Headlines

Spotify’s new SongDNA feature maps how your favorite songs are connected

Now available to Premium subscribers on iOS and Android, the feature provides an interactive experience that lets users trace other components of a song beyond the singer, songwriter, or musician. With SongDNA, listeners could explore other connections, like who may have covered that song, plus other information like samples, interpolations, or what other projects the song’s collaborators have also been involved in.

Source: Spotify’s new SongDNA feature maps how your favorite songs are connected

Can AI Music Be A Real Growth Market?

The conversations around the usage of AI in music can get quite nebulous without proper framing. On one hand, Suno’s current role, according to CEO Mikey Shulman, is that it’s the Ozempic of the music industry: everyone is on it, but no one is telling you. With 2 million paid subscribers and $300 million in annual recurring revenue, the sizable base is there. The question now is what the ceiling looks like. The belief that “most of the music on Suno is bad,” is also accurate. But most songs on Spotify are not good.

Source: Can AI Music Be A Real Growth Market?

Why Is the Music Industry Still Estimating Public Performance?

At a top level, public performances of musical works are tracked by a vast and complex system of loosely tied organizations. Issues aside — and there are many — it’s a remarkably complex royalty-collection mechanism for music IP owners, with PROs worldwide tracking and charging for music the public enjoys. But is it time for that mechanism to undergo a system upgrade?

Source: Why Is the Music Industry Still Estimating Public Performance?

US judge dismisses Google monopoly claim brought by local publishers

A judge has dismissed an antitrust case brought by two US news publishers alleging Google has monopolized the online news market via its search business.  US District Judge Amit P. Mehta said the publishers did not successfully prove they have antitrust standing, meaning that they had suffered harm as a result of the tech giant’s actions within the search market.

Source: US judge dismisses Google monopoly claim brought by local publishers

SunoCharts shows how AI music’s trending creators and breakout genres could be tracked

The recently-launched SunoCharts website carries the tagline ‘the analytics layer for AI music’. The twist is that none of the trending tracks or artists included in those analytics are real. That’s not us making a snarky jab at those creators. They’re literally not real, as the site’s creator Kieron Donoghue explains. “SunoCharts is a site built on dummy data that shows what could be possible if Suno released an API. It does not use any live data, it’s purely a demo,” he says.

Source: SunoCharts shows how AI music’s trending creators and breakout genres could be tracked

Deezer Achieves Profitability In Fiscal 2025; ‘AI Transparency’ a Serious Differentiator

On Wednesday, French music streamer Deezer unveiled its 2025 financials, reporting profitability for the first time and exceeding all three key metrics across adjusted EBITDA, positive net income, and free cash flow. This, Deezer said, marks “the start of a cycle of sustainable profitability.” This growth was attributed to a $14 million (12 million euro) reduction in expenses, while earning more users through the company’s position on AI in music and artist compensation.

Source: Deezer Achieves Profitability In Fiscal 2025; ‘AI Transparency’ a Serious Differentiator

ElevenLabs launches Music Marketplace to let its users monetize their AI-generated tracks

According to the company, once published to its Music Marketplace, tracks can be downloaded and used as they are, remixed into new projects, or licensed for use in videos, games, ads, and other commercial work. When a paid subscriber uses a published track, the original creator earns from that use. he company says that more than 14 million “studio-grade tracks have been created” via ElevenLabs since the launch of its AI music generator last year.

Source: ElevenLabs launches Music Marketplace to let its users monetize their AI-generated tracks

OpenAI Will Shut Down Sora Video App; Disney Drops Plans for $1 Billion Investment

OpenAI said it will discontinue Sora, the generative-AI video creation app it launched last year, without providing a reason for the decision. “We’re saying goodbye to Sora. To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built community around it: thank you,” OpenAI’s Sora team said in a statement Tuesday. The announcement comes just three months after Disney inked a groundbreaking deal with OpenAI.

Source: OpenAI Will Shut Down Sora Video App; Disney Drops Plans for $1 Billion Investment

News/Media Alliance Partners with Bria AI to Launch AI Licensing Agreement

The News/Media Alliance (NMA), representing around 2,200 news, magazine, and digital media organizations, has partnered with Bria to let NMA members opt into an AI licensing agreement that would see them compensated for the use of their content in AI systems. This partnership will also form the foundation for a new Bria product in development – designed to ensure reliable, grounded AI-generated outputs based on participating publishers’ owned content.

Source: News/Media Alliance Partners with Bria AI to Launch AI Licensing Agreement

Sony Music has targeted 135,000+ deepfakes for removal from streaming platforms

Sony says the 135,000 tracks it has identified so far are likely only a fraction of what has actually been uploaded. Since last March 2025 alone, the company flagged roughly 60,000 songs falsely attributed to artists from its roster, according to the report. In a submission to the government’s consultation on AI and copyright law, obtained by the Financial Times and The Sunday Times at the time, Sony flagged more than 75,000 AI-generated deepfakes.

Source: Sony Music has targeted 135,000+ deepfakes for removal from streaming platforms

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