Headlines

As Spotify corners audiobooks, Audible eyes functional audio

Over the course of 30 years, Audible’s catalogue has grown to include more than 470,000 audiobooks. In less than a year, Spotify’s catalogue has grown to include more than 200,000 audiobooks, which is already 42.6% of Audible’s offering. As the catalogues of each audiobook platform become less differentiated, Spotify and Audible will increasingly turn to other means of differentiation, from different formats to different pricing.

Source: As Spotify corners audiobooks, Audible eyes functional audio

Amicus Briefs Filed in Internet Archive Copyright Case

The briefs are the latest development in the long-running copyright infringement case, following the publishers’ opening appeal brief filed earlier this month, and comes nearly one year after judge John G. Koeltl unequivocally found the scanning and lending of print library books to be copyright infringement. The Internet Archive’s reply brief is now due on April 19.

Source: Amicus Briefs Filed in Internet Archive Copyright Case

Why watermarking won’t work

Can detection be universal without empowering those with access to exploit it? If not, how can we prevent misuse of the system itself by those who control it? Once again, we find ourselves back to square one and asking who gets to decide what is real? Without standards and public education, AI watermarking will serve as little more than a plaster, failing to address issues of misinformation.

Source: Why watermarking won’t work

OpenAI wants to use video generation model Sora to break into Hollywood 

The first people who have gained access to Sora are “red teamers” who are looking for vulnerabilities in the software, but OpenAI is giving Hollywood notables advanced access so that they can explore the ways the generative AI technology could assist their work. According to Bloomberg, “a few big-name actors and directors” have been invited to take Sora for a test drive.

Source: OpenAI wants to use video generation model Sora to break into Hollywood – Tubefilter

AI Spending to Surpass $13 Billion by 2028, Media Analysts Predict

AI spending is expected to crest above $13 billion by 2028, with the spread falling fairly evenly across analytics, development/delivery and customer experiences like personalization and discovery, media analysts announced at a Series Mania presentation on Thursday. However, the analysts do not anticipate the content creation apocalypse that has underscored much AI coverage of late.

Source: AI Spending to Surpass $13 Billion by 2028, Media Analysts Predict

ELVIS Act signed into law in Tennessee to protect artists’ voice and likeness from AI

The bipartisan ELVIS Act was signed into law on Thursday (March 21) by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee at a honky-tonk in Nashville. The ELVIS Act will officially go into effect on July 1 and will update the state’s existing right of publicity. The bill was introduced in January to update Tennessee’s Protection of Personal Rights law, to include protections for songwriters, performers, and music industry professionals’ voices from the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI).

Source: ELVIS Act signed into law in Tennessee to protect artists’ voice and likeness from the misuse of AI

Spotify Claims Record Earnings in 2023 for Indie Artists, Songwriters

Spotify has provided further details on the record $9 billion it paid out to the music industry in 2023, which was first announced in January. For context, the company stated that the “amount has nearly tripled over the past six years, and represents a big part of the $48 billion-plus Spotify has paid since its founding.” In Tuesday’s announcement the company says the number of artists generating at least $1,000,000, $100,000 and $10,000 all have nearly tripled since 2017 — and those earnings are from Spotify alone.

Source: Spotify Claims Record Earnings in 2023 for Indie Artists, Songwriters and Non-English-Language Songs

Kobalt Funding Tops $1B Following Refinancing, Royalty Securities

Less than five months after unveiling an over $700 million catalog partnership with Morgan Stanley, Kobalt says it’s increased its total “funding capacity” to north of $1 billion. New York-based Kobalt touted the deployable capital today, via a formal release. The more than $1 billion at hand refers specifically to the mentioned Morgan Stanley-powered tranche as well as a refinancing and a newly obtained $266.5 million from an asset-backed securitization.

Source: Kobalt Funding Tops $1B Following Refinancing, Royalty Securities

Music licensing platform WavMaker launches with $5m seed funding

WavMaker, a new music licensing platform dedicated to video creators, has launched with $5 million in seed funding led by Vicky Patel, a principal at Nashville record label Wavy Records and co-founder of Monarch Media. The startup says it seeks to help video creators streamline the process of finding high-quality music for video projects by offering a curated library of songs cleared for commercial use.

Source: Music licensing platform WavMaker launches with $5m seed funding

House TikTok bill gives ByteDance 6 months to sell. That’s unlikely.

A forced sale of TikTok within 180 days, as House-passed legislation requires, would be one of the thorniest and most complicated transactions in corporate history, posing financial, technical and geopolitical challenges that experts said could render a sale impractical and increase the likelihood the app will be banned nationwide. A sale would require severing a company worth potentially $150 billion from its technical backbone while being the subject of legal challenges and resistance from China.

Source: House TikTok bill gives ByteDance 6 months to sell. That’s unlikely.

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