If trained professionals can’t reliably detect AI, everyday listeners won’t either. The behaviour is stable and repeatable. Millions search for and share AI covers and remixes daily. That consistency is the basis of every revenue line the industry has ever built. What’s missing is licensed infrastructure. The biggest short-term commercial opportunity is AI cover versions and remixes.
Technology
UMG’s latest major AI partnership arrives via tech giant NVIDIA
The world’s largest music rights company announced Tuesday (January 6) a strategic collaboration with AI computing giant NVIDIA, the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization, currently valued at approximately $4.56 trillion. According to a press release, the partnership will see NVIDIA and UMG “undertake collaborative research and development to promote shared objectives of advancing human music creation and rightsholder compensation.”
Interactive AI Features in E-books, Audiobooks Drive Debate
Amazon’s “Ask this Book” and ElevenLabs’ “VoiceChat” features add a new layer of AI-powered interactivity between books and readers—and raise questions about the legality and reliability of such tools. “‘Ask this Book’ is designed as a reading comprehension tool for customers who have already purchased or borrowed books, providing factual information to help them better understand what they’re reading, with answers that are non-shareable and non-copyable,” an Amazon spokesperson told PW.
Source: Interactive AI Features in E-books, Audiobooks Drive Debate
Disney’s OpenAI Deal ‘Appears to Sanction’ AI Company’s ‘Theft of Our Work,’ WGA Says
WGA said it will meet with Disney “to probe the terms of this deal, including the extent to which user-generated videos use the work of WGA members. We will continue to fight to protect our members’ creative and economic interests in the context of AI technology.” Under Disney’s three-year licensing agreement, OpenAI’s Sora will be able to generate user-prompted videos from a set of more than 200 masked, animated or creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars.
Source: Disney’s OpenAI Deal ‘Appears to Sanction’ AI Company’s ‘Theft of Our Work,’ WGA Says
Inside the Creation of Tilly Norwood, the AI Actress Freaking Out Hollywood
Van der Velden says she is not out to replace real actresses. She is after something else—a new visual language of acid-trippy world building and uncanny realism only made possible by AI. She envisions “a whole new creative renaissance” for filmmakers and fewer financial barriers to new work. Most big movies today cost more than $100 million to make. Van der Velden thinks one done with AI would cost a fraction of that.
Source: Inside the Creation of Tilly Norwood, the AI Actress Freaking Out Hollywood
EU investigates Google over AI-generated summaries in search results
The EU has opened an investigation into Google over its artificial intelligence (AI) summaries which appear above search results. The European Commission said it would examine whether the firm used data from websites to provide this service – and if it failed to offer “appropriate compensation” to publishers. A Google spokesperson said the probe “risks stifling innovation in a market that is more competitive than ever”.
Source: EU investigates Google over AI-generated summaries in search results
Spines Adds AI Audiobook Voice Cloning, Translations
After securing $22.5 million in funding in 2024, AI-powered self-publishing platform Spines has deployed the funds to introduce author voice cloning for audiobooks, expand translation services to seven languages, and grow its author base to more than 6,000 users. The platform published more than 2,000 titles in 2024, up from 400 titles in 2023, and anticipates it will reach 8,000 titles by the end of this year.
Source: Spines Adds AI Audiobook Voice Cloning, Translations
AI music creates unease as it tops the charts
In a recent study by the streaming platform Deezer and market research company Ipsos, 97% of respondents could not tell the difference between music tracks made entirely by artificial intelligence and those made by humans. At first glance, it might seem that listeners are welcoming AI-generated music with open arms and ears. But the truth is muddier. The same Deezer study found that 52% of respondents were uncomfortable about not being able to tell the difference between human and AI music.
AI has helped break news ecosystem, but could also fix it – says agency boss
For the last decade, Leidig has been building NewsX, a Community Interest Company. “In the agency world, if you do the editorial work and someone uses it, you get paid. It’s that simple. Social media platforms broke that when they started monetising what they don’t produce.” NewsX is designed to reconnect that chain by documenting editorial labour, validating it, tracking and charging for usage.
Source: AI has helped break news ecosystem, but could also fix it – says agency boss
WMG CEO vows to ‘legislate, litigate, license’ in the era of AI music creation
In a blog post published late Wednesday (November 19), Kyncl outlined WMG’s approach to generative AI partnerships, emphasizing that the major label will only work with companies that commit to licensed models, properly value music economically, and give artists control over the use of their name, image, likeness, and voice. The timing of Kyncl’s message is particularly significant.