Shani Gonzales of Warner Chappell says that although people are ‘having fun’ with creating AI songs, ‘what happens when someone tries to sell it?’

Arriving in London in the teeth of the pandemic to take a top music industry job, Shani Gonzales had few opportunities to immerse herself in British culture, with venues shut and parties off the table. The New Yorker instead turned to TV for her education, bingeing on The Crown, Downton Abbey and – a more left-field choice – Naked Attraction.

“I was trying to get as much of a cross-section as possible!” says Gonzales, who heads the UK arm of music publishing giant Warner Chappell. “Music is culture, taste, environment – it felt daunting not being able to leave the house and meet artists in a role like this.”

Exclusive: Organisation that collects and distributes royalties in UK says it will ‘vigorously defend’ lawsuit which alleges preferential treatment for major songwriters

A group of songwriters, including Jim and William Reid from the Jesus and Mary Chain and King Crimson’s Robert Fripp, are suing UK body PRS for Music over how it handles royalties from live performances, accusing it of levying high administration costs for smaller songwriters while giving preferential treatment to already successful stars.

PRS has a near monopoly in the UK, acting as an intermediary between companies that play music (such as radio stations and shops as well as live events) and those who write it: companies sign licences, and PRS distributes the proceeds to songwriters.

She’s the subject of a new documentary, has just announced her farewell tour, and is about to play Glastonbury. The singer and songwriter discusses Trump, resilience and why she hated being pitted against Madonna

Once you’ve had a feature-length documentary made about you, it’s surely time to accept you’ve reached legendary status? Cyndi Lauper laughs. “My dogs don’t think so,” she says, to the sound of barking. Then, to her dogs: “You gotta stop, guys!”

Lauper is the subject of Let the Canary Sing, a new film by Alison Ellwood. It follows Lauper from her difficult childhood with an abusive stepfather, through the New York music scene and early bands, to the release of feminist anthem Girls Just Want to Have Fun, and beyond. There are clashes with music execs who don’t understand Lauper’s art school sensibility and want her to compete with Madonna, and she survives a career downturn. More recently, Lauper has become a campaigner, and the writer of award-winning musicals.