YouTube Negotiating With Labels Over AI

Jason Tate Oct 24, 2023

Lucas Sha, writing for Bloomberg, details the record labels and YouTube negotiating an AI tool that would let people create content using major musicians’ voices:

When YouTube hosted an event for creators in late September, the company unveiled a bunch of new AI-powered tools, including ones for video backgrounds and dubbing.
YouTube had hoped to unveil a tool that would let users perform using the voices of major musicians. Imagine you are an amateur creator uploading a video or a song, and you could sound like Dua Lipa.
Just one problem: None of the major music companies have agreed to participate — at least not yet. Music companies have some questions, and YouTube is still working to supply the answers.
This could be a pivotal moment for the use of AI in the creative industries. For all the fuss about the potential of AI, many of the most-hyped new tools have yet to establish meaningful commercial relationships with artists (aka rights holders). That’s why there are so many lawsuits; nobody has decided how copyright law is going to work in this new(ish) field.
While this is just a test — YouTube wants to try the feature with a little more than a dozen artists — it is still a negotiation between the largest music service in the world and the largest music companies that could result in artists consenting to the use of their work.

Look, I get it, I’m old and not cool and am probably yelling at clouds, but I can’t put into words how much I hate this idea.

Discogs’ Vibrant Vinyl Community Is Shattering

Jason Tate Oct 8, 2023

Natalie Weiner, writing at The Verge:

Discogs attributed the need to raise fees to its “significant investments in recent years to ensure compliance with various regulatory programs, including tax support and privacy protection.” The company said the change would allow it to “continue to devote resources to maintaining the Discogs Marketplace and develop better tools for collecting, selling, and enjoying music.”
Many sellers who spoke with The Verge speculated, in line with the viral thread, that the company was trying to pump up its valuation for a potential sale. All of them, though, had the sense that Discogs was trying to increase its profit margins without necessarily offering any improvements to its product in retur

Restaurants, Rest Stops and Red Bulls With Brian Fallon

Jason Tate Sep 29, 2023

Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem talks with Paste Magazine about food on the road.

I would always eat the hash browns for breakfast and I would eat the chicken strips and fries. I wouldn’t really go for the burger, it was too messy and tour is a game of tricking the bathroom. You have to be very careful what you eat at night. Because when you’re home, if you wake up in the night and you’re like I have one bathroom, no problem. And when you wake up, barreling down the highway or in an airport, there’s not always a bathroom or there’s a bathroom you don’t want to use

Live Nation Stops Merch Cuts at Clubs

Jason Tate Sep 27, 2023

Rolling Stone:

Live Nation is ending merchandise fees for artists at all of its club-sized venues across the country, the company announced Tuesday as part of a new developing-artist program that it has launched with Willie Nelson.
The “On the Road Again” program, named after Nelson’s famous song, will also give artists playing those venues an extra $1,500 per show intended to help cover growing tour expenses like gas, transportation, and hotels. Live Nation also said it would give unspecified bonuses to crew workers, and the company will contribute another $5 million to the Crew Nation fund it started during the pandemic.

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Brian Fallon Talks with NME

Jason Tate Sep 27, 2023

Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem took a quiz about the band for NME and talked about the band’s career and upcoming album:

Was there any other point during The Gaslight Anthem’s break when you considered getting the band back together?
“No, I’d put it pretty far to the back of my mind. We didn’t finish with a Smiths thing where we hated each other, it was more like we didn’t want to make an album that we were embarrassed by later, and it felt like we had entered a lull that every band goes through. People start off loving you, then they hate you, and then they love you again – and it felt like we were in that time where everybody hated us. We thought: ‘Maybe it’s time for us to shut up and make way for some other bands’ [Laughs]. We always knew we’d come back – we just didn’t think it would take nine years.”

From Rites of Spring to Olivia Rodrigo

Jason Tate Sep 21, 2023

Washington Post:

Now squint your ears and listen to Rodrigo sing, “I made it weird, I made it worse,” all sweet and sour on her new “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl.” Can you hear emo’s intimacy wrestling with its vastness? This music has traveled a relatively short distance through time, but it has bridged so much: suffocating ’80s moralism, smothering ’90s ennui, numbing ’00s shock and awe, an opioid crisis that won’t let go — along with all the deeply personal awkwardness and anxiety commonly associated with coming of age in any of those shaky American timelines.

RIAA Share Mid-Year Revenue Report

Jason Tate Sep 18, 2023

The RIAA have released the 2023 mid-year report:

In the first half of 2023, recorded music revenues continued to set new milestones and reflect the results of more than a decade of industry transformation. Total revenues grew 9.3% at estimated retail value to an all-time first half high of $8.4 billion. At wholesale value, revenues grew 8.3% to $5.3 billion. Paid subscriptions continued to be the strongest driver of revenue growth, increasing by more than $550 million and averaging nearly 96 million subscriptions during the period.

Jann Wenner Removed From Hall of Fame Board of Directors

Jason Tate Sep 18, 2023

Pitchfork:

Jann Wenner has been removed from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s Board of Directors, a representative for the Hall of Fame confirmed to Pitchfork. The Rolling Stone founder has faced criticism for comments he made about Black and female musicians in an interview published yesterday in The New York Times, wherein he also admitted to letting interview subjects edit their own transcripts while at Rolling Stone.

Streaming Is Changing the Sound of Music

Jason Tate Sep 18, 2023

Wall Street Journal:

To keep the “skip rate” as low as possible, musical artists are increasingly moving a song’s hook or chorus to that initial 30-second sweet spot. Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding, the hosts of the “Switched on Pop” podcast, have coined the term “Pop Overture” to describe a new trend in which a song “will play a hint of the chorus in the first five to 10 seconds so that the hook is in your ear, hoping that you’ll stick around till about 30 seconds in when the full chorus eventually comes in.”
Creators are modifying more than just the introductory sections of tracks for optimal performance on streaming. Every track that is listened to for more than 30 seconds counts as a play, but whether a listener makes it all the way through a song helps to determine whether a streaming service like Spotify will recommend similar songs in the future.

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Hope? Cope? No, no, ROPE.

Jason Tate Sep 8, 2023

Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra talked with Mens Health about his exercise routine on tour:

The bike was effective, but it wasn’t sustainable. Hull says the daily rides began to feel “less doable” as he bored of the monotony. Rather than quit, he took this as an opportunity to try something new: jumping rope. This was the perfect fitness tool for a touring musician, since it could fit in a small bag and be used anywhere—but it required a higher bar to entry than a stationary bike. “I said some of the most outrageous stuff out loud to myself that I’ve ever said failing for months at jump rope,” Hull admits.

Apple Acquires Classical Music Label

Jason Tate Sep 6, 2023

Techcrunch:

More than 80% of the music we listen to today is delivered over streaming, according to figures from last year. But when you look at classical music, it’s been a stubborn hold-out, accounting for just a tiny fraction of that, with just 0.8% of streams (and that’s in the stream-friendly market of the U.S.). Apple’s bet is that this percentage will grow, though, and it wants a piece of that action.

Robert von Bahr, founder of BIS:

We thought long and hard on how to maintain and build upon our prestigious history and looked for a partner who would further our mission, as well as an increased global platform to bring classical music to new audiences all over the world. Apple, with its own storied history of innovation and love of music, is the ideal home to usher in the next era of classical and has shown true commitment towards building a future in which classical music and technology work in harmony. It is my vision and my sincerest dream that we are all a part of this future.

Rolling Stone Detail Allegations Against Anti-Flag’s Lead Singer

Jason Tate Sep 5, 2023

Rolling Stone has run a new article where 13 women speak out against Anti-Flag’s Justin Sane:

Sarhadi’s claim, however, is echoed by an additional 12 women who spoke to Rolling Stoneabout their alleged encounters with Geever, going back to the 1990s and as recently as 2020. These allegations include predatory behavior, sexual assault, and statutory rape, including sexual relations with a 12-year-old when Geever was a teenager. (Geever did not reply to multiple requests for comment after Rolling Stone sent him a detailed list of allegations for this article.)

TikTok Is Launching a Livestream Music Competition

Jason Tate Aug 10, 2023

Mia Sato, writing at The Verge:

TikTok will host a music contest similar to popular talent shows like The Voice, the company announced today. The competition, called Gimme the Mic, will be held on TikTok livestreams and will incorporate live voting from fans as part of the contest.
The competition is split into three portions: audition, semifinal, and the grand finale. Beginning today, budding artists can submit a 30-second audition video using the #GIMMETHEMIC hashtag. The top 30 submissions will then advance to the semifinal, where they will pair up and perform in a livestreamed event. Live viewers will be able to vote for their favorites to advance. The September 10th US finale will include the top 10 performers — one of whom will get to compete in a global competition with winners from around the world.

Google and Universal Music Negotiate Deal Over AI ‘Deepfakes’

Jason Tate Aug 10, 2023

Financial Times:

Google and Universal Music are in talks to license artists’ melodies and voices for songs generated by artificial intelligence as the music business tries to monetise one of its biggest threats. The discussions, confirmed by four people familiar with the matter, aim to strike a partnership for an industry that is grappling with the implications of new AI technology. The rise of generative AI has bred a surge in “deepfake” songs that can convincingly mimic the voices, lyrics or sound of established artists, often without their consent.

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Artists Pledge Boycott to Facial Recognition at Live Events

Jason Tate Jun 23, 2023

Ethan Millman, writing at Rolling Stone:

Over 100 artists including Rage Against the Machine co-founders Tom Morello and Zack de la Rocha, along with Boots Riley and Speedy Ortiz, have announced that they are boycotting any concert venue that uses facial recognition technology, citing concerns that the tech infringes on privacy and increases discrimination.
The boycott, organized by the digital rights advocacy group Fight for the Future, calls for the ban of face-scanning technology at all live events. Several smaller independent concert venues across the country, including the House of Yes in Brooklyn, the Lyric Hyperion in Los Angeles, and Black Cat in D.C., also pledged to not use facial recognition tech for their shows. Other artists who said they would boycott include Anti-Flag, Wheatus, Downtown Boys, and over 80 additional artists. The full list of signatories is available here.