New role-playing gaming platform Hidden Door debuted Wednesday with features that allow users to create their own stories within iconic fictional worlds by engaging with AI-driven models made in partnership with creators, authors and IP rights holders. Within these worlds, there are chances to add in genre-bending plot twists, including vampires and pirates, that affect the rules of the worlds.
Marketplace
Spotify Investigating Playlist Bribery Allegations in Turkey
Spotify is facing serious turmoil in Turkey, including allegations of bribery around playlist placement and mounting regulatory pressure. The controversy escalated after several Turkish artists raised complaints, questioning how playlists were created and alleging that unfair visibility was being granted to certain performers in exchange for bribes.
Source: Spotify Investigating Playlist Bribery Allegations in Turkey
AI summaries cause ‘devastating’ drop in audiences, online news media told
News companies have been warned of a “devastating impact” on online audiences as search results are replaced by AI summaries, after a new study claimed it caused up to 80% fewer clickthroughs. The threat posed by Google’s AI Overviews, which summarise a search result with a block of text, has rapidly risen to the top of the concerns among media owners. Some regard it as an existential threat to outlets reliant on search result traffic.
Source: AI summaries cause ‘devastating’ drop in audiences, online news media told
Stability AI is developing a legit ‘opt in’ artist marketplace amid lawsuits over scraping
UK-based Stability AI, which faces lawsuits over allegedly scraping images without authorization to train its AI models, is looking at developing a marketplace where artists can license their work for AI training. CEO Prem Akkaraju told the Financial Times in an interview that the proposed marketplace would allow creators to voluntarily submit artwork and receive compensation when AI companies use their content for model training.
Why legacy media should use creators as curators and content providers
Much of the traditional entertainment world is now working with creators. In fact, many of these companies have long-standing creator strategies when it comes to marketing. Whether it is a movie launch, a new TV series, video game, or album release, these businesses have a strong handle on which creators to work with to drive engagement. However, the process of working directly with creators on content production and new IP remains a challenge.
Source: Why legacy media should use creators as curators and content providers
AI Search Is Growing More Quickly Than Expected
An estimated 5.6% of U.S. search traffic on desktop browsers last month went to an AI-powered large language model like ChatGPT or Perplexity, according to Datos, a market intelligence firm that tracks web users’ behavior. That pales beside the 94.4% that still went to traditional search engines like Alphabet’s Google or Microsoft’s Bing. But the percentage of traffic that went to browser-based AI search has more than doubled since June 2024,
Spotify’s Lax Controls Exposed: The Blaze Foley AI Song Debacle
The modern music streaming world, for all its accessibility, has faced challenges in this brave new world powered by AI. The appearance of an AI-generated song titled “Together” on the official Spotify page of the late country icon Blaze Foley is a glaring example of how Spotify has failed to adequately protect both artists’ legacies and listener trust.
Source: Spotify’s Lax Controls Exposed: The Blaze Foley AI Song Debacle
‘You can make really good stuff – fast’: new AI tools a gamechanger for film-makers
Within two weeks, Mallal, who directed Spiders in the Sky on his own, was able to make a film about the Ukraine attack that would have cost millions – and would have taken at least two years including development – to make pre-AI. “Using AI, it should be possible to make things that we’ve never seen before,” he said. “We’ve never seen a cinematic news piece before turned around in two weeks. We’ve never seen a thriller based on the news made in two weeks.”
Source: ‘You can make really good stuff – fast’: new AI tools a gamechanger for film-makers
Libraries Pay More for E-Books. Some States Want to Change That.
The issue is causing tension in the book community. Librarians complain that publishers charge so much to license e-books that it’s busting library budgets and frustrating efforts to provide equitable access to reading materials. Big publishers and many authors say that e-book library access undermines their already struggling business models. Smaller presses are split.
Source: Libraries Pay More for E-Books. Some States Want to Change That.
AI-generated music is going viral. Should the music industry be worried?
The quality and originality of AI music have often been criticized, but experts say that as generative AI becomes more sophisticated, it’s becoming harder and harder for the average listener to distinguish between human and machine. ″[The Velvet Sundown]” is much better music than most of what we’ve heard from AI in the past,” Jason Palamara, an assistant professor of music technology at the Herron School of Art and Design, told CNBC.
Source: AI-generated music is going viral. Should the music industry be worried?