Technology

From the NBA to Duolingo to The Washington Post, it seems everyone today is on TikTok, with the growing idea that if you’re not, you’re far behind. But as more and more brands, advertisers, influencers and publishers prepare TikTok strategies, eager to reach a younger global audience — and, if they’re lucky, go viral — the China-owned short-video phenom is scaring the crap out of American government officials.

Source: Social Media Insider: Why Is TikTok Freaking Out The U.S. Government?

Legislation seeking to ban TikTok in the U.S. has officially been introduced in Congress, in an effort led by GOP Sen. Marco Rubio. “This isn’t about creative videos — this is about an app that is collecting data on tens of millions of American children and adults every day,” Rubio said in a prepared statement about the Senate bill. “We know it’s used to manipulate feeds and influence elections. We know it answers to the People’s Republic of China.”

Source: U.S. Lawmakers Introduce Bills to Ban TikTok, Citing Risk of China ‘Spying’ on Americans

While it’s easy to get mired in the details of coins and crypto, smart contracts, metaverse worlds, and the nascent applications running on decentralized tech, if we go up 50,000 feet, there are three significant differentiators in Web3 that have the potential for transforming music. One of the most important of these differentiators is that Web3 products and experiences are artist-centric – as opposed to Web2, which are catalog-centric.

Source: How Web3 is ushering in a new artist-centric era

Australian artists say Lensa, the app that uses artificial intelligence to generate self-portraits, is stealing their content and are calling for stricter copyright laws that keep up with AI-generated art. But the parent company behind the app has defended its use of images, saying Lensa learns to create portraits just as a human would – by learning different artistic styles.

Source: Australian artists accuse popular AI imaging app of stealing content, call for stricter copyright laws

In order to affirm their commitment to decentralization Web3 NFT marketplaces must ensure that parameters governing NFT royalties are determined by DAOs. Further, they must ensure that all relevant parameters are hardcoded into their protocols via smart contract modules. Otherwise, community governance and trustless architecture are enticing labels at best, and outright deception at worst.

Source: Until NFT Royalty Features Live On-Chain, the web3 Label Remains In-Name-Only – CryptoMode

Public Pressure, which was originally launched in 2015 as an online community and magazine, recently rebranded as a Web3 platform, Pclaiming to power “a fair and equitable” direct-to-fan strategy for creators. For its first project, Public Pressure teamed up with Moonsama to introduce music as a gaming utility for the first time inside the Moonsama gaming metaverse.

Source: Web3 music platform Public Pressure’s first NFT project rakes in $2m ‘within days’ of release

Artists signed to Warner Music Group labels will release music NFTs through the upcoming Polygon-based marketplace LGND Music thanks to a multi-year partnership announced today between the major record label, the Ethereum sidechain network, and the Web3 music startup. Set to launch in January, LGND Music is an online marketplace that will offer songs as NFTs—which fans can purchase and listen to through the platform.

Source: Warner Music Group to Release Polygon Music NFTs Through LGND Platform – Decrypt

In the latest sign that NFTs remain popular with collectors, Sound, a platform for music tokens is singing a very catchy tune. The number of mints on Sound have doubled in each of the last two months. At 12,080, according to a Dune Analytics query, over a third of the platform’s total of 30,562 mints came in November. . The platform also paid out $4M to artists since its launch in December 2021.Collectors are doing pretty well, too.

Source: Mints Double at Music NFT Platform as Collectors Shrug Off Bear Market – The Defiant

With the advent and unprecedented success in the utilization of AI and machine learning across social media, delivering bespoke video and image content to their users, the question is quickly arising on when it will be further placed within the film and TV environment for broadcasters, streamers, studios and the like to better serve audiences tastes.

Source: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, And The Future Of Entertainment

In the past, indie filmmakers have turned to traditional crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter to secure project funds. From critically acclaimed action comedies like Kung Fury to award-winning horror flicks like The Babadook, crowdfunding has helped many cult classics come to fruition. But with the emergence of NFT technology, some filmmakers are abandoning these platforms in favor of Web3 fundraising opportunities.

Source: The State of Web3 Film: How Royalties Help Visionary Artists Find Community