Performance rights collection organization SoundExchange has added 17 new agreements with collective management organizations worldwide in recent months. The expansion includes new partnerships in Kenya, Barbados, Panama, Paraguay, and several European territories, bringing SoundExchange’s total portfolio to over 90 agreements with international CMOs
Spotify hits a record 751M monthly users thanks to Wrapped, new free features
Swedish music streaming giant Spotify saw its user numbers peak last quarter, driven by its year-end “Wrapped” campaign, which rounds up stats and listening highlights for users and new features on its free tier. Spotify said the “Wrapped” campaign resulted in more than 300 million engaged users and 630 million shares on social media in 56 languages.
Source: Spotify hits a record 751M monthly users thanks to Wrapped, new free features | TechCrunch
Why Trust for Visual Content Cannot Be Solved by Centralized Commercial Solutions
Blockchain and centralized platforms promise to address trust in visual content through commercial gatekeeping. These approaches share a fatal flaw that has nothing to do with their technical elegance: they gate trust behind commercial access. And in doing so, they create systems that, by their very design, cannot serve the function that trust infrastructure requires.
Source: Why Trust for Visual Content Cannot Be Solved by Centralized Commercial Solutions – Kaptur
Amazon MGM’s ‘Melania’ Documentary Under Fire for Stolen Music
On Monday, director Paul Thomas Anderson and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood released a statement calling for Melania Trump’s documentary, Melania, to remove a piece of music from the pair’s 2017 film, Phantom Thread. The music’s unauthorized use in the film is just the latest misstep for the Amazon MGM project, which has been unable to recoup much of its exorbitant budget.
Source: Amazon MGM’s ‘Melania’ Documentary Under Fire for Stolen Music
Hollywood Braces for New Round of Labor Talks
The sides will be negotiating in a Hollywood far different from 2023. Production has slowed significantly industrywide, as many entertainment companies struggle to adjust to the streaming world. Work has dried up for many actors, writers and directors. At the same time, the rise of generative artificial intelligence has become more central.
Spotify hits 290m paid subscribers in Q4, as streaming giant posts $2.5bn annual operating profit for 2025
Spotify saw its global Premium Subscriber base grow to 290 million paying users in Q4 – and achieved its second consecutive full year of operating profit in 2025. Commenting on the company’s results,Daniel Ek, Founder and Executive Chairman, said: “Today, what we’ve really built is a technology platform for audio – and increasingly, for all the ways creators connect with audiences. And this identity will matter even more going forward.
ElevenLabs, Valued at $11 Billion, ‘Doubles Down’ on Audiobooks
ElevenLabs, the company that offers automated AI-voice generated audiobook production, has consolidated their services under the brand Audiobooks in ElevenCreative. The move signals the well-funded company’s commitment to the sector, or what Madeline Shue, head of growth and publisher partnerships at ElevenLabs, called a “doubling-down on audiobooks.”
Source: ElevenLabs, Valued at $11 Billion, ‘Doubles Down’ on Audiobooks
Connect Music Raises $80M, Eyes AI and Catalog Expansions
Memphis-based Connect Music has raised $80 million and disclosed plans to aggressively pursue catalog acquisitions and AI expansions. “This investment represents transformational growth capital for Connect Music and the artist partners we serve,” said the former Memphis Symphony Orchestra COO Monger.
Source: Connect Music Raises $80M, Eyes AI and Catalog Expansions
The New Fabio Is Claude
The genre may be especially vulnerable to disruption by A.I., for all the reasons that readers love it. Romance relies on familiar narrative formulas, like the guarantee of an “H.E.A.” or “happily ever after.” And romance novels are often built around popular plot tropes — like enemies-to-lovers or forced proximity — that can be fed into a chatbot.
Source: The New Fabio Is Claude
The Missing Fair Use Argument in the Copyright Battle Over AI Summaries
Two of the lawsuits target Google for antitrust violations, alleging that publishers’ content is effectively compelled for inclusion in AI Overviews as a condition of search visibility. But no court has yet addressed the more fundamental question: even where summaries do resemble protected content, might they still qualify as fair use?
Source: The Missing Fair Use Argument in the Copyright Battle Over AI Summaries