In today's CMU Daily: Warner Music has followed Sony Music’s lead in issuing a stern warning about the use of music and other content owned or controlled by the major in the development of AI. In a letter sent to a whole host of technology companies, it says licences must be secured before its music is used to train AI models, and that it has opted out of the data mining exception in European copyright law 

One Liners: Third Side Music deal; Quality Control and OTM Music appointments; PPL Momentum Music Fund recipients; Elton John auction; Greatest Hits Radio Live; Tours from Pale Waves and London Grammar; New music from Lana Del Rey & Quavo, Kesha, Rosie Lowe and Human Interest

Also today: Cardi B has been accused of lifting the beat from an earlier track on her recent single ‘Enough (Miami)’; a court tells rapper BG to share any new songs he writes with US authorities before release; Sony Music Japan starts legal action in relation to a piracy site focused on Japanese music

Plus: Dog Race are CMU Approved

Warner Music fires AI warning shot: ‘Get a licence or face the consequences’

Warner Music has followed Sony Music’s lead in issuing a stern warning about the use of intellectual property owned or controlled by the major in the development of AI. 

In a letter sent to a whole host of technology companies, Warner reminds them that they must get explicit permission to use any of its recordings, songs or other creative assets when developing and training AI models.

The letter states unequivocally, “All parties must obtain an express licence from WMG to use… any creative works owned or controlled by WMG… in connection with the creation of datasets, as inputs for any machine learning or AI technologies, or to train or develop any machine learning or AI technologies”. 

That use, says Warner, includes “reproducing, distributing, publicly performing, ripping, scraping, crawling, mining, recording, altering, making extractions of, or preparing derivative works of” any of its intellectual property.

AXS Europe // Product Director (London)

AXS Europe // Graphic Presentation Designer (London)

Eventim Apollo // Duty Box Office Manager (London)

Drumsheds, Broadwick Live // Senior Operations Manager (London)

Drumsheds, Broadwick Live // Duty Operations Manager (London)

Drumsheds, Broadwick Live // Operations Coordinator (London)

terrible* // Finance Assistant/Bookkeeper (London)

SJM Concerts // Event Ticketing Manager (Manchester)

Sentric Music // Revenue Optimisation Manager (London/Liverpool)

Sentric Music // Copyright Manager (Liverpool/London)

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ONE LINERS

Quality Control, PPL Momentum Music Fund, London Grammar, Kesha + more

DEALS

Third Side Music has expanded its relationship with the estate of composer Galt MacDermot to include his compositions in the musical ‘Hair’. The publisher has represented MacDermot’s other works since 2013. The company’s CEO Patrick Curley says, “This is an extension of our decade-long relationship with the MacDermot family. We look forward to collaborating with the MacDermots in shining a new light on these iconic world-legacy songs, including ‘Let The Sunshine In’ and ‘Aquarius’”.

APPOINTMENTS 

Record label Quality Control, owned by HYBE America since last year, has appointed Britney Davis, most recently with Universal’s Motown Records, as General Manager. She will overseeday-to-day operations alongside CEO Pierre ‘P’ Thomas and COO Kevin ‘Coach K’ Lee. They say of the new hire, “Her passion and dedication to artists align with the principles that are the foundation of QC. We’re incredibly excited she’s part of the team and couldn’t imagine a better person to serve as our General Manager”.

Music publisher OTM Music has announced a number of recent appointments, including Kate Sweetsur as Head Of A&R, Chi Chi Nwakodo as Senior Sync Creative and Ethan Mizen as A&R Manager, all based in the UK, plus Kristin Genovese as US Head Of Sync. “I could not be more delighted to welcome these additions to our growing team at OTM”, says CEO Alex Sheridan.

FUNDING 

The PRS Foundation has announced the latest recipients of grants from the PPL Momentum Music Fund. They are Bel Cobain, Ciel, Colectiva, IAMDDB, Lizzie Berchie, Luke Rv and Lucia & The Best Boys. Says the Foundation’s Grants & Programmes Manager John Hendrickse, “Huge congratulations to all seven artists receiving our pioneering PPL Momentum Music Fund support to enable them to breakthrough to that next level in their careers - I’m very much looking forward to seeing the impact of the support”.

ARTIST NEWS

Elton John is auctioning off 200 items from his personal wardrobe on eBay, with the auction closing on 6 Jul. All proceeds will go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation. In a video promoting the sale, he says, “Now that my tour days are over, I’ve been pondering ways to make the world a little more fabulous. I’ve had a revelation. What if everyone could dress a little more like me?”

GIGS & FESTIVALS 

Bauer Media has announced a Greatest Hits Radio Live! event that will take place at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena on 24 Nov “celebrating the very best of the 70s, 80s and 90s”. The official announcement goes on, “You can expect an iconic line-up of artists, guaranteed to party like it’s 1999 - and of course 1989 and 1979 too!" Tickets are on sale now. 

Pale Waves have announced a UK tour for later this year which will follow the release of their fourth album ‘Smitten’ in September. The tour kicks off at The Waterfront in Norwich on 3 Oct and runs through to a show at HERE at Outernet in London on 17 Oct. 

London Grammar have announced a UK arena tour, concluding at The O2 in London on 14 Nov. Tickets for their tour go on sale next Friday. The trio’s new album ‘The Greatest Love’ is set for release on 13 Sep.

RELEASES

Lana Del Rey & Quavo have collaborated on new single ‘Tough’.

Kesha has released new single ‘JOYRIDE’.

Bashy has released new single ‘Being Poor Is Expensive’. His new album with the same title is out 11 Jul.

Rosie Lowe has released new single ‘In My Head’. Her new album ‘Lover, Other’ is out 16 Aug.

Human Interest have released new single ‘Better Press Repeat’.

Cardi B hit with beat theft lawsuit over ‘Enough (Miami)’

Cardi B has been accused of copyright infringement by Texas-based musicians Joshua Fraustro and Miguel Aguilar. The pair claim that the rapper ripped off the beat from their 2021 track ‘Greasy Frybread’ - which featured in the FX TV show ‘Reservation Dogs’ - and that she used it on her recent single ‘Enough (Miami)’ without getting permission. 

The lawsuit has been filed against Cardi B, her collaborators and Warner Music-owned Atlantic Records. Fraustro and Aguilar seemingly believe that the unauthorised use of the beat is sufficiently straightforward that it can be simply stated as fact in their lawsuit, with no comparison between the two tracks, or explanation for how Cardi B’s team came to use the beat.

The filing simply states, “defendant Cardi B, along with other defendants, has used the song in her new album without permission. The song ‘Enough (Miami)’ by Cardi B was released under the label Atlantic Records on 15 Mar 2024”.

It then alleges various different kinds of copyright infringement, before requesting an injunction stopping the distribution and performance of the infringing track - and, of course, lots of lovely damages. 

Adding complexity to the case, it appears that there is the potential for a dispute over the creation and ownership of ‘Greasy Frybread’. 

Approved: Dog Race

Bedford’s Dog Race have built a following through mysterious, last-minute DIY shows in London, developing a sound that carries an understated sense of tension.

Their latest single, ‘The Leader’, is an icy track interwoven with dark cultish imagery and blends of gothy post-punk, brittle indie-pop and cold wave to create their unique spectral sound. 

Accompanied by a folk-horror-inspired video featuring vocalist Katie Healy being buried alive, the visual enhances the track’s eerie atmosphere. 

Healy explains, “It sets its narrative around a protagonist who is thrown into inner turmoil when confronted with a fee to cross into the afterlife, convinced she had already paid her dues”. 

🎧Watch the video for ‘The Leader’ here

Rapper BG told to allow US officials to review his songs prior to release

Rapper BG - real name Christopher Dorsey - has been ordered to provide US authorities with copies of any songs he writes for as long as he is on supervised release from prison. Officials will then consider whether his lyrics are “inconsistent with the goals of rehabilitation”. 

The court order comes as a compromise after prosecutors initially sought an outright ban preventing the rapper “from promoting and glorifying future gun violence/murder” through his music. BG’s lawyers argued that such a ban would be unconstitutional, violating his right to free speech.

The case adds to growing concerns in the music community about US prosecutors increasingly impacting on the free speech of rappers, including by using lyrics as evidence in court. 

Dorsey, a former member of the 1990s hip hop group Hot Boys alongside Lil Wayne and Juvenile, was released to a halfway house last year after serving time in prison for illegal gun possession. In February this year his rehabilitation continued as he began a two-year federal supervision period.

Since his return to music, he has had a number of run-ins with probation officers, initially over collaborations with fellow rappers Boosie and Gucci Mane, both of whom have prior felony convictions. This is because people on supervised release are required to refrain from “associating unnecessarily” with anyone with a prior felony conviction.

Setlist podcast: AI lawsuit warns of “devastating impacts” on human creativity

In this week's Setlist Podcast: Chris Cooke and Andy Malt discuss the launch of the record industry’s first major lawsuits against music-generating AI companies - with the RIAA coordinating litigation against Suno and Udio - plus a group of songwriters are suing PRS. 

🎧 Click here to listen - or search for ‘Setlist Podcast’

Sony Music Japan hunts pirate site operators through US courts

Sony Music Japan has successfully secured subpoenas in the US courts that compel internet services company Cloudflare to disclose information it has on file in relation to a piracy site specialising in Japanese music. 

The site in question, Hikari-no-Akari, has apparently been operating for more than a decade and pulls in more than a million users each month. According to Torrentfreak, the website curates links to illegal downloads of tracks, including a number of recordings owned by Sony Music Japan. Recently shared tracks include 'Sayonara, Mata Itsuka!' by Kenshi Yonezu and 'Peacekeeper' by Stereo Dive Foundation. 

Hikari-no-Akari’s operations also extend to a private forum and Discord server with tightly controlled membership, with operators only occasionally opening them up to new members. The exclusivity of these platforms led one Reddit user to compare the server to “an inter-dimensional portal that only opens during a certain planetary alignment”.