2024-06-26
scoop: Youtube is offering music labels lump sums of cash to get more artists to allow their songs to train AI. currently, only a handful of artists have signed on to an earlier test phase, including Charli XCX. Youtube wants to expand this to dozens of artists. more here: [image]
Financial Times
Sources: YouTube is in talks with Sony, Warner, and Universal to license their songs for AI music generation tools coming in 2024 that mimic artists' music
Licensing negotiations come as industry wrestles with legal and creative impact of artificial intelligence
2024-01-31
full story: Universal Music accuses TikTok of “bullying” & says TikTok offered a “fraction” of the rate that other social media sites pay for access to its catalogue. (FT recently reported that Bytedance had $50bn in cash on hand last year) https://www.ft.com/...
Variety
UMG plans to stop licensing content to TikTok after their deal expires on January 31, saying they didn't reach terms over issues like artist compensation and AI
UMG said that its agreement with TikTok is set to expire on Jan. 31. “The companies have not agreed to terms for a new agreement …
2023-10-19
new: Universal Music has sued AI start-up Anthropic for copyright infringement. Anthropic's Claude chatbot is churning out song lyrics without permission “on a systematic and widespread basis”, per filing. story TK [image]
Music Business Worldwide
Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord Music Group, and ABKCO sue Anthropic for allegedly violating their copyrights by using song lyrics to train AI models
Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide :
2023-04-12
scoop: Universal Music has told streaming services to block AI systems from scraping melodies and lyrics from their copyrighted songs. UMG is concerned about generative AI training itself on popular music without permission/payment: https://www.ft.com/...
Financial Times
Emails: UMG asked Spotify, Apple, and other services to block developers training AI services from scraping melodies and lyrics from their copyrighted songs
Universal Music Group says new technology relies on unauthorised use of copyrighted material — Universal Music Group …
2023-02-01
scoop: UMG is talking w/ streamers to redraw the royalty model — which would revolutionise how musicians get paid from streaming. ideas on the table: - “superfan” subscription - banning 31-second songs - extra pool of $ for artists driving fan engagement https://www.ft.com/...
Financial Times
Sources: UMG is in talks with Tidal and others to overhaul streaming economics to pay artists more; ideas include a “bonus pool” and “superfan” subscriptions
Group looks into options such as cracking down on bots and adding ‘superfan’ subscriptions
2022-12-07
new: failed crypto billionaire sam bankman-fried wanted to pay taylor swift more than $100mn for FTX to sponsor her tour. he also wanted taylor to endorse FTX on social media (she said no). cringe details from @nikasgari & @joshckoliver: https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Financial Times
Sources: FTX reached late stage negotiations with Taylor Swift for a $100M+ sponsorship deal, supported by Swift fan SBF but opposed by some FTX executives
Negotiations between singer-songwriter and Sam Bankman-Fried's crytpo group collapsed this spring
2021-08-01
i dug into the Spotify ‘payola’ situation. DIY artists like it. the majors labels don't (for now). @timwestergren tried this at @pandoramusic: “The only way you start making money is by paying less for music. It doesn't feel like you have a choice”. https://www.ft.com/...
Financial Times
A look at the debate over Spotify's Discovery Mode, whereby artists are prioritized for reduced royalties, a key way for Spotify to improve margins
but prefer to speak anonymously. https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...
2020-12-07
some details from our deep dive on disney: - Disney considered selling A&E and Freeform in 2019. now, bankers say, it's too late - There was a time when Bob Iger & Kevin Mayer discussed moving ESPN content over to ESPN+ as soon as 2022 - https://www.ft.com/...
Financial Times
Inside Disney's costly online push while its lucrative legacy businesses decline, as sources say the success of Disney+ diminished Disney's interest in Hulu
Media empire must sustain its costly online push while its lucrative legacy businesses decline — The Walt Disney Company …
In Iger's view, Disney's biggest problem right now is cash. Plans to expand Hulu have been scrapped. Iger has taken a backseat in recent months, after a NYT report that he was still running the company strained relations with new CEO Bob Chapek https://www.ft.com/...
Financial Times
Inside Disney's costly online push while its lucrative legacy businesses decline, as sources say the success of Disney+ diminished Disney's interest in Hulu
Media empire must sustain its costly online push while its lucrative legacy businesses decline — The Walt Disney Company …
2020-06-15
great deep dive by @benmullin on turmoil at the streaming service that nobody asked for https://www.wsj.com/...
Wall Street Journal
Sources: at its current pace, Quibi will sign up fewer than 2M paying subscribers by the end of its first year, well under its original target of 7.4M
Two veteran executives with contrasting styles are launching Quibi, an on-the-go streaming service, during a pandemic
2019-08-20
apple is spending more than $6bn on content for its upcoming streaming service (up from an initial $1bn commitment). they've spent more per episode on The Morning Show than Game of Thrones. scoop w/ @tim (we are both good at being on vacation) https://www.ft.com/...
Financial Times
Sources: Apple has committed $6B+ for original shows and movies, many featuring huge names, ahead of Apple TV+'s launch, expected within the next two months
Apple has committed more than $6bn for original shows and movies ahead of the launch of its new video streaming service …
apple is spending more than $6bn on content for its upcoming streaming service (up from an initial $1bn commitment). they've spent more per episode on The Morning Show than Game of Thrones. scoop w/ @tim (we are both good at being on vacation) https://www.ft.com/...
Bloomberg
Sources: Apple is planning to roll out Apple TV+, its subscription service, by November and is considering $9.99/month pricing after a free trial
- Company builds array of new services to augment hardware sales — Apple Inc. plans to roll out the Apple TV+ movie and TV subscription service …