Legacy media companies enter dark times as failures mount and Netflix rises again

The first half of 2023 has been a colossal disappointment for media executives who wanted this year to be a rebound from a terrible 2022, when a slowdown in streaming subscribers cut valuations for Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global roughly in half. Instead, investors have once again become excited by Netflix’s future prospects as it’s cracked down on password sharing, potentially leading to tens of millions of new signups.

Source: Legacy media companies enter dark times as failures mount and Netflix rises again

Is Voice Licensing A Future Revenue Stream for Artists?

With the accessibility of AI voice training technology, the question remains how the music industry will adapt to this new technology? Producer and DJ, DJ Fresh believes he has the answer, so he’s teamed up with software developer Nico Pellerin to forge a new path. VoiceSwap aims to create AI voice models that have been authorized by the artist.

Source: Is Voice Licensing A Future Revenue Stream for Artists?

Why Bored Ape cartoon monkey NFTs crashed to a 2-year low this week

Yuga Labs, which owns the Bored Ape Yacht Club, introduced ApeCoin in 2022 as a crypto token to enhance gaming and commerce within the BAYC ecosystem. In June, ApeCoin’s decentralized autonomous organization came under fire for its leadership board reportedly receiving high monthly payments of up to $75,000 a month, according to some reports. The compensation led community members to sour on the entire BAYC ecosystem.

Source: Why Bored Ape cartoon monkey NFTs crashed to a 2-year low this week

MIDiA: The music industry’s tipping point is Right Here, Right Now

When streaming first emerged, artists were worried it would not pay them enough; then the debate moved on to whether too much value lay with the biggest artists and labels; now with the superstar artist production line stuttering, the majors want a new royalty system to protect their income. Meanwhile, Spotify still struggles to generate a consistent profit.

Source: The music industry’s tipping point is Right Here, Right Now

Entertainment Industry Has High Anxiety About Generative AI: Survey

Over a third (36%) of entertainment workers surveyed in late June were “very” or “somewhat concerned” about the impact gen AI will have on their own jobs. For context, respondent awareness of gen AI is high, with 87% at least aware of tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney, while two-thirds (65%) claim some knowledge of the technology.

Source: Entertainment Industry Has High Anxiety About Generative AI: Survey

TikTok launches premium-only ‘TikTok Music’ streaming service, licensed by all three majors

TikTok Music has launched as a premium-only music subscription service in Indonesia and Brazil, and it is licensed by, and includes the catalogs of all three major record companies: Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music. In September, Sony Music’s catalog was pulled from ByteDance‘s other music streaming app, Resso, but according to TikTok, the company’s catalog is available again on Resso, and now on TikTok Music, as of Thursday, July 6.

Source: TikTok launches premium-only ‘TikTok Music’ streaming service – and it’s licensed by all three majors

Authors file a lawsuit against OpenAI for unlawfully ‘ingesting’ their books

Mona Awad and Paul Tremblay allege that their books, which are copyrighted, were ‘used to train’ ChatGPT because the chatbot generated ‘very accurate summaries’ of the works. The complaint said that OpenAI “unfairly” profits from “stolen writing and ideas” and calls for monetary damages on behalf of all US-based authors whose works were allegedly used to train ChatGPT.

Source: Authors file a lawsuit against OpenAI for unlawfully ‘ingesting’ their books

Spotify Cuts Off Existing App Store Subs As Apple Feud Continues

Spotify is cutting off existing App Store subscribers as the platform no longer accepts Apple’s billing service as a valid form of payment. In recent emails to those subscribers, Spotify said, their account will “automatically switch to our Free, ad-supported service” and that customers who wish to keep their Premium subscription will need to re-subscribe using one of the payment methods Spotify accepts, including credit cards and PayPal.

Source: Spotify Cuts Off Existing App Store Subs As Apple Feud Continues

IATSE Announces Core Principles for the Application of AI Technology in Entertainment

In a statement, IATSE, a labor union which represents over 160,000 technicians, artisans and craftspersons in the entertainment industry, said, “Our approach as a union must be comprehensive, focused on research, collaboration, education, political and legislative advocacy, organizing, and collective bargaining.” The statement comes at a time when AI remains an important topic in SAG-AFTRA and WGA negotiations.

Source: IATSE Announces Core Principles for the Application of AI Technology in Entertainment

Generative AI in Games Will Create a Copyright Crisis

Laws in both the US and the UK stipulate that, when it comes to copyright, only humans can claim authorship. So for a game like AI Dungeon, where the platform allows a player to, essentially, “write” a narrative with the help of a chatbot, claims of ownership can get murky: Who owns the output? The company that developed the AI, or the user?

Source: Generative AI in Games Will Create a Copyright Crisis

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