Spotify and Warner Music Group have entered into a new multi-year agreement covering recorded music and publishing that will see the companies “work together to shape the future of audio-visual streaming and enhance the value of music.” The news followed Spotify’s Q4 earnings report that included the company’s first annual profit, with net income of $1.18 billion. Paid subscriptions were up 11 percent for the quarter, closing the year with 263 million premium users and record engagement growth overall, with 35 million new monthly active users for the quarter. Moving forward, the company is looking to new subscription tiers and content bundles. Continue reading Spotify Signs New WMG Deal and Teases Additional Paid Tiers

The U.S. Copyright Office has released Part 2 of its report on artificial intelligence, dealing with the legal and policy issues pertaining to copyright and generative AI. The two main takeaways are that legal questions concerning copyrightability and AI can be settled using existing federal law, requiring no legislative change. Also, “where AI ‘merely assists’ an author in the creative process, it does not change the copyrightability of the output.” Additionally, it reaffirms that any work created entirely by prompts (content “entirely generated by AI”) cannot be protected by copyright. Continue reading Copyright Office Says AI ‘Assisted’ Content Can Be Protected

Universal Music Group and Spotify have reached a multiyear distribution agreement that is said to improve payment to artists and authors. The new terms address concerns over a controversial Spotify music-audiobooks royalty bundling policy alleged to have reduced songwriter royalties in order to pay audiobook rightsholders. The policy resulted in a Federal Trade Commission complaint filed by the National Music Publishers Association in June. “Artists, songwriters and consumers will benefit from new and evolving offers, new paid subscription tiers, bundling of music and non-music content, and a richer audio and visual content catalog,” the companies jointly announced. Continue reading Spotify Tackles Controversial Royalty Bundling with UMG Deal

YouTube is rolling out new experimental features for Premium users and letting those paid plan subscribers access more than one test feature at a time. Among the exploratory features now available to YouTube Premium users is high-quality 256kbps audio on music videos and the ability to “jump ahead” on the web, something previously available only on mobile devices. For iOS users, picture-in-picture and smart downloads for YouTube Shorts are also among the new features. In addition, the company announced bundled pricing for those users who subscribe to both YouTube Premium and Google One Premium. Continue reading YouTube Premium Offers Speed Controls and Improved Audio

In the conference track of CES this year is a lineup of talks and panels on gaming and esports. During the “Generational Shifts: The Evolution of Gaming” panel, moderated by Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Senior Manager of Market Research Steven Hummel, industry executives and thought leaders shared their views on market trends emerging post-pandemic and how those trends are driving gaming across other media. While it is not surprising to hear that the average age of gamers tends to skew younger these days, perhaps the bigger takeaway is that gaming has become the new social media for many. Continue reading CES: Gaming Is the New Social Media for Young Generations

YouTube has partnered with Creative Artists Agency to develop technology that will help celebrities identify and remove deepfake videos created by AI to exploit their images. YouTube announced the tech in September and has now gained CAA’s support in the form of “critical feedback to help us build our detection systems and refine the controls.” In exchange, “several of the world’s most influential figures will have access to early-stage technology designed to identify and manage AI-generated content that features their likeness, including their face, on YouTube at scale,” the streamer announced. CAA’s clients includes celebrity talent spanning acting, music and sports. Continue reading CAA to Help YouTube Develop an AI Deepfake Removal Tool

YouTube’s Global Culture & Trends Report for 2024 is out, providing a snapshot of the year’s trending topics, top songs and leading creators from across the globe. The Paris Olympic Games appeared on 10 of 12 countries’ trending topics lists, “emphatically illustrating that non-digital-native franchises can thrive in a digital culture,” YouTube says. “Deadpool & Wolverine” is another such example. Also hot in 2024, “digital franchises” — independent creator content driven to success by online communities. Examples include Roblox’s viral “Dress to Impress” fashion game and the animated series “The Amazing Digital Circus.” Continue reading YouTube Releases Global Trends, Personalized Music Recaps

Taylor Swift ranked first among the world’s musical artists on the annual Spotify Wrapped chart that ranks the year’s top songs, albums, podcasts and audiobooks. Her more than 26.6 billion global streams earned her the preeminent title of Spotify’s Global Top Artist for the second consecutive year. The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, Drake and Billie Eilish rounded out the top performers, at numbers 2 through 5, respectively. Women dominated the global Top 10 for albums, led by Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” followed by Eilish’s “Hit Me Soft and Hard.” Swift claimed a total of three slots among the Most-Streamed Albums Globally. Continue reading Spotify Wrapped: Swift Leads a Banner Year for Female Artists

Google has added a Gemini extension that lets users link their Spotify accounts and leverage the AI for music search and discovery. Currently only for Android in English, the app accepts spoken and text prompts to select music by song, album, artist or playlist using “Play & Search.” Only Spotify Premium subscribers will be able to request and play specific tunes on demand. And while users will be able to use Gemini to activate existing playlists or pipe music themed to an activity or mood (like workouts or romantic meals), it cannot create a Spotify playlist or radio. Continue reading Google Offers Spotify Extension for Gemini Mobile Ecosystem

Nvidia has unveiled an AI sound model research project called Fugatto that “can create any combination of music, voices and sounds” based on text and audio inputs. Described by Nvidia as “the world’s most flexible sound machine,” many appear to agree that the new model represents an audio breakthrough, with the potential to generate a wide array of sounds that have not previously existed. While popular sound models from companies including Suno and ElevenLabs “can compose a song or modify a voice, none have the dexterity of the new offering,” Nvidia claims. Continue reading Nvidia AI Model Fugatto a Breakthrough in Generative Sound

Hangout is a new service that wants to make enjoying music more of a social experience. The platform, from Turntable Labs, is available on iOS, Android and the Web. At launch, Hangout offers more than 100 million songs, available to stream globally as a result of deals with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group as well as indie rights group Merlin. Users can select an avatar and invite friends to their personal ‘hangout’ space, taking turns playing songs from their favorite artists in the virtual DJ booth. Continue reading Hangout Is a New Social Platform with Music Listening Rooms

YouTube has added a new feature to its Dream Track toolset, which lets select U.S. creators use AI to generate songs using the vocals of artists including John Legend, Demi Lovato, Charli XCX, Charlie Puth and others. Now users can remix Dream Track songs using natural language to describe the changes they would like, stylistic and otherwise. Selecting the “restyle a track” option will steer users to creating a 30-second generative snippet for use in YouTube Shorts. The remixed snippets will credit the original song with “clear attribution” through the Short itself and the Shorts audio pivot page. It will also clearly indicate that the track was restyled with AI, according to Google. Continue reading YouTube Dream Track Toolset Introduces an AI Remix Feature

Following the phasing out of legacy pricing for YouTube Premium subscribers that began in January in the U.S., the Google-owned streaming service is now doing the same in Europe and elsewhere. Long-time subscribers with pricing plans dating back to discontinued services Google Play Music and YouTube Red will begin paying the equivalent of the current $13.99 per month price starting in January 2025. The price increase encompasses both YouTube Premium, which is ad-free and includes YouTube Music, as well as YouTube’s standalone plans. Concurrently, the streaming giant is also rolling out a controls redesign for iOS and Android. Continue reading YouTube Raises Its Premium Subscription Rates Internationally

Nintendo has released a new app designed to delight gaming fans who have embraced the music featured in popular games such as “Super Mario Bros.,” “The Legend of Zelda” or “Pokémon.” Nintendo Music parses nearly 40 years of musical history from the Japanese gamemaker, available free via the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service on iOS and Android. Users can stream songs or download for offline listening, building their own playlists to share or accessing Nintendo-curated programming. Recommendations will propagate based on a fan’s Nintendo Switch play activity. Continue reading Nintendo Music Debuts with 40 Years of Tunes for Switch Subs

Google announced it is rolling out its Gemini AI-powered video presentation app that enables users to easily create video presentations. Vids is a productivity app featured in the company’s suite of Google Workspace products. The new app uses AI model Gemini to automatically insert royalty-free stock video footage, create storyboards and scripts, and generate music and voiceovers. It allows users to add documents, slides, visuals, audio and transitions to the presentation’s timeline. “Personalize your content with Vids recording studio to deliver employee training, share company-wide announcements, meeting updates, and more,” suggests Google. Continue reading Google Offers New AI-Powered Vids App to Workspace Users