Social-music service Hangout has gone live, launched by Turntable Labs – the startup founded by one of the early employees in Turntable·fm, which ignited a big (if ultimately brief) buzz around the category more than a decade ago. All three major labels and Merlin are on board for Hangout’s launch, with the company claiming a library of more than 100m tracks available for its users to DJ with.
Source: Turntable Labs launches Hangout social music service with label deals
Amazon Music Unlimited is adding Audible audiobooks under its individual subscription plan — though unlike Spotify, it’s working with publishers. Spotify angered songwriters and publishers by arguing it didn’t need to pay the full mechanical royalty rate since it offered multiple royalty-earning services in one, it appears that Amazon Music will work with publishers to determine new rates privately.
Source: Amazon Music Now Has Audible’s Audiobook Catalog — And the NMPA Is ‘Optimistic’ About It
GEMA alleges that OpenAI, via its ChatGPT chatbot, “reproduce[es] protected song lyrics by German authors without having acquired licenses or paid the authors in question.” According to the organization, the lawsuit aims “to prove that OpenAI systematically uses GEMA’s repertoire to train its systems.” GEMA represents the copyrights of around 95,000 members in Germany (composers, lyricists, music publishers) as well as over two million rightsholders worldwide.
Source: ChatGPT maker OpenAI, valued at $157bn, sued by GEMA in Germany over unlicensed use of song lyrics
Major French newspapers, including Le Monde, Le Figaro and Le Parisien, said on Tuesday that they were taking legal action against social media platform X for allegedly using their content without paying. Representatives for X did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The newspapers said they were due payment under their ancillary rights, which allow payment to news outlets by digital platforms for the distribution of their content.Source: French newspapers seek legal action against social media platform X
Dow Jones-owned business intelligence search engine Factiva is adding generative AI summaries to its search results. The news database has deployed Google’s Gemini technology as part of News Corp’s ongoing business partnership with the tech giant. Factiva approached every one of its almost 4,000 sources for new generative AI permissions and received the go-ahead from a “significant subset” of them according to general manager Traci Mabrey.
Source: News Corp adds Google-powered AI summaries to Factiva search results
Musical.AI, which bills itself as the company that built the world’s first secure platform for rights management in AI training, has partnered with China-headquartered license management firm Kanjian to bring what it says is a fully licensed, ready-to-use music catalog to AI developers.
Source: Musical.AI teams up with China’s Kanjian to deliver licensed music to AI developers
The late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia’s estate has recreated his voice using AI in partnership with Eleven Labs. The singer-songwriter’s voice can now read to ElevenReader app users their choice of audiobooks, articles, poetry, PDFs, and more through what Eleven calls the Iconic Listening Experience, Billboard reported. Garcia’s voice is available in 32 different languages.
Source: Jerry Garcia’s AI-Created Voice Can Now Narrate Audiobooks, Articles and More
Blackstone’s Hipgnosis has successfully completed a $1.47 billion music rights asset-backed securities transaction (i.e. bond offering). The ABS deal, referred to as Lyra 24-2, sees investment giant Blackstone raise $1.47 billion in debt financing backed by royalties from the 45,000-song Hipgnosis Songs Fund portfolio it acquired in July. Blackstone acquired Hipgnosis Songs Fund‘s assets from HSF’s then-public shareholders in a transaction worth USD $1.584 billion.
Source: Blackstone’s Hipgnosis closes $1.47bn asset-backed securities transaction
The platform, currently in beta testing, is set to officially launch in early 2025 and access will be by invite only. It is said to be “the first in the market to offer AI attribution via Sureel AI.” The tech will enable artists and labels to track how their music is used in AI training models and determine fair compensation for AI-generated outputs.
Source: Rostrum Pacific unveils AI-powered music distribution platform SpaceHeater
TikTok’s increasing integration with music streaming platforms comes amid ongoing tensions between the short video platform and music rights holders. After resolving the licensing dispute with Universal Music Group (UMG) earlier this year, during which the music of UMG-signed artists disappeared from the platform, TikTok is now embroiled in a licensing dispute with Merlin, the licensing org for indie labels and distributors.