A Little Knowledge… #58

Welcome to A Little Knowledge #58 – our free weekly LinkedIn newsletter.

?? BULLETIN NEWS: ?More than 200 artists sign ‘Stop Devaluing Music’ open letter on AI

US-based organisation the Artist Rights Alliance (ARA) has brought together more than 200 artists to sign a new open letter addressing artificial intelligence technologies and their potential impact on music.

• It’s a starry list too. Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Stevie Wonder, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Sam Smith, and the estates of Frank Sinatra and Bob Marley to name but a few.
• The letter starts by talking about the positive.?“Make no mistake: we believe that, when used responsibly, AI has enormous potential to advance human creativity and in a manner that enables the development and growth of new and exciting experiences for music fans everywhere,”?
• However, it then trains its sights on the negative side.?“When used irresponsibly, AI poses enormous threats to our ability to protect our privacy, our identities, our music and our livelihoods.”
• The letter focuses specifically on “some of the biggest and most powerful companies” in the AI space –?although it doesn’t name them –?who are “without permission, using our work to train AI models."
• The letter goes on to?call?for protections against “the predatory use of AI to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses; violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem.”

???You can read our?coverage of the letter in?full here ,?and a round-up of?the latest AI-music launches here . You can also get up to speed with all our recent stories on AI right?here .?

?

??MUSIC ALLY: NOW ON WHATSAPP

?The Music Ally WhatsApp Channel is a simple way to stay on top of music business news: every afternoon (UK time), we’ll post the lead story, and also links to the rest of the day’s news. Click here to sign up .

?

?

????TIME?MACHINE: ?What were we talking about this week 5 and 10 years ago?

Change in the music industry happens fast - almost as fast as this?computer-generated simulation of?Usain Bolt going head-to-head with?the fastest?breed of dog in the world . Here’s what we were writing about five and ten years ago:

5?? In 2019, we were talking about?AI-music startup Endel’s partnership with Warner Music Group , and the potential audience for this music on DSPs. At the time, Endel had fewer than 5,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Five years on, it has?more than 553,000 . However, Endel's progress can also be measured by its partnerships: artists including James Blake, Grimes and Plastikman;?Amazon Music ; and?Universal Music Group .

???In 2014 we learnt that YouTube?was?postponing the launch of its long-rumoured subscription service ?to refine and tweak the offering. Billboard reported the delays were down to the company wanting to “get it right” straight out of the gate. YouTube went on to launch its general subscription service, YouTube Red,?in October 2015 .?

?

?

?? MUSIC ALLY JOBS

The latest and best jobs for the global music business, trusted by both top music industry companies and experienced professionals on top of their game.

Are you looking for a job? Click here to see the full list of vacancies!

?

?

?? 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:

• What's almost as exciting as Willie Nelson duetting with Beyoncé on her new album? How about?Willie Nelson duetting with Kermit the Frog at his recent concert ?
• A marvellous Twitter thread of 'people who accidentally found their doppelg?ngers in museums '.
• The secret history ?of Pitchfork's infamous 'chimp peeing' album review.

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

?? Exclusive access to selected courses in our LEARNING HUB; ??? The best new platforms in TOOLS; ?? Highlights from our latest COUNTRY PROFILE REPORTS; ?? ?? 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.