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FEAT // Junior Policy Officer/Industry Liaison (Remote/London)

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Erased Tapes Records // Label & Production Manager (London)

ICE Licensing // Senior DSP Audit & Assurance Manager (London)

ICE Licensing // DSP Audit and Assurance Manager (London)

Today's music business news

TOP STORY

Stability AI's VP Of Audio resigns over its position that training AI with copyright works is 'fair use'

Stability AI's VP Of Audio Ed Newton-Rex has resigned in protest at the tech company's position that the training of generative AI models constitutes fair use under American copyright law.

Explaining his decision on X, he wrote: "Companies worth billions of dollars are, without permission, training generative AI models on creators’ works, which are then being used to create new content that in many cases can compete with the original works. I don’t see how this can be acceptable in a society that has set up the economics of the creative arts such that creators rely on copyright".

The copyright industries are adamant that consent must be sought before AI models are trained on existing content. Which, of course, would require AI companies to negotiate licensing deals. However, many AI companies argue that certain copyright exceptions apply to the training of AI models, at least in some countries, so consent is not required.

In the context of US copyright law, AI companies are relying on the concept of fair use. Copyright owners insist fair use does not apply in this context, and there are now a number of lawsuits working their way through the US courts that will put all this to the test.

Meanwhile, the US Copyright Office is undertaking a review of how AI interacts with copyright, and earlier this month it published the thousands of submissions that have been made to that review. That included submissions from various big players in generative AI who very much put it on the record that they consider AI training fair use.

Stability AI wrote in its submission: "We believe that training AI models is an acceptable, transformative and socially beneficial use of existing content that is protected by the fair use doctrine and furthers the objectives of copyright law, including to ‘promote the progress of science and useful arts’”.

Newton-Rex has been working in the generative AI domain for years, having previously founded the music AI company Jukedeck, which was ultimately acquired by TikTok. Stability AI launched its first commercial product for music and sound generation, Stable Audio, back in September trained using licensed music.

In his statement yesterday he said he has resigned "because I don’t agree with the company’s opinion that training generative AI models on copyrighted works is ‘fair use’".

He noted that "there are lots of people at Stability who are deeply thoughtful about these issues", and added that he is "proud that we were able to launch a state-of-the-art AI music generation product trained on licensed training data, sharing the revenue from the model with rights-holders".

However, he confirmed, he was unable "to change the prevailing opinion on fair use at the company". And that opinion, he reckons, is wrong.

"One of the factors affecting whether the act of copying is fair use, according to Congress, is 'the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work'", he observed. "Today’s generative AI models can clearly be used to create works that compete with the copyrighted works they are trained on. So I don’t see how using copyrighted works to train generative AI models of this nature can be considered fair use".

Confirming that he still believes in the potential positive impact of generative AI in music, he added that he “can only support generative AI that doesn’t exploit creators by training models  -  which may replace them  - on their work without permission”.

Concluding, he said that he doesn’t believe that he is the only person who thinks this way in the burgeoning AI industry and hopes that “others will speak up, either internally or in public, so that companies realise that exploiting creators can’t be the long-term solution in generative AI".

ONE LINERS

One Liners: Dido, Basement Jaxx x 100 gecs, Lil Uzi Vert + more

DEALS

Warner Music allied 10K Projects has agreed a new partnership with Moneybagg Yo and his Loaf Boyz Ventures record label. “Moneybagg Yo is one of the most exciting forces in hip hop”, says 10K Projects CEO Elliot Grainge. “We are so happy to welcome him and his team into the 10K family as we work together to identify and develop the next generation of artists”.

BMG has launched a strategic partnership with Tencent-owned video games company Riot Games and extended an existing publishing administration deal. “Riot stands alone in the gaming industry, with a growing entertainment ecosystem around their world-class games, powered by hundreds of millions of music-loving gamers all around the world”, says BMG’s Thomas Scherer. “BMG is proud to be their chosen partner!”

Gun have signed a new record deal with Cooking Vinyl ahead of new music in 2024. "We're THRILLED to join Cooking Vinyl, a label we deeply respect for its exceptional roster”, says drummer Paul McManus. “It's an honour to be part of this family, and we're confident our new album 'Hombres' will resonate with fans. Looking forward to a fruitful journey together".

Heriot have signed a new record deal with Century Media. “The label is a monumental force within the metal world and we are honoured to now become part of such an incredible legacy”, say the band. “We cannot wait to see what the future holds”. Their first release on the label is new single ‘Soul Chasm’.

APPOINTMENTS

Universal Music has appointed Gary Chan to the dual role of Managing Director of Universal Music Hong Kong and Senior Vice President of Universal Music Greater China. “I’m deeply honoured to be entrusted with this role”, he says. “Hong Kong, with its rich cultural tapestry and innovative spirit, remains a creative hub in the entertainment industry”.

Venue operator ASM Global has made three appointments in its Nordics division. Tobias Ekman joins as General Manager of four venues in the Stockholm Globe City complex, Michael Yngvesson becomes GM at Friends Arena in Stockholm, and David Laturnushas been named Food And Beverage Director for the Nordics “I’m delighted to welcome three such highly experienced and widely-respected industry leaders to the ASM Global team as we enter a period of business growth in the Nordic region”, says SVP Operations Europe Marie Lindqvist. “This is an important market for us, and since expanding further into Finland just this year, it’s an exciting time with a series of major projects in the pipeline”.

RELEASES

Shygirl has released new single ‘Thicc’. “Originally a song we’d made around the same time as some of the album tracks but I decided to hold this one back, I’ve enjoyed teasing this one at festivals and shows while still in demo mode for over a year already with the idea of somehow infusing the energy of the crowd into this final version of the song”, she says. “’Thicc’ is fun and carefree and definitely a tease - all the classic traits of club shy infused into one track”.

A posthumous Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry album titled ‘King Perry’ is set for release on 2 Feb. Out now is lead single ‘100lbs Of Summer’ featuring Greentea Peng. Other guests on the album include Shaun Ryder, Tricky and Fifi Rong.

Sprints have released new single ‘Shadow Of A Doubt’. Their debut album ‘Letter To Self’ is out on 5 Jan. "’Shadow Of A Doubt’ is our most vulnerable moment to date”, says vocalist Karla Chubb. “It very bluntly deals with the experience of trauma, depression and the aftermath. It was written quite selfishly - to take the weight of some of those feelings off myself by placing them on a page in an attempt to feel like I was healing, or ridding myself of them. An entirely cathartic process”.

William Doyle has announced that he will release new album ‘Springs Eternal’ on 16 Feb 2024. Out now is new single ‘Relentless Melt’.

Lime Garden have released new single ‘I Want To Be You’. The band’s Chloe Howard says: “‘I Want To Be You’ was inspired by a very specific memory I have as a fourteen year old at my first gig looking at the band playing and thinking, ‘Do I want to be you or be with you, or do I want both?’ This feeling has continued to raise its head on many occasions in my life, and it’s become quite an obsessive process at times. Growing up with social media and the constant ability to follow your idols, with access into ‘their world’, has fuelled this in an unhealthy way”. Their debut album ‘One More Thing’ is out on 16 Feb.

Jaakko Eino Kalevi has released new single ‘Heaven & Hell’. His new album ‘Chaos Magic’ is out this week. He also plays Two Palms in London on 22 Nov.

Kneecap have released new single ‘Better Way To Live’ featuring Fontaines DC’s Grian Chatten. "'A Better Way To Live' is all about finding that little spark of joy in the monotony, in the day-to-day things that you barely bat an eye at”, say the trio. “In between the moments of that repetitive lift of the pint, or spark of a cigarette, there is an opportunity for bliss. Underneath that constant noise, there is a silence that can breathe new life and inspiration breaking through the mundane”.

DIGITAL

YouTube begins piloting voice cloning tool to provide AI-generated vocals for creator video

YouTube will today start piloting a new feature that will allow creators on the platform to output short music clips for use in their videos which include AI-generated vocals that imitate specific musicians. The clips will be generated based on text prompts provided by the creator.

Called Dream Track, and backed by Universal Music and Warner Music, the new tool is part of YouTube’s ongoing collaboration with select partners in the music industry to investigate possible uses of generative AI in music.

It is still very much at the experimental stage but looks impressive nonetheless. About 100 US-based creators will have access to the tool, which will allow them to create vocals in the style of artists like Charlie Puth, John Legend, Sia, T-Pain, Demi Lovato, Troye Sivan, Charli XCX, Alec Benjamin and Papoose.

In a blog post, YouTube’s music chief Lyor Cohen and VP Of Emerging Experiences Toni Reid write: “At this initial phase, the experiment is designed to help explore how the technology could be used to create deeper connections between artists and creators, and ultimately, their fans”.

Dream Track is just one of the music AI experiments YouTube is working on following the launch of its AI Music Incubator earlier this year. Other tools being piloted include one that turns humming into an instrumental track and another that can generate a transition between two musical phrases penned by a songwriter.

This all follows the news earlier this week that YouTube is setting up a system via which labels and distributors will be able to get unofficial vocal clones uploaded to its platform taken down.

APPROVED: WRATH OF LOGARIUS

Calling their sound ‘formless black metal’, Wrath Of Logarius’s sound spans everything from black to post-metal, creating an epic wall of sound. Set to release their debut EP ‘Necrotic Assimilation’ on 8 Dec, the band have just put out the second single from it, ‘Soul Ascension’.

"For us, ‘Soul Ascension’ is cold, dark and vicious", say the band. "It's more or less about becoming aware of the complete annihilation transpiring around you. Realising you cannot avoid the inevitable as you are slowly consumed by the bestial darkness”.

“Ultimately”, they go on, “we want the listener to come up with their own interpretation. It will have a different meaning to each listener, and that’s what we want”.

The new single follows the more immediately pushing ‘The Burning One’. Together, the two tracks give a broad overview of the sonic palette of the band, who formed in 2021.

Listen to ‘Soul Ascension’ here.

LIVE

MU welcomes call for cultural visa waiver by the domestic advisory groups put in place by post-Brexit agreement

The Musicians' Union has welcomed a joint statement made earlier this month by both the UK and the EU domestic advisory groups which called for the creation of a cultural visa waiver to help overcome the challenges British performers and crews now face when touring in the European Union.

Welcoming that statement, Dave Webster - the MU’s Head Of International - said yesterday: “The MU has been calling for this since the UK left the EU. Seeing this agreement between both parties in writing is a major step in the right direction”.

The domestic advisory groups were formed following the signing of the post-Brexit Trade And Cooperation Agreement between the UK and EU. They provide a forum where stakeholder groups impacted by Brexit can provide feedback to UK and EU ministers and officials on the implementation of the agreement and its various issues.

The music industry is represented on the UK domestic advisory group by UK Music and LIVE, both of which have the MU as a member.

For the music industry, of course, the biggest issue is that the trade agreement did not include a provision to ensure visa and bureaucracy-free touring for British artists and their teams post-Brexit. As a result, performers and crews face various new administrative tasks and costs whenever they tour the EU, some of which can make such activity unviable.

The domestic advisory groups met earlier this month and subsequently published a paper outlining what was discussed and their joint position on various issues.

That included the following statement: “A range of workers and professional service providers, including those in creative industries, should be allowed more flexible travel arrangements, including visa-free and longer stays than 90 in 180 days. A cultural visa waiver should be created for creative workers”.

The music industry has been increasingly calling for a general cultural visa waiver which would remove much of the bureaucracy that was created for touring artists by Brexit.

Also welcoming this month’s statement, UK Music Interim CEO Tom Kiehl said: “The domestic advisory group is an important mechanism for continued dialogue on cultural issues and it’s imperative that both the UK government and EU Commission take note and act to secure a better deal for our musicians and crew”.

DIGITAL

Distrokid boss critical of Spotify plan to fine distributors over tracks with heavy stream manipulation

Spotify will start issuing fines to labels and distributors if any tracks they have delivered are found to have been subject to heavy stream manipulation. The fine will be €10 for each offending track and will apply if 90% of the plays of that track are found to be fraudulent.

According to Billboard’s sources, the proposed fines got a mixed response at a recent meeting of DIY distributors, with Distrokid boss Philip Kaplan being critical of the move.

One exec who spoke to Billboard summarised Kaplan’s position as follows: “We can’t determine if a new client is going to hire a marketing service that’s going to bot streams until they’ve done it. It’s like you can’t determine if your neighbour is going to commit a crime”.

Both Spotify and Deezer have made a number of new commitments to battle stream manipulation and fraud alongside their plans for changing the way revenues are allocated to individual tracks each month. The proposed new fine is one of Spotify’s new commitments.

It’s no secret that various entities employ various tactics to artificially inflate the number of streams enjoyed by any one recording, either to make a track look more popular than it really is, and/or to pull more money out of the royalty pool. Some of the fraud is done by scammers outside the music industry, but plenty of stream manipulation occurs within the industry too.

As stream manipulation reduces how much money is allocated to legitimate streams, the music industry has been putting pressure on streaming services to do more to stop the fraud. The services have in turn been putting pressure on the distributors - and especially the DIY distributors - to identify and block bad actors among their userbases.

The big DIY distributors are keen to crack down on steaming fraud too and earlier this year they formed the Music Fights Fraud Alliance to better coordinate that work. Spotify’s new anti-fraud measures were seemingly discussed at a recent meeting of that Alliance, including the new fines for heavily manipulated tracks.

Expanding on his criticism of that plan, Kaplan argued that the steaming services are best positioned to identify the stream manipulation once it is underway. This means, he added, that with the proposed new fines the distributors will be penalised for something they can’t anticipate and which the services are best positioned to track.

LIVE

Protesters at Coldplay’s first Indonesia show accuse band of spreading “LGBT propaganda”

Conservative Muslim groups in Indonesia yesterday protested outside a Coldplay concert in Jakarta calling for the cancellation of the show because of the “LGBT propaganda” attendees would be exposed to. That’s mainly on the basis that Coldplay have been supportive of LGBTQ+ people over the years.

Around 300 protesters marched a kilometre to the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium where the band were set to play their first ever Indonesian show to an audience of 70,000 people.

The protesters carried a large banner calling for the concert to be called off, saying that the band’s presence in the country was damaging to its “faith and morals”. When they reached the venue, they booed people arriving for the show and there were some clashes with police.

Supporting the protest, the Deputy Chair of Islamic regulatory body the Indonesian Ulema Council, Anwar Abbas, said in a statement: “We know that Coldplay supports LGBT, but now the question is, is the LGBT behaviour in line with ... our constitution? There are six religions recognised in this country, and not one of them allows and tolerates LGBT practice”.

Coldplay did not comment on the protest but, after the performance, thanked their Indonesian fans on Twitter for the “best night ever”. They also promised: “We’ll be back!”

ARTIST NEWS

Gene Simmons “totally open” to Kiss members all being replaced by younger musicians

Kiss will bring their farewell tour to an end next month with a final performance at Madison Square Garden in New York. Gene Simmons has again stated that the band want to bow out before the physicality of their show becomes too much for them. But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be willing to be replaced by someone younger and fitter.

In a new Rolling Stone interview, journalist Andy Greene notes that “there’s been talk of a future version of Kiss with all new musicians”, and then asks Simmons if that’s actually a possibility.

“I’m totally open to that idea”, says the bassist. “Why not pass the baton, pass the crown to four new, young people who are deserving?”

I mean, lots of reasons. However, the idea isn’t unprecedented. Queen have had an official tribute act - Queen Extravaganza - out there touring the world for over a decade. So it’s definitely not impossible, even if it seems a bit silly.

Also, we all know how farewell tours go - when will the next one be? Never, insists Simmons. Reiterating past comments on the subject, he says: “At a certain point, you have to understand that it’s going to be a point of diminishing returns because of the kind of band we are”.

“I wear seven-inch platform dragon boots”, he points out. “Each weighs as much as a light bowling ball, armour, studs, leather, all that stuff, and that weighs about 40 pounds in total. And I’ve got to spit fire, and fly through the air, and all that, and you’ve got to do it for two hours”.

The final Kiss show is set to take place on 2 Dec. Then we just await news of the all-new line-up.

AND FINALLY

Matty Healy “outraged” by 1975’s Grammy snub

The Grammy nominations were announced last week, which always ramps up the controversy surrounding the fairly daft awards ceremony. And the latest big cause célèbre is that The 1975 are not up for any prizes. For frontman Matty Healy, anyway. It is, he says, “a fucking outrage”.

Healy’s outburst came during a performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden last night, where he told the audience: “The fact we didn’t get nominated for a Grammy is a fucking outrage. And the reason people don’t say that is cos it’s not a very tasteful thing to say. But I’m way past tasteful”.

Well, he’s got that right. And it’s not just this year’s snub he takes issue with, it’s that the band have received no Grammy Awards whatsoever in their career. 

Just two measly nominations in 2017 and 2020. And the first one of those was in the Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package, which isn’t exactly for the music.

“Are they fucking mental?” he went on, noting that 2018 album ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ got no recognition from the Grammys at all.

 “Nothing. Fuck off! Dickheads. What the fuck are they on about? I mean, [2022 song] ‘About You’ just on its own merits deserves a fucking Grammy. I mean, I don’t really care that much but it just winds me up”.

Sure, yes, he doesn’t care in the slightest, as you can definitely tell from everything he’s just said. But I suppose he has a point. The 1975 are quite popular and have barely ever featured in the Grammy nominations in any year. Their best nod was ‘Give Yourself A Try’ going up for Best Rock Song in 2020.

So it is odd. I mean, Coldplay have been nominated loads of times, and even won a few, so you can’t really argue that it's the discerning tastes of Grammy voters that have put The 1975 at a disadvantage.

Anyway, I’m sure that Healy will take consolation in the fact that the producer of The 1975’s latest album ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’ - Jack Antonoff - is up for Producer Of The Year. And maybe that’s almost an award for them if he wins. Although he’s possibly more being recognised for his work on multiple Taylor Swift albums.