Spotify will now offer more than 1,000 audiobooks from some 100 publishers distributed by Ingram Content Group (ICG), thanks to a new partnership between the streaming giant and Ingram. The newly added audiobooks come from a range of small and independent publishers, including Europa Editions, Milkweed Editions, G&D Media, Bard Press, and New Society Publishers.
Source: Spotify Adds 1,000 Audiobooks from 100 Publishers Distributed by Ingram
Songwriters have traditionally remained in the background of artists’ stories. It has often been assumed that fans would be turned off by the knowledge that their favourite artist did not write all their songs alone, and that fans would not care to know much about the writers behind the curtain anyway. But today’s fans might tell you otherwise.
Spotify has outlined arguments in support of the dismissal of the unpaid royalties lawsuit filed against it by the MLC. “Books are not music, and audiobook streaming is not music streaming. Books are mainstream products offered both by Spotify and competitors via downloads and subscription streaming and, importantly, they are created and licensed by different rights holders (i.e., book authors and publishers) who charge separate license fees.”
Source: Spotify Urges MLC Lawsuit Dismissal Amid Bundling Controversy
SAG-AFTRA has authorized its chief negotiator to potentially call for an immediate strike because of a controversy surrounding the use and treatment of AI voices in video games. Union leadership has made it clear in recent statements that they regard AI as a significant issue in the voice-acting space, and that a strike is potentially in the cards.
Source: SAG-AFTRA May Call Immediate Strike Over Lack Of AI Protections For Voice Actors
YouTube Music is introducing two new ways to boost song discovery on its platform. YouTube announced on Monday that it’s experimenting with an AI-generated conversational radio feature, and rolling out a new Shazam-like tool to help users discover the name of a song by singing, humming or playing parts of it.
Source: YouTube Music testing AI-generated radio feature, adding a song recognition tool
Since 2017, the development of large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT-3 has begun to influence the publishing industry. These models, designed to generate new content on the basis of patterns in existing texts, align with the industry’s trend toward efficiency and consolidation, but simultaneously raise concerns about the long-term survival of human labor. Despite these concerns, some see AI as providing new opportunities for writers in an increasingly competitive market.
Source: AI in Book Publishing – Threat or Promising New Future? — AI In Hollywood
Spotify’s main competitors – it along with Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music collectively account for the vast majority of music streaming subscribers in the States – haven’t been as brazen in adopting bundles. But as demonstrated by publisher royalty statements shared with and vetted by DMN, they also rely heavily on multi-product packages. For YouTube Music, the fourth-largest on-demand music platform in the U.S. by paid users, that refers to the estimated 72.99% of subscribers who access the service via a bundled plan.
Source: An Estimated 73% of YouTube Music Subs Use Bundled Plans
Microsoft has relinquished its seat as an observer on the board of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, as regulators on both sides of the Atlantic scrutinize the partnership between the tech giant and the artificial-intelligence startup. In a letter sent Tuesday to the AI company led by Sam Altman, Microsoft said it resigned with immediate effect because it believed OpenAI’s board had gained stability, meaning Microsoft’s involvement was no longer necessary.
Source: Microsoft Quits OpenAI’s Board Amid Antitrust Scrutiny
“Most people know Sesac as a US-based performing rights organization. But, over the last eight years, we’ve acquired eleven companies and organically grown and broadened our business model…” That’s John Josephson speaking: the CEO who has overseen Sesac Music Group’s expansion into an organisation with three new business lines alongside its traditional business, and operations in territories well beyond the US.
Source: Sesac Music Group talks acquisitions, expansion and the fight against fraud
Throughout its history, the publishing industry has always needed a boogeyman to represent new developments threatening the good old way of doing things. “Barnes & Noble was that for a while because it was a chain and because they had centralized bookselling,” says Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America’s Most Celebrated Publishing House. “Then Amazon became the big bad guy, and Barnes & Noble looked old-school all of a sudden.”
Source: Is AI the Bitter End—or the Lucrative Future—of Book Publishing?