Digital services and platforms news - CMU | the music business explained (Page 6)

Spotify wants to be “the best in the world at building AI products” and is focused on “accelerated execution”... but still no super-premium launch

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Spotify • 8 min read

Spotify wants to be “the best in the world at building AI products” and is focused on “accelerated execution”... but still no super-premium launch

Spotify has now been profitable for four quarters straight - a strong indication that its cost cutting and monetisation efforts are paying off. Now, says the company, it’s going to focus on high quality users and “accelerated execution” with AI playing a key part in its onward strategy…

Sam Taylor • 04 Feb 2025

Universal Music’s new Spotify deal could be a knock-out blow for streaming platform’s audiobook bundling trick

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Spotify • 4 min read

Universal Music’s new Spotify deal could be a knock-out blow for streaming platform’s audiobook bundling trick

Universal Music has signed a big new deal with Spotify, and it’s precisely what Lucian Grainge “envisioned” when he coined the buzzword “streaming 2.0”, apparently. More importantly, it seems to address the audiobook bundling dispute when it comes to Universal’s songs catalogue in the US…

Chris Cooke • 27 Jan 2025

Suno’s content “obviously infringes copyrights” of prominent German songwriters says GEMA lawsuit

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Suno • 3 min read

Suno’s content “obviously infringes copyrights” of prominent German songwriters says GEMA lawsuit

GEMA has sued another AI company for copyright infringement. Having sued OpenAI last year, it has now filed a lawsuit against music AI platform Suno. While Suno has already been sued by the major labels in the US, this lawsuit will test the copyright obligations of the AI company under European law…

Chris Cooke • 21 Jan 2025

UK government proposes copyright exception to help make UK attractive to AI companies as part of new consultation

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Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

UK government proposes copyright exception to help make UK attractive to AI companies as part of new consultation

The UK government has formally proposed introducing a new copyright exception for AI companies that use existing content to train their models, but with an opt-out for copyright owners. The music industry will oppose that proposal via a consultation that the government has just opened…

Chris Cooke • 17 Dec 2024

Congress warns Apple and Google: get ready to boot TikTok from US app stores

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TikTok • 2 min read

Congress warns Apple and Google: get ready to boot TikTok from US app stores

After a Washington DC court declined to overturn or even pause the US law that says TikTok will be banned unless current owner ByteDance sells the app by 19 Jan, two Congress members have now told Apple and Google to prepare to remove TikTok from their respective app stores…

Chris Cooke • 16 Dec 2024

Creative industries demand copyright control as UK plans AI shake-up

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

Creative industries demand copyright control as UK plans AI shake-up

With the UK government expected to launch another consultation on AI and copyright tomorrow, a new coalition has formed bringing together organisations from across the wider creative and copyright industries. It says that the UK must maintain a “robust copyright framework” in the AI era…

Chris Cooke • 16 Dec 2024

TikTok requests emergency injunction after judges warn app will be “effectively unavailable” in US from 19 Jan 2025

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TikTok • 5 min read

TikTok requests emergency injunction after judges warn app will be “effectively unavailable” in US from 19 Jan 2025

TikTok has failed to overturn a law passed in the US earlier this year that says China-based owner Bytedance must sell the app or it will be banned in the country. It will now take the matter to the US Supreme Court, and wants an emergency injunction to delay the current 19 Jan deadline…

Chris Cooke & Sam Taylor • 09 Dec 2024

DURP! The MLC has an update on its distributor portal

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The MLC • 3 min read

DURP! The MLC has an update on its distributor portal

The MLC’s portal that helps distributors identify unclaimed royalties for clients has hit a milestone with more than 100 partners now signed up. The catchily named DURP is a subset of the MLC’s existing public database of musical works, which holds information about songs and recordings…

Sam Taylor • 06 Dec 2024

AI generated music will suck €4 billion a year away from music creators by 2028 says CISAC

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

AI generated music will suck €4 billion a year away from music creators by 2028 says CISAC

CISAC has published a new report looking at the impact generative AI will have on music creators’ earnings. It estimates that 24% of those earnings could be at risk, resulting in annual losses of €4 billion by 2028, while the value of AI-generated music will surge to €16 billion a year…

Chris Cooke • 04 Dec 2024

Australia passes social media ban for under sixteens

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Digital services and platforms news • 3 min read

Australia passes social media ban for under sixteens

A new law in Australia will ban under sixteens from using social media. The country’s Parliament has backed the ban despite criticisms that it will be hard to enforce and that young people themselves haven’t been properly consulted…

Chris Cooke • 29 Nov 2024

New AI transparency proposal in US Congress will “pave the way” for creator compensation says ASCAP boss

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Artificial Intelligence • 3 min read

New AI transparency proposal in US Congress will “pave the way” for creator compensation says ASCAP boss

The music industry has welcomed new proposals in US Congress that will allow copyright owners to subpoena generative AI companies to find out what content has been used when training their models. The transparency proposals have been made by Senator Peter Welch in the TRAIN Act…

Chris Cooke • 27 Nov 2024

Amazon adds audiobooks access to its music service, though won’t rely on bundling discount in the US

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Amazon • 3 min read

Amazon adds audiobooks access to its music service, though won’t rely on bundling discount in the US

American music publishers say they are “optimistic” that Amazon adding audiobooks to its music subscription service won’t impact on the royalties received by songwriters. Unlike with Spotify, which used the addition of audiobooks to claim a discount on what it pays under the US compulsory licence…

Chris Cooke • 20 Nov 2024