SoundCloud announced that it will begin rolling out direct music purchases, now in beta, on the streaming platform direct from artist pages. Starting Wednesday (Aug. 26), around 200 Artist Pro creators will be able to sell songs directly from their profiles on SoundCloud, providing an additional source of revenue for artists. “Artists should be able to build their audience in one place, on one platform,” Eliah Seton, SoundCloud’s CEO, said in a statement. “SoundCloud has always been where artists find their first fans and build real communities.
Marketplace
Google gives publishers a new way to fight AI-driven traffic losses
As AI continues to kill traffic to websites, Google on Thursday threw a bone to those publishers negatively impacted by the change. It’s now allowing readers to push a button on a publisher’s website to indicate it’s a “favorite source” they’d like to see highlighted more often across Google Search, Discover, and Google News. The tech giant said it’s making this new, interactive “Preferred Sources” button available to online publishers to embed on their own websites.
Source: Google gives publishers a new way to fight AI-driven traffic losses
Sick of A.I. Slop? So Are Tech Giants.
Spotify, a music streamer, said it removed 75 million bulk uploads, duplicate songs and other “spammy” tracks last year — a sizable chunk of its total portfolio. LinkedIn said in July that “A.I. slop is a top priority for all of us” and developed a button for users to report it. Researchers from YouTube’s parent company, Google, described how a video service wiped 130,000 channels of low-quality content off its platform over six months.
AI Has Plunged the Book Publishing Industry Into Utter Chaos
Shortly after scoring a multimillion-dollar book deal for a debut author, the novelist’s agents pulled the plug. They couldn’t verify that the book had been wholly written by their client. The spectacular implosions of big book deals over suspected AI use—and fears about who might be next—are forcing a reckoning over the nature of authorship, the relationship between writers and publishers and the industry’s long-term survival. But nobody can seem to agree who exactly is responsible for solving this problem, or even how much a problem it actually is.
Source: AI Has Plunged the Book Publishing Industry Into Utter Chaos
Meet the Media Industry’s Nerd-in-Chief
Jonathan Roberts spent years studying dark matter and the origins of the universe. Now, he’s tackling another intractable problem: How to keep artificial-intelligence tools from cannibalizing the publishing industry. Publishers have faced declining traffic for years, but AI-powered search engines and chatbots are accelerating the demise of a business long reliant on clicks and ad revenue. As chief innovation officer at Barry Diller’s magazine publishing company People Inc., Roberts is charged with reimagining the media business for an AI era.
Amid legal battles, Suno says it will start watermarking songs
Suno, the service that allows users to create AI-generated songs, today announced new tools to mark tracks made on its platform, limit downloads, and update community guidelines to prevent copycat songs. The changes come as Suno faces numerous lawsuits from labels and artist bodies. In a blog post, co-founder and CEO Mikey Shulman shared core principles and said that the platform wants to promote original creation while enabling more people to make music with its AI tools.
Source: Amid legal battles, Suno says it will start watermarking songs
Disney, TikTok Strike Content-Sharing Deal Aimed at Boosting Short-Form Programming on Disney+
The entertainment giant struck an alliance with TikTok that will have creators on the popular quick-hit video service making shorts tied to characters and stories from Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, FX and more. The resulting pieces from creators who opt-in to the program will be available on both TikTok and on Disney+ in the form of “Verts,” the company’s vertical video products.
Source: Disney, TikTok Strike Content-Sharing Deal Aimed at Boosting Short-Form Programming on Disney+
South Korea’s KOMCA ends ban on AI-assisted songs
South Korea‘s largest music copyright collective has ended its ban on registering songs made with artificial intelligence. The Korean Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) will now register AI-assisted works and pay royalties on them, provided a human creator took a substantial part in the writing, composition, or arrangement. The amended rules took effect on Monday (August 3), replacing a ban that had applied since March 24, 2025.
The More Americans Know About AI, the Less They Like It: Gallup
According to Gallup, seven in 10 Americans now say they are somewhat or extremely knowledgeable about AI, up from 64% in 2024. But as familiarity has grown, so has skepticism. More Americans now believe AI does more harm than good, expect it to reduce the number of U.S. jobs over the next decade, and are less likely to trust businesses to use the technology responsibly.
Source: The More Americans Know About AI, the Less They Like It: Gallup
Company Offering Printed Books to Train AI Stops After 404 Media Coverage
On July 30, nine days after 404 Media’s reporting, ISBNdb added a note to its homepage and an update on its news page about the change. “We’ve seen the recent coverage about a marketing landing page on our site, and we understand the concern it raised. The facts: ISBNdb has never purchased, scanned, or sold a book — for AI training or anything else,” ISBNdb wrote. “We don’t train AI models, and we never have. The page was a test of market interest; no such service was ever brought to life.
Source: Company Offering Printed Books to Train AI Stops After 404 Media Coverage