Marketplace

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

Indie Label Owner Says Streaming Has Failed ‘The Middle Class of Musicians’

Streaming has failed “the ‘middle class’ of musicians” – at least according to Hopeless Records founder Louis Posen, who’s calling for major changes to the current pro-rata compensation model. Posen took aim at streaming’s shortcomings – and floated an interesting solution – in a blog post entitled “The Digital Paradox.” Technically, said post was attributed to the Organization for Recorded Culture and Arts (ORCA), an indie advocacy group that counts Hopeless as a founding supporter.

Source: Indie Label Owner Says Streaming Has Failed ‘The Middle Class of Musicians’

A.I. Is Writing Fiction. Publishers Are Unprepared.

For months, speculation has been building online that a buzzy horror novel, “Shy Girl,” was written with the help of A.I. Earlier this year, Max Spero, the founder and chief executive of Pangram, an A.I. detection program, heard of the claims about “Shy Girl” and decided to run a test of the full text. Its results indicated that the book was 78 percent A.I. generated. “I’m very confident that this is largely A.I. generated, or very heavily A.I. assisted,” said Spero, who posted his research on X in January.

Source: A.I. Is Writing Fiction. Publishers Are Unprepared.

US publishers see traffic boost for breaking news from Google Discover

Breaking news on Google Discover is making up almost all growth in search referrals for major US news publishers, according to new data. Organic search traffic to 64 publishers has dropped 42% since AI Overviews launched in 2024. The Google Search Console data was shared by Define Media Group, which manages SEO and audience development for major publishers in the US. Define said its clients received a combined average of 1.7 billion organic search clicks for the five quarters to Q1 2024.

Source: US publishers see traffic boost for breaking news from Google Discover

Global recorded music revenues hit $31.7B in 2025, up 6.4% YoY

Figures released today (March 18) in IFPI’s Global Music Report 2026 show that global recorded music revenues grew by 6.4% YoY in 2025 – an improvement on the 4.7% rate of growth posted in 2024 — marking the global industry’s eleventh consecutive year of growth. Paid subscription streaming revenues increased 8.8% YoY and accounted for more than half — 52.4% — of global revenues. IFPI reports that there are now 837 million users of paid streaming subscription accounts globally.

Source: Global recorded music revenues hit $31.7B in 2025, up 6.4% YoY

Lyor Cohen letter addresses AI integration at YouTube

Lyor Cohen, YouTube‘s Global Head of Music, says the platform’s mission for the year ahead is to “help artists and songwriters harness the power of visual storytelling to build their global audiences and lifelong careers.” The exec made the comments in his first letter to music industry partners of 2026, outlining the platform’s strategic priorities for the year ahead. outlining the platform’s strategic priorities for the year ahead.

Source: Lyor Cohen letter addresses AI integration at YouTube

Is this product ‘human-made’? The race to establish an AI-free logo

Organisations worldwide are racing to develop a universally recognised label for “human-made” products and services as part of the growing backlash against AI use. Declarations like “Proudly Human”, “Human-made”, ‘”No A.I” and “AI-free” are appearing across films, marketing, books and websites. BBC News has counted at least eight different initiatives trying to come up with a label that could get the kind of global recognition that the “Fair Trade” logo has for ethically made products.

Source: Is this product ‘human-made’? The race to establish an AI-free logo

Tidal Offers Direct-to-Fan Downloads with a 90/10 Split—In Direct Competition to Bandcamp

Music streaming platform Tidal now allows independent artists to sell digital downloads directly to fans, bypassing the traditional distribution route at a flat 10% fee—and coming directly for Bandcamp’s lunch. Most digital service providers (DSP) pay pennies per stream, but taking a direct-to-fans (D2F) sales approach offers a much more appealing option, especially for smaller or independent artists.

Source: Tidal Offers Direct-to-Fan Downloads with a 90/10 Split—In Direct Competition to Bandcamp

Is Suno the Music Industry’s Biggest Nightmare — or Greatest Hope?

Many have compared Suno, and the rise of generative AI music in general, to Napster’s launch at the turn of the century, which upended album sales and led to the darkest financial decade in recorded-music history. Suno could disrupt music consumption, like Napster and Spotify once did. But it’s also doing something different: disrupting the sacred act of creation itself.

Source: Is Suno the Music Industry’s Biggest Nightmare — or Greatest Hope?

New AI licensing scheme to help smaller publishers strike deals with platforms

A new collective licensing scheme for the “fair and lawful” use of content in AI products has launched in the UK. The project is being led by non-profit organisation Publishers’ Licensing Services (PLS) and is open to all types of small and large content publishers including magazines, digital news media, books and academic publications (whether they are currently PLS members or not).

Source: New AI licensing scheme to help smaller publishers strike deals with platforms

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