopla, where two lucky winners scored FREE tickets to his Blind Pig show. This collaboration between MMBC, the UMich Skateboarding Club, and Olympia Skate Shop delivered fierce competition, sick clothes, and an Instagram comment from Kenny Hoopla himself saying he can’t believe he missed it. 

We were no strangers to the Blind Pig this month, hosting a benefit concert featuring many of MMBC’s own performers in collaboration with Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan. The event raised over $1K for Pediatric Programs at CS Mott Children’s Hospital, and MMBC feels grateful to continue uplifting and inspiring through music!

Here are some of the most notable drops from this past month — albums you definitely don’t want to miss:

Day-to-Day Manger @ Culture Wave

📍LA

Day-to-Day Manager @ Foundations

📍Nashville

Marketing Manager @ Maison Arts

📍LA

Associate Music Publicist, US Events @ Infamous PR

📍LA

When the 2026 Grammy nominations dropped this month, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga dominated the headlines, but inside MMBC, the conversation immediately turned to one thing: the snubs. After asking a few members what surprised them most, the three names that came up repeatedly were Lorde, Dijon, and Role Model.

Lorde, returning with her first album in eight years, Virgin, seemed like a natural fit for Album of the Year. Her comeback project showed clear artistic growth. It was more refined, more intentional, and not at all focused on chasing trends. Members pointed out that while albums like Lady Gaga’s Chromatica II delivered big mainstream moments, they didn’t offer the same emotional arc or depth. Lorde’s full shutout felt like a major oversight.

Many MMBC members also argued that Dijon deserved a spot in Album of the Year or Best R&B Performance for delivering one of the few projects that actually pushed R&B somewhere new. His album, Baby, felt experimental and risky in a way Justin Bieber’s nominated projects, Swag for Album of the Year and Yukon for Best R&B Performance, didn’t. Bieber’s music is catchy and polished, but also familiar, predictable, and all over TikTok. Dijon was the one moving the genre forward.

Finally, Role Model seemed like an obvious Best New Artist pick after a breakout year of festival appearances and his viral “Sally” moment. Instead, the category went to safer choices, including Addison Rae, who one member described as “more niche internet celebrity than real rising artist.”

Circling the Internet was a clip of an undeniably catchy EDM song titled "I RUN." The song is by a relatively unknown UK act called HAVEN, led by producer Harrison Walker. From the moment “I RUN” was released to streaming platforms, it shot up to #11 on the U.S. Spotify chart and #25 on Spotify globally. Then, just as suddenly, the hit was unceremoniously removed from all major streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music.

It was revealed that the removal was because HAVEN used a controversial AI music app called Suno to process his own vocals, changing his voice to sound female. Although Harrison Walker didn’t request AI to replicate any specific artist, the vocals came out to sound shockingly similar to R&B/Soul artist Jorja Smith. Since Suno's model might have been trained on music from Sony artists, including Smith, critics argued the AI might be unintentionally reproducing features of Smith’s voice.

This led to the song being accused of AI “deepfake” vocals and being temporarily removed from charts/streaming platforms. In response, HAVEN has rereleased “I RUN” with singer Kaitlin Aragon performing vocals to avoid further controversy.

This incident has started a bigger conversation about the role of AI in music creation. The music industry will likely face many more lawsuits in protecting artists’ intellectual property as these technologies advance. Artists' sound is often so much of who they are, and it’s incredibly important to preserve that individuality as AI continues to be more embedded into the creative process.

Donations to the Michigan Music Business Club are always welcome and greatly appreciated.

All monetary gifts fund our wide range of events, including concerts, speakers, and other professional and creative development events.

MMBC has brought an accomplished lineup of musicians, agents, producers, publicists, lawyers, and composers to speak and perform for the club and the greater Michigan community. To pay the generosity of others forward, many of our events have raised money for charity and local Ann Arbor businesses. Regardless of the amount, all donations help our organization bring authentic and memorable experiences to fans and aspiring industry professionals here at the University of Michigan.