📑 CMU Digest: SXSW's Saudi money; labels sue Suno and Udio + more
Also: will hedge funds trip up Hipgnosis deal? Plus: AI bumper update…
Artificial Intelligence
EU AI Act
European Composer & Songwriter Alliance (ECSA)
International Artist Organisation
Henna Virkkunen
Glenn MIcallef
Music industry legal news coverage
EU AI Act can only provide a “temporary fix” to the “darker aspect” of AI’s “profound disruption” to creative industries says open letter
Setlist Podcast: AI lawsuit warns of “devastating impacts” on human creativity
The launch of the record industry’s first major lawsuits against music-generating AI companies - with the RIAA coordinating litigation against Suno and Udio - plus a group of songwriters are suing PRS.…
⏩ One Liners: Lil Nas X, Killer Mike, Nuno Bettencourt + more
Nuno Bettencourt deal; Coldplay eco report, Motown Gospel appointments; Killer Mike, Live Nation, BTS legal news; Curve Royalty Services launch; Splice AI sample finder; Neil Young And Crazy Horse cancel shows; new releases from Lil Nas X, Mustard, The Kid Laroi, Cat Burns, Dizzee Rascal and more…
Spanish collecting society fined €6.5 million over its anticompetitive licensing approach
SGAE in Spain has been fined again by the country’s competition regulator. Previously it was fined for making it difficult for members to move to rival society Unison. Now the regulator has criticised its broadcaster licences which, it says, further hinder competition in the licensing marketplace…
And Finally! Would you buy MIA’s $100 tin foil hat?
MIA launched new streetwear brand Ohmni this week. It’s quite pricey but does offer “up to 99.999%” protection from “electromagnetic waves”. Can you afford not to buy a brain-protecting durag and fertility-saving trousers? This and more of our favourite funny music news stories from this week here…
Former Ticketmaster exec pleads guilty over Songkick server hacking
When Songkick sued Live Nation in the mid-2010s, it emerged that Ticketmaster execs had illegally accessed its rivals servers using logins of a former Songkick employee. The lawsuit was settled but a criminal investigation into the hacking continued. The former Songkick exec has now pleaded guilty…
Are hedge funds betting against Blackstone’s Hipgnosis deal?
When you’re living in a state of Hipgnosis, nothing is real until it's real. Just days away from the finish line, could Blackstone’s bid for Hipgnosis Songs Fund be blocked by a handful of well-dressed muggers looking to pluck a few more quid from the gazillionaire private equity fund’s wallet?…
55% of Nordic consumers pay to stream music, though number in Sweden has slipped
Polaris has published a new study on streaming trends in the Nordic markets. The total number of people streaming music in the region has increased since the last study in 2022. Radio remains a key discovery platform for the total population, though TikTok is more important for younger consumers…
⏩ One Liners: EXO, Wasserman Music, beatBread + more
Ruel, Tokischa deals; Wasserman Music, Spirit Music Group, MSG Entertainment appointments; EXO dispute escalates; BSI Merch launches in Japan; beatBread launches Funding Network…
Approved: Leyya
Alt-pop duo Leyya return with their latest single ‘Pumped Up High’, taken from their upcoming third album ‘Half Asleep’. The track finds them feeling euphoric on the dancefloor but wanting very much to be left alone - “to be in it, but not part of it”…
SXSW ditches weapons sponsors to burnish brand - so why won’t it ditch its ties to Saudi Arabia?
SXSW has ditched its relationships with the US Army and a bunch of weapons manufacturers, which has been positively received across the industry. But if those sponsors are a problem, what about SXSW’s ties to the Saudi Arabian government via its majority owner Penske Media Corporation?…
YouTube in talks with all three majors about the next phase in its AI experimentation
YouTube last year piloted a generative AI tool called Dream Track that generates vocals in the style of ten specific artists. The company is now plotting its next AI experiment and is in talks with all three major record companies, with the aim of involving dozens of artists next time…
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