A Little Knowledge... #10

?? BULLETIN NEWS:?Report – UMG wants DSPs to block unlicensed AI-training

Universal Music Group really IS flexing its corporate muscles to clamp down on AI-generated music –?or at least, AI-generated music that it thinks has been trained on commercial music without a licence.

• The Financial Times has?reported on emails sent by UMG to music streaming services ?asking them to (in the FT’s words) ‘cut off access to their music catalogue for developers using it to train AI technology’.
• The article claims that UMG has also been sending takedown requests to DSPs.
• It also quotes an email sent by the major label to those partners claiming that,?“we have become aware that certain AI systems might have been trained on copyrighted content without obtaining the required consents from, or paying compensation to, the rightsholders who own or produce the content.”
• The streaming services are so far maintaining a diplomatic silence publicly. However, the emails are part of a wider campaign by UMG to tackle what it sees as the key problems in the evolution of the AI-generated music sector.
• UMG also registered the US trademark for the Human Artistry Campaign, which?launched last month as a coalition of industry bodies ?from the creative, media and sports sectors setting out the guidelines they’d like to see creative AI developers abide by.
• This week’s news shines the spotlight on streaming services, and the question of whether they are unwittingly (or, now they’ve been warned, knowingly) facilitating unlicensed scraping of commercial music for training purposes.

?? Music Ally archive: Artificial Intelligence

?? TOOLS: Laylo – DM fans across multiple platforms

Imagine you have a new artist release coming up. Or perhaps you’d like to announce a new show or a new merchandise addition to an artist’s shop. How are you going to promote it? The simple approach is to create a post on social media – which involves an element of hope that the algorithm pushes your content in front of enough fans’ eyes.

Launched in 2021, Laylo is a messaging and CRM platform which, it says, is currently used by 20,000 creators and brands. It allows artists and their teams to notify fans about various ‘drops’ – such as content releases, merch and events – by sending a message directly and simultaneously to fans across multiple platforms. It's been used by Flume and Odesza, Kodak Black, and Calvin Harris.

The platform powers the releases in two ways: firstly, by providing landing pages, messaging ecosystems, and link tracking; and secondly by sending notifications to fans directly the second the content drops. This helps creators build a direct relationship with their audience – and provides fans with an experience which hopefully will drive more sales and streams.

?? In Tools, we took a deep-dive into the platform – so that you can figure out if it's right for you .

?? A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA...

And finally… our daily Bulletin newsletter is loved by subscribers for its instant industry analysis - but secretly, the part they like most is the ‘A Little Something Extra’ section at the bottom of the email. Here's a few of the best recent links and a couple of Knowledge extras:

• If you ever wondered how Twitter shares your posts to other people – now you know
• “Spotify? I have no knowledge of this Spotify. As a Mongol warlord, my concerns lie in battles and conquests, not in music streaming services
• However, if it can aid me in spreading the terror of my name throughout the world, then perhaps it has some use…” We’ve been chatting to an AI Genghis Khan
• Spotify CEO Daniel Ek discovers a long-proven path to Twitter engagement: fruit-based ragebait for pizza purists
• Sad news for fans of grave-haunting ghosts

This is only a glimpse into this week's newsletter –?subscribe for FREE to The Knowledge ?and every Friday it’ll arrive in your inbox, with:

?? Exclusive 50% discounts on selected courses in our LEARNING HUB ????The best new platforms in TOOLS,??? ???Some great and/or strange music in SOMETHING 4 THE WEEKEND, ?? A look back in TIME MACHINE, ?? The Music Ally Focus PODCAST, and????more links to our favourite unusual stuff in A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA.