The standoff between Universal Music Group and TikTok over royalty payments and AI policies has resulted in a near-complete blackout of all music owned, distributed and published by the company on the platform — the videos are still there, but the music is muted. Yet new songs by UMG artists, including Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello and Niall Horan could be found on TikTok at the time of this article’s publication.
Why Are Songs by Some UMG Artists Available on TikTok, Despite Ban?
European Union Passes ‘World First’ AI Legislation
Sweeping new laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Europe, including controls around the use of copyrighted [works], have been approved by the European Parliament, following fierce lobbying from both the tech and music communities. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted in favor of the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act by a clear majority of 523 votes for, 46 against and 49 abstentions.
Source: European Union Passes ‘World First’ AI Legislation That Would Safeguard Copyrighted Music
Possible TikTok Bidder Emerges As Forced Sale Bill Draws Support
As a TikTok forced sale bill rides bipartisan support into a House vote, a possible bidder has emerged in former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. Word of Kotick’s rumored interest in scooping up TikTok’s stateside operation entered the media spotlight in a Wall Street Journal report. But at the time of this writing, neither the exec nor ByteDance seemed to have commented publicly on the matter.
Source: Possible TikTok Bidder Emerges As Forced Sale Bill Draws Support
Is TikTok Getting Banned? White House Says Biden Will Sign Bill
The White House says President Biden will support the bill currently in Congress that would effectively ban TikTok, the short-form video app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, in the United States. The bipartisan legislation would require ByteDance to sell TikTok over national security concerns surrounding the way the app stores and uses data, in order to remain operational in the United States.
Source: Is TikTok Getting Banned? White House Says Biden Will Sign Bill
Reddit’s planned IPO share price seems high, unless you look at its AI revenue
If investors agree to pay its high-end range, Reddit’s valuation should hit around $5.4 billion. Given that Reddit is an unprofitable, long-established social media company, and one that depends on advertising, that feels a tad expensive. Unprofitable Snap, for example, is currently worth 4.34x its revenues while highly profitable Meta is worth 9.86x. Reddit’s game plan for AI is one good reason why it’s pricing its shares closer to Meta than Snap.
Source: Reddit’s planned IPO share price seems high, unless you look at its AI revenue | TechCrunch
These 5 new Sora videos take GenAI to the next level
There are multiple AI video models and tools on the market at the moment, with Runway already coming up to a year since its public launch and Pika Labs expanding into sound effects and lip synced dialogue in partnership with ElevenLabs. None of them, including the very realistic Stable Video Diffusion clips, seem to come close to what is possible with Sora.
Source: These 5 new Sora videos take GenAI to the next level
Could an AI replace all music ever recorded with Taylor Swift covers?
A rogue artificial intelligence obsessed with Taylor Swift could supplant all recorded music with artificially generated cover versions by her, say researchers. History would show the American singer-songwriter as being responsible for everything from Für Elise to Paperback Writer, leaving no evidence that Ludwig van Beethoven or The Beatles ever existed.
Source: Could an AI replace all music ever recorded with Taylor Swift covers?
The AI Takeover In Cinema: How Movie Studios Use Artificial Intelligence
The film industry, always at the forefront of technological innovation, is increasingly embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize movie production, distribution, and marketing. From script analysis to post-production, Already AI is reshaping how movies are made and consumed. AI’s infiltration into the movie industry begins at the scriptwriting stage.
Source: The AI Takeover In Cinema: How Movie Studios Use Artificial Intelligence
‘It’s terrifying’: songwriter behind Robbie Williams hits out at AI in the music industry
The songwriter behind hits for Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue has described the acceleration in use of artificial intelligence in the music industry as “terrifying” because of its potential to replace songwriters. Guy Chambers, who has collaborated with Williams over more than two decades, said: “I think we may get to a stage in the future where an album will need to have a badge saying ‘this is an all-human record’.
Source: ‘It’s terrifying’: songwriter behind Robbie Williams hits out at AI in the music industry
Australian news media could seek payment from Meta for content used to train AI
When Meta announced last week that it would not sign new deals to pay for news in Australia for use on Facebook, it downplayed the value of news to its services, stating that just 3% of Facebook usage in Australia was related to news. There are now calls to designate Meta under the news media bargaining code, which would force the company to negotiate with news media publishers and pay for news content on its platforms.
Source: Australian news media could seek payment from Meta for content used to train AI