Warner Music Group and Stability AI have entered into a new partnership, which the companies say will “advance the use of responsible AI in music creation”. The partnership, according to today’s (November 19) announcement, combines “WMG’s long-standing advocacy for principled innovation with Stability AI’s expertise and leadership in commercially-safe generative audio”.
WMG settles Udio lawsuit, strikes licensing deal for AI music platform coming in 2026
Warner Music Group and AI music platform Udio have struck what they call “a landmark agreement” that resolves the companies’ copyright infringement litigation. The companies have also entered into a licensing deal for a “next-generation” AI–powered music creation, listening, and discovery platform. The news arrived just an hour after WMG announced a new partnership with Stability AI on Wednesday, which the companies say will “advance the use of responsible AI in music creation”.
The Circuit Group launches $500m+ music investment fund backed by Create Music Group
The Circuit Group, which owns management firms Ayita and Seven20, has announced the launch of a new nine-figure investment fund focused on the acquisition of music assets and other cultural IP. Dubbed Circuit Capital, the new fund is backed by $500 million from Los Angeles-based Create Music Group (CMG), which was valued last year at $1 billion following a $165 million investment round.
Source: The Circuit Group launches $500m+ music investment fund backed by Create Music Group
SoundCloud CEO says the platform is building music’s ‘next major revenue format’
Music streaming faces a dual crisis, according to SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton – and it’s creating what he calls “a very ripe dynamic” for his platform. “Streaming is not enough for artists,” Seton says. “The vast majority of artists don’t earn a living wage. 80 million tracks making less than five bucks, 46 million tracks making nothing. Those numbers have only grown in a generative AI world.” But the problem extends beyond artist economics.
We Need Laws to Stop AI-Generated Deepfakes
Generative artificial intelligence can now counterfeit reality at an industrial scale. Deepfakes—photographs, videos and audio tracks that use AI to create convincing but entirely fabricated representations of people or events—aren’t just an Internet content problem; they are a social-order problem. The power of AI to create words and images that seem real but aren’t threatens society, critical thinking and civilizational stability.
Copyright lawsuits push sports teams to rethink their digital content strategies
Sports teams have become content machines in the digital age, producing a constant stream of videos, highlights, and promotions to engage fans worldwide. But as James Bullock-Webster, director and head of tech, media & cyber at New Dawn Risk, told Insurance Business, this evolution has also exposed organizations to a surge in media liability claims. “What we’ve seen in the last few years is a real surge of media music copyright infringement claims,” he said.
Source: Copyright lawsuits push sports teams to rethink their digital content strategies
TIDAL opens direct uploads for indie artists, but tracks won’t earn royalties
The feature positions Block-ownedTIDAL as a competitor to SoundCloud, which pioneered the direct-upload and discovery model for independent artists. The new TIDAL Upload service allows artists to post tracks directly to the music service, where the tracks become available alongside the platform’s catalog of 180 million songs. Uploaded tracks are accessible to all listeners, including those without paid subscriptions, and artists can keep tracks private to share only with selected collaborators.
Source: TIDAL opens direct uploads for indie artists, but tracks won’t earn royalties
Only 36% of UK Club Royalties Reach the Right Creators—Study
A six-month audit published by Fair Play, a new independent initiative aiming for transparency and accountability in electronic music royalties, provides some much-needed insight into how UK royalties are collected and distributed, and how effectively so. The answer? Not very. It turns out that only 36% of club performance royalties reach the correct creators, with an estimated £5.7 million ($7.4 million) misallocated every year.
Source: Only 36% of UK Club Royalties Reach the Right Creators—Study
WMG and Feed.fm Partner to Bring Premium Music Clips to Apps
WMG partners with Feed.fm, launching a music clip API that enables digital platforms to integrate song clips from major labels’ catalogs. The collaboration unites Feed.fm’s technology with WMG’s expansive catalog to make it easier for developers to integrate fully licensed song clips through a secure system. With this partnership, Feed.fm is now touting an ‘end-to-end solution’ for music clips that includes licensing, curation, and in-app experiences delivered via API.
Source: WMG and Feed.fm Partner to Bring Premium Music Clips to Apps
Tit-For-Tat: Porn Producers Counter Meta’s “Personal Use” Piracy Defense
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trike 3 Holdings and Counterlife Media have fired back at Meta, claiming that the tech giant’s “personal use” defense for pirating their adult films is a smokescreen. The producers allege that Meta not only used algorithms to hoard its films for AI training, but also sacrificed the producers’ works to improve download speeds through BitTorrent’s “tit-for-tat” mechanism.
Source: Tit-For-Tat: Porn Producers Counter Meta’s “Personal Use” Piracy Defense * TorrentFreak