Universal Music Group Licenses Catalog to Equinox At-Home Fitness App Variis

Universal Music Group has licensed the world’s largest music catalog to Equinox Holdings Inc.’s Variis digital fitness app, allowing users to work out at home to hits by Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and the Weeknd. The agreement comes as the music industry increasingly looks to new partners across social media, videogames and fitness for revenue beyond streaming.

Source: WSJ News Exclusive | Universal Music Group Licenses Catalog to Equinox At-Home Fitness App Variis

RightsTech Extra

AI Companies Get the Picture

By Paul Sweeting

One of the biggest challenges facing copyright owners in grappling with the rapid development of generative AI technology, apart from a murky legal status, has been market failure, as discussed here in previous posts. The amount of existing material needed to train gen-AI models is so great, and so varied, that gauging the value of any one piece of it to establish a market price for it for licensing purposes is often effectively impossible. One group of rights owners is finding willing buyers among AI companies, however. An active, albeit for various reasons mostly sotto voce market has begun to emerge for the use of images held in large photo archives and by photo agencies and social media platforms, complete with per-unit industry and at least a nod toward creator attribution... Read More >>

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