In a note sent last week to client publishers, Ingram Content Group warned of the “growing trend” of AI companies purchasing and scanning print books train their large language models, and said publishers could opt out of selling to these companies. Ingram acknowledged that it may not always be able to identify if the buyer is an AI company, but said it “will make reasonable efforts” to honor the wishes of publishers who don’t wish to sell to them.
Source: Ingram Lets Publishers Opt Out of Book Sales to Tech Firms
If trained professionals can’t reliably detect AI, everyday listeners won’t either. The behaviour is stable and repeatable. Millions search for and share AI covers and remixes daily. That consistency is the basis of every revenue line the industry has ever built. What’s missing is licensed infrastructure. The biggest short-term commercial opportunity is AI cover versions and remixes.
Back in November, Napster’s $3 billion funding apparently fell through, leaving the music streaming platform’s future uncertain. Now, the company has abruptly shuttered its music streaming capabilities—while users were actively using the service—in its broader pivot to AI assistants. The pivot into AI isn’t unexpected—the brand was purchased by AI company Infinite Reality last year—but for users of the music streaming service, to call it jarring is an understatement.
Facebook is testing a system that charges users for sharing web links, in a move that could prove to be a further blow to news outlets and other publishers. Meta, the social media platform’s owner, said it is carrying out a “limited test” in which those without a paid Meta Verified subscription, costing at least £9.99 a month, can only post two external links a month.
