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Tag: music industry

  • Photos: Pop superstar Taylor Swift | CNN

    Photos: Pop superstar Taylor Swift | CNN

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    Taylor Swift performs at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2015.

    Christopher Polk/TAS/Getty Images

    Updated 4:45 PM EDT, Fri October 21, 2022

    Taylor Swift unveiled her 10th studio album, “Midnights,” on Friday, October 21.

    It’s her first original album in two years. The 11-time Grammy Award winner is currently in the midst of revisiting her early albums in a bid to regain ownership of the work she released under her former label Big Machine Records.

    Born in 1989, Swift launched her country music career at age 16. Her debut self-titled album was released in 2006. She went on to become one of the most successful recording artists of all time — earning legions of loyal fans known as “Swifties.”

    Her 2014 album, “1989,” was her first purely pop album. Known for her songwriting, she took on a folk-rock sound on her 2020 albums, “Folklore” and “Evermore.”

    Swift has broken a number of records throughout her career. In 2021, she became the first woman to win the Grammy for album of the year three times. She was also the first woman to ever score three new number one albums in less than a year.

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  • Lana Del Rey says laptop containing her new album was stolen | CNN

    Lana Del Rey says laptop containing her new album was stolen | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Lana Del Rey says she was robbed of a backpack that contained her laptop, which had her new album on it.

    The singer said along with the computer, multiple hard drives and a camera were also stolen.

    “A few months ago, I parked my car on Melrose Place — actually Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles — and I stepped away for a minute,” she said on Instagram. “And the one time I left my backpack inside my car, someone broke all the windows and took it.”

    Del Rey added that another project, a book she is working on, was stolen as well.

    “I had to remotely wipe the computer that had my 200-page book for Simon and Schuster—which I didn’t have backed up on the cloud,” Del Rey said. And despite that, people are still able to remotely access my phone and leak our songs and personal photos. I loved the book that I lost with all of my heart and put a lot of passion into it.”

    The artist asked her fans to not to listen to any leaked music, and said she will continue to work on new music.

    “I just want to mention that despite all of this happening, I am confident in the record to come, despite so many safety factors at so many different levels. I really want to persist and make the best record I can,” she said. “Please don’t listen to the music if you hear it, because it’s not coming out yet,” she said.

    Del Rey concluded: “Obviously I won’t ever leave anything in the car again, even if it’s just for a moment. But we’ve had the same issues at the house, and it is a constant thing. And although I’m so grateful to be able to share all of the good stuff, I just also want to share that it has been a challenge.”

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  • Silk Sonic not submitting ‘An Evening With Silk Sonic’ for Grammy consideration | CNN

    Silk Sonic not submitting ‘An Evening With Silk Sonic’ for Grammy consideration | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Grammy Awards ceremony in 2023 will be an evening without Silk Sonic among the nominees.

    The duo has decided not to submit their album, “An Evening With Silk Sonic,” for consideration, according to a statement via Billboard.

    Silk Sonic won four Grammy Awards earlier this year for the track “Leave the Door Open,” including record of the year and song of the year. They also performed at the ceremony.

    In the statement, Bruno Mars, who is in the duo with Anderson .Paak, explained their decision not to submit their debut album, which was released in November 2021 and would have been eligible for the 2023 Grammys race.

    “Andy and I, and everyone that worked on this project, won the moment the world responded to first single ‘Leave the Door Open.’ Everything else was just icing on the cake,” he said, according to the publication. “We thank the Grammys for allowing us to perform on their platform — not once, but twice — and awarding us at last year’s ceremony. We’d be crazy to ask for anything more.”

    CNN has reached out to the duo’s representatives for further comment.

    He added: “We truly put our all on this record, but Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album this year.”

    Mars left the door open for the duo to “celebrate with everyone” and “partake in the party,” presumably making reference to the ceremony.

    “Thank you for letting Silk Sonic Thrive,” he said.

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  • Beyoncé denies claim she misused ‘I’m Too Sexy’ sample | CNN

    Beyoncé denies claim she misused ‘I’m Too Sexy’ sample | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Someone’s a “Beautiful Liar,” according to Queen Bey.

    Genre-crossing superstar Beyoncé has denied allegations that she misused a sample of Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” on her newest album.

    The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter’s seventh album, “Renaissance,” was released to critical acclaim in July and samples iconic house and disco artists. One song, “Alien Superstar,” features a riff similar to the 1991 British pop band Right Said Fred’s hit “I’m Too Sexy.” Whereas Right Said Fred sang, “I’m too sexy for my shirt,” Beyoncé sings, “I’m too classy for this world” and “I’m too classy to be touched.” The two Fairbrass brothers who make up Right Said Fred are credited as songwriters.

    But the band has claimed that Beyoncé never asked them for permission to use their melody. Right Said Fred described Beyoncé as “arrogant” in a comment made to the British tabloid The Sun on Tuesday.

    “Normally the artist approaches us, but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person she just had probably thought ‘come and get me,’ so we heard about it after the fact, when you did,” the band said.

    Beyoncé’s team, however, told Entertainment Weekly that Right Said Fred not only gave permission for the song to be used but was also paid for its usage.

    “The comments made by Right Said Fred stating that Beyoncé used ‘I’m Too Sexy’ in ‘Alien Superstar’ without permission are erroneous and incredibly disparaging,” the singer’s representative told Entertainment Weekly on Friday.

    “Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album,” reads the statement given to Entertainment Weekly. Additionally, “Alien Superstar” doesn’t use any of the sound recordings from “I’m Too Sexy,” just the composition, according to the statement.

    And there are receipts to back up Beyoncé’s team: On July 22, before “Renaissance” was released, Right Said Fred’s verified Twitter account wrote, “It’s nice to get a writing credit on the new ‘Beyoncé album.”

    “I’m Too Sexy” has also been sampled in Drake’s “Way 2 Sexy” and Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.”

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  • Bad Kid Pariss Shakes Things Up With Latest Song and Video Release

    Bad Kid Pariss Shakes Things Up With Latest Song and Video Release

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    “Shake It” shines a spotlight on the rising star’s rapping and dancing skills as she makes a name for herself in the entertainment industry.

    Press Release
    –

    Oct 4, 2022


    ATLANTA, October 4, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    While many 11-year-olds are hanging out with friends and watching their favorite YouTubers or singers and dreaming about making it big in the industry, Paris Gilliam is turning these dreams into action. 

    Under the stage name Bad Kid Pariss, the 11-year-old young actor, influencer, rapper, and YouTuber dropped her latest song and video, “Shake It,” to Apple Music and Spotify. Her latest effort adds further proof of her talents to a portfolio of work already attracting attention for her rapping skills and contagious energy. 

    And “Shake It” isn’t only catching the attention of Bad Kid Pariss’ fans across her social media channels. She has the backing of some big names in the industry who are eagerly sharing her music and promoting the young dynamo’s career.  

    The rising star has gained a growing legion of fans as part of FunnyMike Ent’s group of young, dynamic stars known as the BadKids. With the backing of FunnyMike’s artist development engine behind her, Bad Kid Pariss has seen her YouTube stock rising, her social media followers exploding, and her music career skyrocketing, including multiple song and video releases over the past year. 

    “I had so much fun recording and releasing my new song ‘Shake It’ and its video,” said Bad Kid Pariss. “My goal in everything I do is to get to the top, and I’ve got a great team supporting me. I want to thank FunnyMike for helping shape my career as I make my way to the top, as well as the director of the ‘Shake It’ video Mr. Singleton.”

    “Shake It” is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and Bad Kid Pariss’ YouTube channel. To learn more about BadKid Pariss, visit https://www.badkidparis.com/ and follow her on Instagram.

    # # #

    Source: Bad Kid Pariss

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  • Brownstone releasing first new music in 25 years | CNN

    Brownstone releasing first new music in 25 years | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Lately, the female singing trio Brownstone has been all about the “re.”

    “We’re reinventing, we’re refreshed, we’re renewed, we’re revamped,” member Teisha Brown told CNN in a recent interview. “Now don’t get it twisted: you still are getting Brownstone, but we are giving you a little bit of a new feel.”

    That “new feel” is their single, “All I Want,” their first new music in more than 25 years.

    The group first burst onto the scene in 1994 with their hit single, “If You Love Me.”

    Much has changed in the music industry since then.

    “Songs are not as long,” Nicci Gilbert, a founding member of Brownstone, said. “Back in the day it was songs, it was bodies of work. I think now the industry is more about a vibe. We’re listening to a lot of short form content. Everywhere we look is like a TikTok video that’s a second and a half and that’s really working.”

    Music is now more digestible, she said, and the trick is to maintain artistry while adapting.

    So while they are leaning into change, they are doing so from the foundation of being a beloved R&B girl group.

    That love helped when original group member Charmayne “Maxee” Maxwell died in 2015 at the age of 46 after an accident.

    Brown and Gilbert have a new member, Arin Jackson, who they say reminds them a great deal of Maxwell, not only in terms as her talent but also her mannerisms and personality.

    Jackson, for her part, said she’s thrilled to be a part of Brownstone.

    “I get a rare opportunity you don’t get in this industry to learn from the living legend Nicci Gilbert, and on the other side of me I have what I consider the most talented woman in the world, Teisha Lott Brown,” Jackson said. “And I get to bring my talent and my showmanship to this group to blend and to keep Brownstone’s legacy alive.”

    The trio are dedicated to putting out stellar R&B. Brown pointed out how popular ’90s groups continue to resonate with audiences through “old skool” tours that are making the rounds.

    Gilbert said that’s one of the reasons you see their contemporaries, like SWV and Xscape, also making new music.

    “We’ve come to a place where things are so hard that people are looking to lean on really talented people and great songs and great music, because I think it speaks a universal language,” she said.

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  • Coolio, ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ rapper, dead at 59 | CNN

    Coolio, ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ rapper, dead at 59 | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Coolio, the ’90s rapper who lit up the music charts with hits like “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage,” has died, his friend and manager Jarez Posey, told CNN. He was 59.

    Posey said Coolio died Wednesday afternoon.

    Details on the circumstances were not immediately available.

    When contacted by CNN, Capt. Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed that firefighters and paramedics responded to a call on the 2900 block of South Chesapeake Ave. at 4 p.m. local time for reports of a medical emergency. When they arrived, they found an unresponsive male and performed “resuscitation efforts for approximately 45 minutes.”

    The patient “was determined dead just before 5:00 p.m.,” Scott said.

    “We are saddened by the loss of our dear friend and client, Coolio, who passed away this afternoon,” a statement provided to CNN from Coolio’s talent manager Sheila Finegan said.

    “He touched the world with the gift of his talent and will be missed profoundly. Thank you to everyone worldwide who has listened to his music and to everyone who has been reaching out regarding his passing. Please have Coolio’s loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.”

    Actor Lou Diamond Phillips also offered his condolences as he recounted some memories with the artist.

    “I am absolutely stunned. Coolio was a friend and one of the warmest, funniest people I’ve ever met. We spent an amazing time together making Red Water in Capetown and we loved going head to head in the kitchen. He was one of a kind. Epic,Legendary and I’ll miss him,” Phillips said in a tweet.

    Former NBA player Matt Bonner also recalled time spent with Coolio, saying in a Twitter post the rapper was a “huge hoops fan… we hosted him at a game a few years back… biggest crowd of all-time at a Spurs Overtime concert.”

    Coolio grew up in Compton, California, according to a bio on his official website.

    Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 1994, he recalled falling into the drug scene but getting himself out by pursuing a career as a firefighter.

    “I wasn’t looking for a career, I was looking for a way to clean up – a way to escape the drug thing,” he told the publication. “It was going to kill me and I knew I had to stop. In firefighting training was discipline I needed. We ran every day. I wasn’t drinking or smoking or doing the stuff I usually did.”

    His rap career began in the ’80s, and he gained fame in the underground scene.

    “Fantastic Voyage” was the first song that really put him on the map.

    Arguably his biggest song, “Gangsta’s Paradise,” from the soundtrack to the film “Dangerous Minds,” grew his star power to gigantic proportions. He won a Grammy in 1996 for the song.

    In the age of streaming, it has continued to live on. In July 2022, the song reached a milestone one billion views on YouTube.

    “It’s one of those kinds of songs that transcends generations,” he said in a recent interview. “I didn’t use any trendy words…I think it made it timeless.”

    Over his career, Coolio sold more than 17 million records, according to his website.

    Coolio also has a special place in the hearts of some Millennials for his work on the theme song for the popular Nickelodeon TV series “Kenan and Kel” and his contribution to the album “Dexter’s Laboratory: The Hip-Hop Experiment,” which featured songs by various hip-hop artists that were inspired by the Cartoon Network animated series.

    In recent years, Coolio enjoyed the perks of being a nostalgic figure, making television appearances on shows like “Celebrity Cook Off” and “Celebrity Chopped.”

    He also had a show on Oxygen, “Coolio’s Rules,” that aired 2008.

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  • The Grammys are considering adding an Afrobeats category | CNN

    The Grammys are considering adding an Afrobeats category | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Afrobeats – the pulsating, fusion sound coming out of West Africa and the diaspora – has been on the rise globally for the better part of a decade. In recent years, the genre has gained a foothold in Western pop culture, and the Grammys are taking notice.

    Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. recently said that the Grammys were considering adding an award category for Afrobeats. Speaking at the Global Citizen Festival in Ghana over the weekend, Mason told reporters he had been meeting with players in the genre to explore the possibility.

    “We called in producers, songwriters, artists, executives and we had a virtual listening session where we heard from Afrobeats creators,” he said at a September 24 news conference. “[We] just talked about, ‘What are the different subgenres? What are the needs? What are the desires?’”

    It would likely take a while for such a change to be made, though. Throughout the year, the Recording Academy – the group of music industry professionals that presents the Grammy Awards – accepts proposals for new categories from its members. Those proposals are then reviewed by a committee and voted on by the Recording Academy Board of Trustees.

    For example, at an April 2021 meeting, the Recording Academy approved the addition of two new categories in the global and Latin music fields, but the change didn’t take effect the 2022 Grammys. This year, the Recording Academy announced five additional categories, including songwriter of the year and best score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media, which will take effect at the 2023 Grammys.

    “My goal is to make sure that we represent all genres of music, including Afrobeats, at the Grammys. But it has to be done properly,” Mason said during the news conference. “I think the listening session last week was very important, very valuable, and a step towards that path.”

    Afrobeats artists have crossed over into mainstream pop through collaborations with Beyoncé, Drake, Ed Sheeran and other stars. But they’ve also achieved mainstream success on their own. Burna Boy, Wizkid and Tems have each notched Grammy nominations (though they’ve typically been relegated to the global music field), while Burna Boy garnered a win in 2021 for his album “Twice as Tall.” CKay’s “Love Nwantiti” dominated on TikTok last year before eventually showing up on the Billboard charts.

    The UK’s Official Charts Company launched an Afrobeats singles chart in 2020, while Billboard debuted a US-based Afrobeats chart this year, further nodding to the genre’s growth outside of Africa and the diaspora.



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  • The Onsite Foundation & Musicares® Announce a Strategic Partnership to Ensure Music Industry Professionals Receive Best-in-Class Emotional Health Education and Resources

    The Onsite Foundation & Musicares® Announce a Strategic Partnership to Ensure Music Industry Professionals Receive Best-in-Class Emotional Health Education and Resources

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    “Unplugged” will help music industry professionals process stress and reconnect with their authentic selves.


    NASHVILLE, Tenn., August 17, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
     The Onsite Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity and leader in emotional health education and resources, announced in 2021 a partnership with MusiCares® to create and host a retreat for music industry professionals titled “Unplugged: a healing retreat at Onsite for the music industry”. This three-day healing retreat at Onsite is an invitation to step away from all the noise and distractions and into a space where participants can freely explore who they are, what got them here, and who they truly want to be as a creative moving forward. The tools will help attendees connect with themselves and work toward building an authentic life.

    The “Unplugged” retreat will take place Oct. 6-9, 2022 at Onsite in Cumberland Furnace in Middle Tennessee and will be available to musicians, singer/songwriters, engineers, stagehands, managers, tour bus drivers, A&R, agents, make-up artists, venue managers, live crews, and anyone else who is currently working or has worked in the music industry.

    Last year, 26% of MusiCares Wellness in Music Survey respondents said they regularly experience moderate to severe levels of depression. To put that in perspective, a 2019 National Health Interview Survey of U.S. adults founds that only 4.7 percent reported regularly feeling depressed.
    The 2021 Wellness in Music Survey saw a decline in respondents experiencing moderate to severe levels of depression, with 20% reporting feeling this way. However, 56% of this year’s respondents reported feeling moderately high to very high levels of anxiety – and though that is down almost 10% from last year’s numbers, it indicates the mental health of the music community is still strained.

    “We live in a world built to connect us, but it can feel like it’s designed to divide us, distract us, and keep us disconnected. When we feel disconnected from the world, we are likely disconnected from the world within ourselves,” said Miles Adcox, Chairman and Proprietor of Onsite Workshops. “We hope attending Unplugged allows creatives to disconnect from all the noise and distractions of life so they can reconnect to themselves.” 

    “We are so thankful that MusiCares has partnered with us to help music industry professionals who are struggling from the effects of stress and trauma. Our hope is that “Unplugged” attendees leave the retreat feeling emotionally unstuck and empowered with new insights to better connect with their authentic self and the people in their life,” says Deanna Wantz, Executive Director of The Onsite Foundation.

    “At MusiCares, we understand how important mental health and well-being are to the success of the music community,” says Laura Segura, Executive Director of MusiCares. “We are excited to once again partner with The Onsite Foundation to give music professionals the resources needed for healing and reconnecting to their purpose so they can continue to do what they love.”

    MusiCares provides a safety net of critical health and welfare services to the music community in three key areas including:
    ● Mental Health & Addiction Recovery Services: Support, referrals, and emergency financial assistance for counseling, psychiatric care, inpatient treatment, coaching, intensive outpatient care, sober living, and more.
    ● Health Services: Financial assistance during medical crises and preventive services such as dental and medical screenings, hearing clinics, vocal health workshops, and assistance obtaining low-cost health insurance.
    ● Human Services: Support for basic living expenses like rent, utilities, car payments, and insurance premiums in times of hardship, plus programs addressing affordable housing, career development, legal issues, and senior services.

    Applications for “Unplugged” are now open. For more information on how to apply, please visit www.theonsitefoundation.org.

    ###

    About The Onsite Foundation:
    The Onsite Foundation provides trauma-informed counseling and emotional health education that transforms individuals and communities. The Onsite Foundation provides tools and resources, along with full scholarships to best-in-class trauma-informed workshops, to ensure all persons have access to therapies and services regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or socio-economic status. The Onsite Foundation’s efforts are focused on vulnerable and underserved populations including survivors of mass shootings, Black mental-health professionals, veterans, first responders, and bereaved parents. The Onsite Foundation exists to ensure all persons affected by trauma, abuse, stress, or mental health issues receive the gift of emotional freedom. For more information, visit www.theonsitefoundation.org.

    About MusiCares:
    MusiCares helps the humans behind music because music gives so much to the world. Offering preventive, emergency, and recovery programs, MusiCares is a safety net supporting the health and welfare of the music community. Founded by the Recording Academy in 1989 as a U.S. based, independent 501(c)(3) charity, MusiCares safeguards the well-being of all music people through direct financial grant programs, networks of support resources, and tailored crisis relief efforts. For more information please visit: www.musicares.org

    About Onsite:
    Onsite curates transformational emotional health experiences that combine some of the best therapeutic and clinical minds in the country with its signature healing hospitality. Recently Onsite launched a series of virtual offerings and will be expanding this platform in 2021. Onsite offers experiential group programs, therapeutic intensives, digital courses, and innovative residential trauma treatment that bolster empathy, self-awareness, compassion, and resilience. Onsite’s mission is to change lives and reconnect the world by enhancing emotional health and intelligence. Our work has been featured on 20/20, Good Morning America, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, People, Dr. Phil Show, and The Doctors. For more information, visit onsiteworkshops.com.

    Press Contacts:
    The Onsite Foundation
    Deanna Wantz
    615-323-3191
    deanna@theonsitefoundation.org

    MusiCares
    Jenn Kerr, for MusiCares
    jennifer.kerr@porternovelli.com

    Onsite
    Lindsey Nobles
    615-476-5984
    lnobles@onsiteworkshops.com

    Source: The Onsite Foundation

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  • Universal Music Group calls AI music a ‘fraud,’ wants it banned from streaming platforms. Experts say it’s not that easy | CNN Business

    Universal Music Group calls AI music a ‘fraud,’ wants it banned from streaming platforms. Experts say it’s not that easy | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Universal Music Group — the music company representing superstars including Sting, The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande — has a new Goliath to contend with: artificial intelligence.

    The music group sent urgent letters in April to streaming platforms, including Spotify

    (SPOT)     and Apple Music, asking them to block artificial intelligence platforms from training on the melodies and lyrics of their copywritten songs.

    The company has “a moral and commercial responsibility to our artists to work to prevent the unauthorized use of their music and to stop platforms from ingesting content that violates the rights of artists and other creators,” a spokesperson from Universal Music Group, or UMG, told CNN. “We expect our platform partners will want to prevent their services from being used in ways that harm artists.”

    The move by UMG, first reported by the Financial Times, aims to stop artificial intelligence from creating an existential threat to the industry.

    Artificial intelligence, and specifically AI music, learns by either training on existing works on the internet or through a library of music given to the AI by humans.

    UMG says it is not against the technology itself, but rather AI that is so advanced it can recreate melodies and even musicians’ voices in seconds. That could possibly threaten UMG’s deep library of music and artists that generate billions of dollars in revenue.

    “UMG’s success has been, in part, due to embracing new technology and putting it to work for our artists — as we have been doing with our own innovation around AI for some time already,” UMG said in a statement Monday. “However, the training of generative AI using our artists’ music … begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on.”

    The company said AI that uses artists’ music violates UMG’s agreements and copyright law. UMG has been sending requests to streamers asking them to take down AI-generated songs.

    “I understand the intent behind the move, but I’m not sure how effective this will be as AI services will likely still be able to access the copyrighted material one way or another,” said Karl Fowlkes, an entertainment and business attorney at The Fowlkes Firm.

    No regulations exist that dictate on what AI can and cannot train. But last month, in response to individuals looking to seek copyright for AI-generated works, the US Copyright Office released new guidance around how to register literary, musical, and artistic works made with AI.

    “In the case of works containing AI-generated material, the Office will consider whether the AI contributions are the result of ‘mechanical reproduction’ or instead of an author’s ‘own original mental conception, to which [the author] gave visible form,’” the new guidance says.

    The copyright will be determined on a case-by-case basis, the guidance continued, based on how the AI tool operates and how it was used to create the final piece or work.

    The US Copyright Office announced it will also be seeking public input on how the law should apply to copywritten works the AI trains on, and how the office should treat those works.

    “AI companies using copyrighted works to train their models to create similar works is exactly the type of behavior the copyright office and courts should explicitly ban. Original art is meant to be protected by law, not works created by machines that used the original art to create new work,” said Fowlkes.

    But according to AI experts, it’s not that simple.

    “You can flag your site not to be searched. But that’s a request — you can’t prevent it. You can just request that someone not do it,” said Shelly Palmer, Professor of Advanced Media at Syracuse University.

    For example, a website can apply a robots.txt file that works like a guardrail to control which URL’s “search engine crawlers” can access a given site, according to Google. But it is not a full stop, keep-out option.

    Grammy-winning DJ and producer David Guetta proved in February just how easy it is to create new music using AI. Using ChatGPT for lyrics and Uberduck for vocals, Guetta was able to create a new song in an hour.

    The result was a rap with a voice that sounded exactly like Eminem. He played the song at one of his shows in February, but said he would never release it commercially.

    “What I think is very interesting about AI is that it’s raising a question of what is it to be an artist,” Guetta told CNN last month.

    Guetta believes AI is going to have a significant impact on the music industry, so he’s embracing it instead of fighting it. But he admits there are still questions about copyright.

    “That is an ethical problem that needs to be addressed because it sounds crazy to me that today I can type lyrics and it’s going to sound like Drake is rapping it, or Eminem,” he said.

    And that is exactly what UMG wants to avoid. The music group likens AI music to “deep fakes, fraud, and denying artists their due compensation.”

    “These instances demonstrate why platforms have a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of their services in ways that harm artists,” the UMG statement said.

    Music streamers Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora did not return request for comment.

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  • The viral new ‘Drake’ and ‘Weeknd’ song is not what it seems | CNN Business

    The viral new ‘Drake’ and ‘Weeknd’ song is not what it seems | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    One of the buzziest songs recently circulating on TikTok and climbing the Spotify charts featured the familiar voices of best-selling artists Drake and the Weeknd. But there’s a twist: Drake and the Weeknd appear to have had nothing to do with it.

    The viral track, “Heart on my Sleeve,” comes from an anonymous TikTok user named Ghostwriter977, who claims to have used artificial intelligence to generate the voices of Drake and the Weeknd for the track.

    “I was a ghostwriter for years and got paid close to nothing just for major labels to profit,” Ghostwriter977 wrote in the video comments. “The future is here.”

    “Heart on my Sleeve” racked up more than 11 million views across several videos in just a few days and was streamed on Spotify hundreds of thousands of times. The original TikTok video has seemingly been taken down, and the song has since been removed from streaming services including YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify. (TikTok, YouTube, Apple and Spotify did not respond to a request for comment.)

    The exact origin of the song remains unclear, and some have suggested it could be a publicity stunt. But the stunning traction for “Heart on my Sleeve” may only add to the anxiety inside the music industry as it goes on offense against the possible threat posed by a new crop of increasingly powerful AI tools on the market.

    Universal Music Group, the music label that represents Drake, The Weeknd and numerous other superstars, sent urgent letters in April to streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music, asking them to block AI platforms from training on the melodies and lyrics of their copywritten songs.

    “The training of generative AI using our artists’ music — which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on digital service providers – begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation,” the company said in a statement this week to CNN.

    The record label said platforms have “a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of their services in ways that harm artists.”

    But attempting to crack down on AI-generated music may pose a unique challenge. The legal landscape for AI work remains unclear, the tools to create it are widely accessible and social media makes it easier than ever to distribute it.

    AI-generated music is not new. Taryn Southern’s debut song “Break Free,” which was composed and produced with AI, hit the Top 100 radio charts back in 2018, and VAVA, an AI music artist (i.e. not a human), currently has a single out in Thailand.

    But a new crop of AI tools have made it easier than ever to quickly generate convincing images, audio, video and written work. Some services such as Boomy specifically leverage generative AI to make music creation more accessible.

    There’s little known about who is behind the Ghostwriter977 account, or which tools the creator used to make the track. The user did not respond to a CNN request for comment.

    In the bio section of the user’s TikTok account, a link directs users to a page on Laylo, a website where fans can sign up to get notifications from artists when new songs are dropped or merchandise and tickets become available. The company told CNN the account likely registered to build up its fan base and brought in “tens of thousands” of signups in the past few days.

    Laylo CEO Alec Ellin denied that the company was behind the viral track as some have speculated, but Ellin told CNN whoever did make it was “clearly a really savvy creator” and called it “a perfect example of the power of using Laylo to own your audience.”

    Michael Inouye, an analyst at ABI Research, said “Heart on my Sleeve” could have been made in several ways depending on the sophistication of the AI and level of musical talent.

    “If music artists were involved, they could create the background music and the lyrics, and then the AI model could be trained with content from Drake and The Weekend to replicate their voices and singing styles,” he said. “AI could also have generated most of the song, lyrics and replicated the artists again based on the training data set and any prompts given to direct the AI model.”

    He added that part of this fascination and virality of the song comes from “just how good AI has gotten at creating content, which includes replicating famous people.”

    Roberto Nickson, who is building an AI platform to help boost productivity and work flow, recently posted a video on Twitter showing how easy it is to record a verse and train an AI model to replace his vocals. He used the artist formerly known as Kanye West as an example.

    “The results will blow your mind,” he said. “You’re going to be listening to songs by your favorite artist that are completely indistinguishable and you’re not going to know if it’s them or not.”

    Although the entertainment industry has seen these issues coming, regulations are lagging behind the rapid pace of AI development.

    Audrey Benoualid, an entertainment lawyer based in Los Angeles, said one could argue “Heart On My Sleeve” does not infringe copyright as it appears to be an “original” composition.

    “Ghostwriter also publicized that Drake and The Weeknd were not involved in the making of the song, which could protect them from a ‘passing off’ claim, where profits are generated as consumers are misled into believing the song is actually a Drake-Weeknd collaboration,” she said in an email to CNN.

    However, Benoualid added, machine learning and generative AI programs may also be found to infringe copyright in existing works, either by making copies of those works to train the AI or by generating outputs that are substantially similar to those existing works. “Major labels would undoubtedly, and have already begun to, argue that their copyrights (and their artists’ intellectual property rights) are being infringed,” she said.

    Michael Nash, an executive VP at Universal Music Group, recently wrote in an op-ed that AI music is “diluting the market, making original creations harder to find, and violating artists’ legal rights to compensation from their work.”

    No regulations exist that dictate on what AI can and cannot train. But last month, in response to individuals looking to seek copyright for AI-generated works, the US Copyright Office released new guidance around how to register literary, musical, and artistic works made with AI.

    The copyright will be determined on a case-by-case basis, the guidance continued, based on how the AI tool operates and how it was used to create the final piece or work. The US Copyright Office announced it will also be seeking public input on how the law should apply to copywritten works the AI trains on, and how the office should treat those works.

    “AI and copyright law and the rights of musicians and labels have crashed into one another (once again), and it will take time for the dust to settle,” Benoualid said. “The landscape is anything but clear at the moment.”

    Inouye said if AI generated content becomes associated with famous individuals in a negative way that could be grounds for a lawsuit to not only take content down but to cease and desist their operations and potentially seek damage.

    “On the flip side, if the content were to be popular and the creator were to make revenue off of the artists’ image or likeness then again the artists could similarly request the content to be taken down and potentially sue for any monetary gains,” he said.

    But for now, concerned parties may be forced to play whack-a-mole. While services like Spotify pulled “Heart on my Sleeve,” versions of it appeared to continue circulating as of Tuesday on other online platforms.

    Even a song made with artificial intelligence may find real staying power online.

    – CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich contributed to this report.

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  • The invention that changed music forever | CNN Business

    The invention that changed music forever | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    “Do you believe in life after love?” Cher used to sing. And if you’ve ever heard that song, you might now have an earworm in your head.

    The singer’s 1998 comeback track marked the first prominent use of a technology called “Auto-Tune”, a pitch correcting software that has since changed the music industry.

    Auto-Tune alters the pitch of a singing voice to make everyone sound perfectly in tune. When used properly, it’s subtle enough that it can’t be detected.

    But Cher’s producers played with the idea of cranking it up to 11, creating the now-familiar effect that is part human synthesizer, part robotic voice.

    Andy Hildebrand, the inventor of autotune, told CNN: “My thinking was, ok, I’ll put that setting in the software. But I didn’t think anyone in their right mind would ever use it.”

    Thus was born the “Cher effect”, and one of the biggest hits of the 1990s.

    The invention that changed the world of music

    How does one invent Auto-Tune? By analyzing seismic data while looking for oil, of course.

    That’s Hildebrand’s previous job: “Oil companies would detonate charges in the ground or in the water, and then they have sensors analyze the reflections to spot the oil,” he explains.

    That technology was bought by American oil giant Halliburton in 1995 and it’s helped internal production in the U.S. soar from 30 to 60 percent, netting the company about $1 billion a year.

    “It uses the same science of digital signal processing,” says Hildebrand, a long time musician who then applied that science to singing.

    It took him just a month to create it. “Before Auto-Tune, studios would do pitch correction by having the singer repeat a phrase over and over and over. They would do 100 takes and then patch them together to make one piece of music that sounded in tune.”

    Auto-Tune does all that at the push of a button.

    A magic button that makes everyone sing in perfect key was, unsurprisingly, an instant hit with the industry: “Within a year we had sold to every major studio in the world, and that was a year or two after Cher did her song ‘Believe’”, Hildebrand recalls.

    Here are his tasting notes on that song: “I thought it was really cool! Even if they used a bad setting, or what I call bad setting since I didn’t design it to be used like that: it makes this robotic effect because it changes the pitch instantly from note to note.”

    But the jury is still out on whether Auto-Tune was a boon for the music industry, or a disaster: in 2010, Time magazine included it in the list of The 50 Worst Inventions, calling it “a technology that can make bad singers sound good and really bad singers sound like robots.”

    Indie band Death Cab for Cutie showed up at the 2009 Grammys wearing blue ribbons to “raise awareness against Auto-Tune abuse”, and fervent Auto-Tune critic Jay-z released a song in 2009 entitled D.O.A. – Death of autotune.

    Britney Spears notoriously fell into an Auto-Tune controversy in mid-2014, when a vanilla recording of her 2013 song Alien was leaked and compared, rather unfavorably, to the autotuned version on the album Britney Jean.

    But what does its inventor think? “Singers learn about how it works and they kind of like it, but they have a love-hate relationship with it: they don’t want to let others know that they need it.”

    It seems that Auto-Tune might be to music what Photoshop is to photography: everybody uses it, but no one’s too keen to admit it.

    After having sorted singing – “music’s second most popular instrument” – Hildebrand is now going after the first: guitars.

    “It doesn’t sound anything like a vocal correction, but it keeps the guitar perfectly in tune,” he says.

    Next up, your heartbeat: “There’s a new kind of device called the embedded defibrillator: it’s a pacemaker implanted in the chest that monitors heartbeat irregularities and releases energy pulses to correct anomalies. The problem is that sometimes the software fails to detect the heartbeat, and we’re hoping to fix that.”

    The technology, in the form of an algorithm, will soon be embedded into these pacemakers.

    And we have a feeling it might not even stop there.

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  • Cajun Music, Boudin and Festivals Acadiens et Creoles Take Center Stage as Music Cities Convention Comes to Lafayette

    Cajun Music, Boudin and Festivals Acadiens et Creoles Take Center Stage as Music Cities Convention Comes to Lafayette

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    Leaders in music, planning, cultural policy to gather in Louisiana Oct. 11-12


    LAFAYETTE, La., September 19, 2018 (Newswire.com)
    –
    ​When the Music Cities Convention arrives in Lafayette next month, it will land in a music city steeped in history (Zydeco and Cajun) and bubbling over with new ideas and artists (Givers, New Natives, The Shrugs). The attendees – who’ll be traveling to Louisiana from six continents – will get an inside look at this emerging hub of new music during the convening, which will focus on Diversity, Music and Improving Our Cities and Communities Oct. 11-12.

    To kick off the convention on Wednesday, Oct. 10, attendees will be invited to a 5:30 p.m. reception at Blue Moon Saloon featuring live music with Horace Trahan and the Ossun Express, food and beverage, plus a Cajun Jam beginning at 8 p.m.

    The weekly Cajun jam at the Blue Moon attracts some of the area’s best musicians as well as folks from around the globe. Open to all, the jam allows players of all skill levels to sit in and play Cajun tunes the way they used to be played (comme dans l’vieux temps), all acoustic on the back porch.

    On Thursday, Oct. 11, after the first day of convention programming, attendees will enjoy a reception at The Warehouse 535, featuring singer-songwriters showcasing their new music created at the 2018 SOLO (South Louisiana) Songwriters Festival, followed by An Evening of Lafayette Music Highlighting the Caesar Vincent Project with nearly 30 local musicians and the unofficial kickoff of Festivals Acadiens et Créoles. 

    On Friday, Oct. 12, the Boudin Cutting festivities in Girard Park kick off Festivals Acadiens et Créoles. Music Cities Convention – though it moves to a new city each year – is always scheduled adjacent to a local festival to encourage attendees to stay in the host city for a weekend of live music and culture.

    The conference programming will take place during the day on Oct. 11-12 at Acadiana Center for the Arts. The event is hosted by the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission and the CREATE Initiative of Lafayette Consolidated Government, with generous support from The Recording Academy and American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.

    Speakers include:

    ·         Clara Barbara, Director for Student Affairs, Diversity and Inclusion at the Valencia campus, Berklee (Spain)

    ·         Austin Barrow, President, MAD/Murphy Arts District, (Arkansas, USA)

    ·         Al Bell, Former Chairman and Owner, Stax Records, Former President, Motown Records Group, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Al Bell Presents (Arkansas, USA)

    ·         Ben Berthelot, President and CEO, Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission (Louisiana, USA)

    ·         Anya Burgess, Owner, SOLA Violins and Band Member of “Magnolia Sisters” and “Bonsoir, Catin” (Louisiana, USA)

    ·         Sung Cho, Founder and CEO, Chartmetric.io (California, USA)

    ·         Cary Clarke, CEO, Young Audiences (Oregon, USA)

    ·         Sari Delmar, Program Director, The Participation Agency (New York, USA)

    ·         Greg Deshields, Executive Director, PHL Diversity Philadelphia Visitors & Convention Bureau (Philadelphia, USA)

    ·         David Dudley, Executive Editor, CityLab (New York, USA)

    ·         Kate Durio, Assistant to Mayor-President Joel Robideaux, Lafayette Consolidated Government (Louisiana, USA)

    ·         Abed Hathot, Co-Founder, Palestine Music Expo (California, Palestine)

    ·         Mike Henry, CEO, Paragon Media Strategies (Colorado, USA)

    ·         Tara Hernandez, President, JCH Properties+ (Louisiana, USA)

    ·         Alyssa Kelley, Project Manager, Property Development, Artspace (Minnesota, USA)

    ·         Carmen Gloria Larenas, Artistic Director, Teatro del Lago (Chile)

    ·         Jordan Lee, Program Director, Radio Milwaukee (Wisconsin, USA)

    ·         Margaret Lioi, CEO, Chamber Music America (New York)

    ·         Matt McArthur, Executive Director, The Record Co Boston (Massachusetts, USA)

    ·         Joel Robideaux, Mayor-President, Lafayette (Louisiana, USA)

    ·         Warwick Sabin, Senior Director for U.S. Programs, Winrock International, Arkansas House of Representatives, 2018 Little Rock mayoral candidate (Arkansas, USA)

    ·         Pena Schmidt, Music Producer (Brazil)

    ·         Tim Scott, Artist in Residence, Charlotte Center City Partners (North Carolina, USA)

    ·         Laura Simpson, Co-Founder and CEO, Side Door (Canada)

    ·         John Sommerlad, Director Business and Community, Tamworth Regional Council (Australia)

    ·         Joey Stuckey, Official Music Ambassador, Macon, Georgia (Georgia, USA)

    ·         Dr. Liana Valente, National Federation Of Music Clubs Representative To The United Nations Department Of Public Information & Classical Voice Area Coordinator, Howard University (Washington, D.C.)

    ·         Kelly Wells, Executive Director, KDHX (Missouri, USA)

    ·         Johnathan Peter Williams, Founder/CEO, Quality Of Life Services and Founder/President, Love Of People (Louisiana, USA)

    ·         Nolfris “Slim KuttaR” Williams, Musician, Music Executive and Former Pro Basketball Player (Louisiana, USA)

    ·         Sharon Yazowski, Executive Director, Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation (California, USA)

    Source: Music Cities Events

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