Spotify
(SPOT) said Monday that it will cut 6% of its workforce to reduce costs, joining tech companies including Amazon
(AMZN) and Microsoft
(MSFT) in slashing headcount as the global economy slows.
In a letter to employees posted on the company’s website, CEO Daniel Ek took full responsibility for the job cuts, which he called “difficult but necessary.”
“Like many other leaders, I hoped to sustain the strong tailwinds from the pandemic and believed that our broad global business and lower risk to the impact of a slowdown in ads would insulate us. In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth,” he said.
The Stockholm-headquartered music streaming business had about 9,800 employees globally as of September 30, according to an earnings report.
The company’s stock, which has nearly halved in value over the past 12 months, gained more than 4% in premarket trading in New York. Spotify’s share price has risen 24% since the start of the year, Refinitiv data shows.
Over the past few months, major tech companies have swiftly reversed a pandemic hiring spree that saw them add thousands of workers to keep up with a surge in demand from households and businesses for services such as online shopping and videoconferencing.
The same companies have recently made deep cuts to their workforces, as inflation weighs on consumer spending and rising interest rates squeeze funding. The demand for digital services during the pandemic has also waned as people return to their offline lives.
Over the past three months, Amazon
(AMZN), Google
(GOOGL), Microsoft
(MSFT) and Facebook
(FB)-parent Meta have announced plans to cut more than 50,000 employees from their collective ranks.
The recent cuts in most cases amount to a relatively small percentage of each company’s overall headcount, essentially erasing the last year of gains for some while leaving them with enormous workforces.
Spotify’s decision to shed about 590 jobs is part of a wider reorganization to improve efficiency and “speed up decision-making,” according to Ek. As part of the changes, engineering and product work will be centralized. Chief content officer Dawn Ostroff had also decided to leave the company, Ek said.
Spotify reported a loss of €228 million ($248 million) in its most recent financial quarter through September 30, as operating expenses shot up by 65%, according to a company presentation to investors.
In 2022, operating expenses grew at twice the rate of the company’s revenue, Ek said.
“That would have been unsustainable long-term in any climate, but with a challenging macro environment, it would be even more difficult to close the gap,” he told employees in Monday’s letter. “As you are well aware, over the last few months we’ve made a considerable effort to rein-in costs, but it simply hasn’t been enough.”
On Wednesday, Spotify announced an intriguing new feature: “Playlist in a Bottle.” It’s a twist on automatically generated playlists based on what you listen to throughout the year. With Playlist in a Bottle, Spotify tells users that “to celebrate the new year, we’re launching a timely user experience to help you capture the moment by the time January 2024 rolls around.”
Users need to follow instructions to set up Spotify’s “latest interactive, in-app experience,” as it’s not automatically generated. Here’s how to make your Playlist in a Bottle, according to Spotify:
Ensure your Spotify mobile app is up to date with the latest version.
Select your time capsule of choice—you can pick from a bottle, jean pocket, gumball machine, lunch box, or teddy bear.
Answer a series of song-inspired prompts. For example:
“A song you’re going to kiss someone to this year”
“A song that reminds you of your favorite person”
“A song you need to hear live in 2023”
5. Digitally seal your musical time capsule and send it off!
Share a personalized card to your social channels with the tag #PlaylistInABottle.
Come January 2024, if you made a Playlist in a Bottle, you’ll receive your personalized time capsule reminding you what you were listening to one year prior.
Spotify stated the feature will be available to subscribers in the U.S., UK, Australia, France, Japan, Mexico, Argentina, Turkey, Brazil, Germany, Canada, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Chile, U.A.E., Colombia, Indonesia, Sweden, Egypt, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Czech Republic, Denmark, Morocco, Philippines, and Poland.
If it sounds fun to you, set it up now. Spotify only gives users the month of January to create a time capsule. The feature will be unavailable after Jan. 31.
Quebecers are increasingly streaming music online but listening less often to francophone artists, a trend members of the province’s music industry hope will be reversed with a new federal bill.
Around 30 per cent of physical albums sold in Quebec in 2022 were by Quebec artists, the province’s statistics institute said in mid-December 2022. But on streaming platforms such as Spotify, YouTube and Google Play Music, local artists accounted for less than eight per cent of plays.
Statistics like that worry David Bussières, a musician who sits on the board of Union des artistes, a labour organization that represents musicians and other performers.
A lot of the music people listen to online is recommended to them by algorithms, he said in an interview, adding that the algorithms serve global audiences and tend to recommend popular artists who perform in English rather in French.
Story continues below advertisement
Quebec’s cultural identity will be weakened if Quebecers are less aware than in years past of the province’s musicians, he said.
“The result of this is that the Quebec audience doesn’t get enough exposure to its music; they don’t know it well enough,” said Bussières, who is one-half of the electropop duo Alfa Rococo.
Bill C-11, currently before the Senate, would help increase Quebecers’ exposure to local francophone artists by requiring streaming platforms to promote local musicians, including francophone artists, he said.
Under the bill, foreign online streaming services would be forced to “reflect and support Canada’s linguistic duality by placing significant importance on the creation, production and broadcasting of original French language programs.”
Artists make money every time their songs are streamed online — though not much: one million plays on Spotify will generate $5,000 in revenue, Bussières said. But artists are also using streaming platforms to build audiences that will buy concert tickets, leading to bookings at large festivals.
If new artists aren’t able to build audiences, they’ll struggle to make a living as musicians, Bussières said.
“Eventually, it’s going to diminish the impact that music from here has on the public and our cultural identity is going to be weakened.”
Story continues below advertisement
In November, Quebec’s statistics agency said that only four of the top 50 most-listened-to artists in Quebec on streaming services were from the province. The number 1 Quebec artist was folk-rock group Les Cowboys fringants, in 16th place.
Eve Paré, the executive director of a Quebec music industry association, said Quebecers want to listen to local music, they’re just having a harder time finding it. Record stores used to display local music prominently, Paré, with Association québécoise de l’industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo, said in an interview.
How Bill C-11 could change streaming services in Canada
When CDs were still the dominant way Quebecers consumed music, local artists accounted for around half of sales, she said.
Music consumers can’t search for what they don’t know about, so they rely on algorithms and curated playlists, she said. And streaming platforms, she added, don’t give Quebec artists enough prominence.
Story continues below advertisement
Paré, who also supports Bill C-11, said music plays an important role in Quebec culture.
“It’s a social connection, we all have memories associated with certain songs. I think of the songs from my teenage years, for example; the people of my generation share memories associated with those same songs. It’s part of a collective heritage.”
But critics of the bill, which would bring streaming services under the purview of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, say it won’t necessarily help Quebec artists.
Nathan Wiszniak, head of artist and label partnerships at Spotify, told a Senate committee in September that his company’s platform allows users to discover artists that they would never hear on the radio.
“For example, seven out of the top 10 most streamed French-Canadian artists are independent rappers, and only two of those artists currently appear on French-Canadian radio charts,” he told the committee. Users, he said, need to retain “control of their listening experience.”
The bill, which has been passed by the House of Commons, has also faced criticism from content creators who worry they won’t meet Canadian content requirements, and from civil libertarians who reject increased government regulation of the internet.
Story continues below advertisement
Sara Bannerman, a communications professor at McMaster University, said it’s unclear how government regulators will use the new powers granted under the bill.
While members of Quebec’s music industry hope the law will force platforms to change their algorithms, she said that might not be the approach the CRTC takes. The regulator might rely on promotional campaigns to support Canadian content or could force streaming companies to make it easier to search for specific types of content.
Bannerman said the algorithms of streaming services should be made accessible to independent researchers and the CRTC. Recommendation algorithms aren’t neutral, she said, adding that they tend to be biased toward popular content and may also have racial and gender biases.
Bussières said increasing the prominence of Quebec artists on streaming sites is critical to a healthy Quebec music industry — and a strong culture.
“When we celebrate the Fête nationale, when we celebrate something, when we celebrate our culture, much more often than not, it’s through music.”
First released in 2021, indie shooter Nightmare Reaper finally left Early Access this year, and that’s when I finally played it. And boy oh boy, am I happy I stumbled upon this under-the-radar FPS! Nightmare Reaper might look a lot like other, similar retro-inspired shooters—like the previously mentioned Cultic—that have become more common in recent years, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a roguelike with smart level progression, awesome music, and hundreds of powerful and zany weapons like whips and spell books. It’s a weird game, too. But in a good way. For example, to improve your character’s stats you play through different, elaborate Game Boy-like mini-games. It’s weird, it’s sometimes creepy, and it’s only $25 on Steam. Go play Nightmare Reaper! — Zack Zwiezen
Look, I thirsted over Professor Turo for half the year. It was a significant touchstone of 2022.Screenshot: The Pokémon Company / Kotaku
When it comes time to write these year-end lists, I usually slim them down to my top five favorite games I played because, despite what this job entails, I usually only have passionate feelings about a handful of games by the time we reach December.
But 2022 was a weird one for me, in that I feel like I played fewer games than ever. Not that any of that has anything to do with Kotaku, as I’ve only been here for about two weeks so far. But going through tumultuous times and a layoff at the last job doesn’t leave one much energy to invest time in a ton of games.
But I did experience a handful of games that really resonated with me, a few of which were old ones that got renewed in some way in 2022. So don’t yell at me when you see them on this list. It’s my list, and I’ll cry about Cyberpunk 2077 if I want to.
I’m a simple man. If the electric rat is there, I’m happy.Screenshot: The Pokémon Company / Kotaku
Honorable mention: Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Getting two major Pokémon games in 2022 was a lot for some people, but being able to run around a Pokémon world with Raichu by my side is the only thing that keeps me going some days. So I was happy to indulge in an open-world Pokémon in the form of Pokémon Violet. However, I just have too many issues with this game to give it a proper spot on my list. It’s buggy, sure, but it’s also designed in such a way that it can’t keep up with its own “find your bliss” philosophy, which made entire sections of its main story annoying and disorienting to play through.
That being said, the stellar endgame has completely rewired my brain and I can’t think about Professor Turo without crying, and playing a Pokémon game in co-op with my friends is a childhood dream come true. It’s deeply flawed, but I keep looking back at screenshots of me and my friends hanging out in Paldea like an old photo album. It’s got so many great ideas, but it’s all built on top of a shaky foundation. I’m awaiting its DLC with bated breath.
I loved Kratos and Atreus’ story, but all the other story threads God of War Ragnarök spun were too much for one game.
Honorable mention: God of War Ragnarök
I really adore the 2018 God of War reboot as an examination on the series’ previous gleeful glamorizing of gratuitous gore, and when it was at its best, God of War Ragnarök felt like it was building beautifully upon Kratos’ and Atreus’ relationship as father and son. But, man, what a messy follow-up it was.
I like large swaths of Ragnarök, and I think, had it been broken up into two games and made a trilogy, rather than Sony Santa Monica attempting to introduce and wrap up two games’ worth of story in the course of an exhaustively long game, I would’ve loved it a lot more. Its action still feels weighty and fun and getting to play as Atreus was a lovely surprise, but it feels breathless and bloated in a way the 2018 reboot didn’t. I’m always going to wonder what the conclusion to God of War’sNorse story would’ve looked like as two games instead of one, as those are the ones that would’ve likely made it onto my list.
Cyberpunk 2077‘s city skyline makes me well up the way most open-world vistas don’t.Screenshot: CD Projekt Red / Kotaku
5. Cyberpunk 2077
I’m still very resistant to any narrative that Cyberpunk 2077 is “great” in 2022 after CD Projekt Red put in the work to elevate it from the technical disaster it was when it launched in 2020, but the game was still a central figure in my year, and has gone from something I played out of a work obligation two years ago to a game that’s become pretty special to me.
I played through and dissected Cyberpunk 2077 all year as part of Normandy FM, a retrospective podcast I co-host, and combing through that game in a relatively stable technical state unmasked that it’s a pretty unremarkable RPG. That being said, as a person who spent all of 2022 dealing with the realities of the capitalist gristmill that is America, both through job stuff and in the medical system, there was something freeing about existing in Night City, which felt like an oppressive, capitalist amalgamation of the cities I dreamed of living in while I was stranded in small-town Georgia.
When Cyberpunk 2077 wasn’t being insufferably cynical about people, places, and things, it was a constant interrogation of what I was willing to live for, and why I wanted the things I wanted in life. It’s a product of the same capitalist hellscape it claims to satirize, but in the margins there are things worth fighting for, even if you have to go looking for them on your own terms. I don’t boot up open-world RPGs very often, but throughout 2022 I would turn on Cyberpunk 2077 just to drive around the city and imagine the possibilities it held for me. Thankfully, I live in a city now, and no longer have to dream. But Cyberpunk 2077 was a lifeline during a time when the home it proposed felt unattainable. For that, I’ll always keep the story of V and Night City in my heart, even if I don’t think it’s a great video game.
Haven’s Couples Update gave queer fans a new reason to experience the RPG in 2022.Screenshot: The Game Bakers / Kotaku
4. Gayven (Haven, but gay)
Haven completely slipped by me in 2020, but that changed this year when The Game Bakers added an update that let you play as same-sex pairings of its main characters Yu and Kay. As a person who has written a lot about queerness in the video game industry, I was immediately drawn to Haven as a case study in a developer putting in the time and effort to make a game queer-inclusive. Getting to experience Yu and Kay’s story from the perspective of two queer men was a wonderful way to first experience the game, and made its angsty science-fiction romance all the more affecting for me as a gay man who eats that shit up.
Haven is a lovely meditation on long-term relationships, with its exploration and turn-based combat broken up by scenes of Yu and Kay just living together through the most mundane parts of being together. Where many video games thrive in the lead-up to a romantic relationship, Haven sits with what it means to already be well and established, and it leads to some of my favorite romance writing in a game. It’s full of big, oppressive science-fiction ideas, but its best moments are when two people sit together in their home and speak to each other not as spacefaring adventurers, but as two star-crossed lovers willing to find pockets of joy when they’re all they’ve got left.
We Are OFK is essentially an interactive music video, but the drama between its indie pop bangers is just as compelling.Screenshot: Team OFK / Kotaku
3. We Are OFK
The music of We Are OFK, an episodic biopic about a group of young adults drifting through the L.A. game dev grind and into a musical act, nearly topped my Spotify Wrapped this year. The band was second under Coheed and Cambria, my favorite band that released a new album this year, which speaks volumes about how catchy and contemplative Team OFK’s indie pop stylings are. These songs are interwoven between We Are OFK’s depiction of the dramatic, interpersonal relationships between a group of queer creatives just trying to figure their shit out.
We Are OFK is contentious as a video game, as its interactive elements feel insubstantial beyond choosing text messages and playing through an interactive music video at the end of each episode. But as an unapologetically queer musical drama about finding yourself and those willing to put up with your bullshit, it’s deeply relatable. The game exists as a springboard for a larger virtual band experience, and as long as they keep producing bangers like “thanks,” and “Infuriata,” I’ll follow it in whatever form OFK exists.
Overwatch 2 is still only half the game Blizzard promised, but its PvP suite is still pretty damn great.Screenshot: Blizzard Entertainment / Kotaku
2. Overwatch 2
Look, look, I know. I know Overwatch 2 is a mess of microtransactions and free-to-play grind, but Blizzard’s sequel/reboot of its hero shooter is still such a gold standard for team-based combat that I have sunk nearly 300 hours into it since its launch in October.
Right now, Overwatch 2 isn’t exactly what I was looking for when Blizzard announced it back in 2019, as its story content has been pushed into 2023. I (foolishly) came into Overwatch on the back of its characters and lore, so I’m still eagerly awaiting that side of the sequel. However, in its complete revamp of the original game’s format in favor of a 5v5 setup, its new modes, the heroes, and the great deal of attention given to its contextual banter writing, Overwatch feels more alive than it’s felt in years. This is damage of Blizzard’s own doing, as the company essentially put the first game on ice until Overwatch 2’slaunch. But it’s comforting as a long-time player to finally see signs of life for the game after all this time, and to feel hope for its future for the first time in years.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus was a mechanical evolution, but also a narrative one, as well.Screenshot: The Pokémon Company / Kotaku
1. Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Pokémon Legends: Arceus was everything I’d been wanting out of a Pokémon story for over a decade. After years of watching the franchise add to its mythology and world, it never really felt like many of these games were living up to the promise of the universe Game Freak had built over 25 years. Pokémon Legends: Arceus was the first time since I was a child that this setting felt as large and unknowable as it did in my youth.
Much of that came from Legends: Arceus’ use of a historical setting, rather than the modern one seen in most other Pokémon games. Taking the player back to when the Sinnoh region was known as Hisui, being present for lore-defining conflicts, and watching the universe’s gods have it out was more impactful than hearing about them through historians and seeing cave paintings and statues. It felt like a second chance for Sinnoh to feel like the significant origin point of the universe it had been described as in Diamond and Pearl.
On top of just feeling more vast, Pokémon Legends: Arceus was also the most tangible the world felt to me as a player. This was thanks to Game Freak’s shift into action-oriented mechanics like actually being able to aim and throw a Pokéball at an unsuspecting wild Pokémon, stealthing around the wilderness to avoid giant Alpha Pokémon, and being able to fluidly traverse its open areas on the backs of friendly critters. Even when Pokémon Scarlet and Violet attempted their own versions of these systems, it never felt like they quite captured Legends: Arceus’ frictionless traversal, and that’s why they felt flimsy in comparison.
Legends: Arceus solidified to me what it is I want out of Pokémon games. Some people want to capture every Pokémon in the Pokedex, some want to compete and become a respected champion. But for me, existing in this world and discovering its secrets with Raichu by my side is why Pokémon still holds my attention decades later, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the most I’ve felt captivated by this universe, probably ever. I hope it’s a blueprint for the series’ future, because I feel like, otherwise, I’m going to be chasing the highs of its best moments for years to come.
Anghami describes itself as the largest music streaming app for the Middle East and North Africa.
Launched in Beirut in 2012 by Elie Habib and Eddy Maroun, it was quickly dubbed “the Spotify of the Middle East.” Now headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Anghami is growing its footprint to the real world after amassing nearly 20 million active users.
It partnered with Sony Music to launch “Vibe,” a boutique record label the companies say will “support independent Arabic music,” and empower artists “to tell their stories regionally and globally.” Then, in July, Anghami acquired Spotlight Events, a live event company, and plans to host regular concerts for local artists. Last month, it opened a music venue and recording studio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“Artists can’t just make money out of music streaming,” Habib says. “They need to make money out of the real world also.”
The platform is facing serious competition from the likes of Spotify
(SPOT) and Apple
(AAPL), but the founders are confident they can maintain their success by drawing on their knowledge of the region.
“We’re Arabs but we are influenced by the Western world, and this is reflected in our product,” Maroun says. “That’s why our product is really more relevant.”
The pair say nurturing and developing Arab talent is critical to their mission. Of the 73 million songs in their catalog, Habib says only 1% of them are in Arabic, but those songs generate 60% of all of Anghami’s traffic. “We realize we need to grow that 1%,” Habib says.
In February, the company signed an exclusive partnership with Egyptian superstar Amr Diab, whose 1.2 billion streams make him the most popular artist on the platform.
Around the same time, Anghami was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange — the first Arab tech company ever to do so, according to the founders. “It was a great moment,” Maroun says. “We felt that we are really bringing with us a whole nation.”
In the first half of 2022,it saw 29% growth in revenue and 41% growth in monthly subscribers, compared with the same period a year earlier. Since then, in a tougher economic climate, the company has cut a fifth of its workforce, but the founders are confident they can continue to grow the platform.
“When we started Anghami … we never thought about IPOs, we never thought about millions of users using us every day,” Habib says. “IPO is never the end game — the end game is making something whereby you are proud.”
It’s Spotify Wrapped season, that wonderful time of the year when a multi-billion dollar corporation tricks its users into running a global marketing campaign for free.
With quirky graphics, completely made-up genres and plenty of opportunities to publically shame your friends, it’s tough to refrain from sharing your top songs and artists of the year and flexing your greatness—or cringiness.
In honor of this brazen display of data harvesting, we’ve compiled the best Spotify Wrapped memes of 2022.
Obliterating your parents’ computer for a YouTube rip of a song was so worth it
Let’s get this out of the way right now: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with listening to 225 hours of Skrillex in a year
Can’t tell if we’re supposed to laugh or cry?
Okay, fine. Here’s something wholesome
This feels personal
Let’s be honest— we all had this one on our lists this year
Wake up babe, Web3 Wrapped just dropped
Not technically a meme but definitely worth the read
Presented without comment
Scroll to Continue
You can get your own Spotify Wrapped by updating your Spotify app and clicking on the “Wrapped” icon on your Home Screen.
Well, it’s that time again. The time when we all huddle around a dimly lit table in a boba shop and compare our Spotify Wrappeds. Because … everyone does that, right?
If you’re just wondering what the hell this thing is, and why all the alt girls who won’t talk to you are so into it, then I’ve got you covered. Spotify Wrapped is Spotify’s “gift” to all its users at the end of the year. What it does is this: Spotify compiles your most listened-to artists, songs, and genres (provided they’re all still on the app—you’re blessed, Joni), and then it places them in a funky slideshow that showcases your stats. You’re able to screenshot and/or download this info and share it with your friends.
Might sound silly or self-indulgent, but—well, yeah it is, and I like to think it’s harmless. It’s fun to see what your friends were up to, and it’s a nice reminder that, while time goes by fast, a lot can happen in a year. Is it a little, eh, concerning that people are so determined to use other metrics to define themselves, instead of metrics they develop internally? Absolutely, it freaks me out. And is Spotify a shitty, shitty company? Oh yeah, baby. But if you do still have it, then hey, you may as well enjoy your Wrapped results on your own terms.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty though, I think we ought to acknowledge that Spotify Wrapped was basically an intern’s idea, which was subsequently stolen from her:
spotify wrapped used to be an email, but this former intern had the idea of turning it into an interactive story; spotify stole her idea without ever paying her for it pic.twitter.com/yBEdRw0Mxk
Sure, it’s hearsay, but knowing about Spotify’s (reported) internal workings, I’m gonna take her word for it. I still think it’s okay to enjoy her brilliant idea, but remember: we can love the product AND always— always—badmouth the company.
When is Spotify Wrapped released?
We’ll start with the data you’re likely most interested in: release dates. Unfortunately, just like Beyoncé, Spotify Wrapped typically won’t let you know when it’ll drop. It’ll just drop, and you just gotta be there, ready with open hands.
That said, it won’t be much longer—hence why it’s been trending. Historically, the app drops its yearly releases in early-to-mid December, which can be anywhere from December 5 to December 15. Last year it launched right on December 1, but the social media team for Spotify has been incredibly coy about its 2022 Wrapped, so something tells me it’ll drop by the end of the week. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, folks!
How is Spotify Wrapped calculated?
Essentially, the app calculates your listening data from January to October (rarely does it go further than that, at least in any great capacity) and goes through the easy process of determining who and what you listened to the most. It then ranks these metrics and presents the top results.
… often with “inspired” graphic design choices:
Sometimes, the app will get a little creative with it, too. Last year, they tried something new with your “audio aura,” which combined the general “moods” of your top songs and artists and created a vibe with them. It was … kind of dumb, honestly. But in any case, this was mine:
(Madeline Carpou)
I couldn’t tell you what the hell this means, but I can tell you it probably came about because I listened to a lot of intense rock and hip-hop last year. “Bold,” “energy.” A bad relationship will do that to ya.
How to see your Spotify Wrapped
Thankfully, the app makes it pretty easy to see your Wrapped. If you open your app on a handheld device, a pop-up will ask if you’d like to be taken straight there. It’ll otherwise be available for viewing anytime on your For You page, along with a playlist containing your most-played songs of the year.
If you’re on desktop though, you can simply go to spotify.com/us/wrapped and log in to your account.
Don’t forget to save your results!!!
Till then … Instafest!
It won’t be much longer, liebchens, but until then, I highly recommend trying a new Spotify collab with Instagram called Instafest. Yes, to all ye who find festival-goers annoying, this might seem incredibly dumb, but for the rest of us, it’s a blast.
You can access Instafest if you have both an Instagram and a Spotify account. If you don’t have an Insta but want to see your festival poster anyways, you could just make one for this purpose then delete it afterwards.
Access your fest at instafest.app. This lil number is mine:
You can change the background decor, as well as whether your results tally your listening record from the last four weeks, the last six months, or all-time. I did all-time to get the most accurate results, although I’m a little skeptical of this data. My most-listened-to artist, according to Spotify in 2020, was Current Joys, but he seems to have been usurped by some other white boys. I’m guessing they don’t rank it quite as precisely? Especially weird considering I’ve definitely listened to some of these artists more than others …?
Back in September at a music conference in Singapore, Sir Lucian Grainge, the CEO of Universal Music Group, stated that 100,000 new songs were being uploaded to streaming music platforms every day. That figure was confirmed at the same conference by Steve Cooper, the departing CEO of Warner Music Group.
The audience was shocked. Numbers like 25,000 or even 60,000 have been tossed around. But 100,000?
To be fair, neither man was talking about 100,000 unique and different songs. This number includes all the remixes, edits, alternate versions, live performances, special mixes (Dolby ATMOS/high-res/Spatial Audio, etc.), and the odd duplicate. But it’s still a lot. Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music, and YouTube Music all say they have at least 100 million tracks available. Spotify could be at that level, too, but the most recent official number I’ve seen for their library is 82 million.
To put that into perspective, even the biggest record store back in the olden days (i.e. pre-Internet) stocked 100,000 titles at most. If we assume that each album has an average of 12 tracks, that’s a mere 1.2 million songs.
Story continues below advertisement
We’ve long passed the point of Too Much Music. Our choices are endless, practically infinite. And this isn’t a good thing. Let me count the ways.
Let’s look at it from the perspective of the artist. Making your songs available for worldwide distribution has never been easier. But when you upload a track, it has to fight for attention with the other 99,999 tracks that were uploaded that day, not to mention the other 100 million already sitting in the library. Your brand new unknown track has to compete with practically every other song written in history.
No wonder it’s estimated that around 20 per cent of the songs in Spotify’s library haven’t been streamed even once. If we accept Spotify’s estimate of 82 million songs in its library, that means there are 16,400,000 tracks that remain unheard of by anyone, ever.
We’re starting to hear about fan fatigue, too. This once-wonderous all-you-can-eat buffet is beginning to make people queasy. All this choice has people flicking through song after song after song, looking for something perfect for the moment. This has become a grind as music is being used as a tool for our day-to-day activities rather than something that we can sink into and experience. We’re not listening; we’re merely soundtracking.
Story continues below advertisement
So much choice has led to confusion. Sure, this song is good, but there’s gotta be something even better out there. What’s everyone else listening to? What am I missing? I’m falling behind! Some even throw up their hands in despair: “I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT I LIKE ANYMORE!”
For many, selecting something to listen to has become an interminable chore. Discovering new music has paradoxically become more difficult.
Our attention spans have shrunk. If we don’t like something immediately — usually within five to 10 seconds — we hit the skip button. The algorithms then remove that song from what it recommends to us and we never have the opportunity to learn to like something that requires repeated listening.
New music is increasingly dismissed, especially something different or experimental that has the potential to be groundbreaking and/or transformative if just given the time. The more choice we have, the more disposable songs become.
Find a song. Make a judgment after 10-15 seconds. Skip. Next song. Skip. Repeat over and over and over again.
What’s the solution? Some people are weaning themselves from constant streaming, opting instead to stick with a smaller, manageable selection of playlists that they’ve created themselves. Others have returned to physical media like CDs, vinyl, and even cassettes. An actual physical object that contains music invites far more investigation, which can lead to greater engagement.
Story continues below advertisement
Some of those folks have cancelled their streaming music accounts, concerned about how little they hear artists are making from streaming. Others are even discovering the pleasures of old-fashioned radio where they don’t have to worry about choice.
Meanwhile, the streamers have problems of their own. Ingesting thousands and thousands of new songs every day requires server space. Servers cost money. It takes electricity to run those servers. More customers mean more bandwidth is required to distribute all these digital files. That costs money and consumes energy.
While record labels, especially the majors, are making billions from streaming, a figure that’s growing every quarter, they’re concerned that the market share for new music is shrinking as people opt to listen to more and more familiar music from years gone by. The gold rush that is “catalogue music” (material more than two years old) comes at the expense of new songs, which are supposed to be the catalogue music of the future.
Story continues below advertisement
Something has to change. The tsunami of new music is unsustainable in so many ways. Do streamers cap the number of songs they ingest? Do they restrict the size of their accessible libraries to their customers? Do they cull the songs that aren’t getting any attention from their libraries? Will we see streamers start to discourage musicians from uploading music by limiting royalties for songs that stream more than, say, a thousand times?
Think about Mickey Mouse in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. If someone doesn’t do something, we risk drowning in music that we will never hear.
Spotify grapples with artist backlash over COVID-19 misinformation on platform
Spotify came out swinging against Apple today, detailing all the ways it says Apple forces Spotify to deliver a bad user experience unless the company pays Apple a 30% App Store commission on all sales.
“We want to deliver a super awesome and easy user experience,” Spotify says on a new Time to Play Fair website. “But once again, Apple is standing in the way— this time, in addition to consumers being hurt, authors and publishers are also being punished.”
At issue is Apple’s stance on purchases made in an app, which Apple wants to be made via its built-in iOS purchasing system — not an app’s or brand’s own e-commerce capability. For that service, Apple wants a 30% share. This is, of course, the same problem Apple faced with Epic, makers of the incredibly popular Fortnite game that is no longer available on the App Store after being banned for allowing purchases that side-stepped Apple purchasing policies.
Spotify doesn’t want to pay the 30% fee, which would make the audiobook business much less profitable, and so it’s currently forced to adopt a convoluted, difficult process for audiobook purchases. In fact, it’s tried three times to redesign the process, the company says, but Apple has rejected the app for breaking App Store guidelines.
Spotify says Apple won’t allow it to do eight things. According to Apple guidelines, Spotify says it:
Can’t sell audiobooks in the Spotify app without using Apple’s in-app purchase methodology
Can’t explain why they can’t sell audiobooks in their app
Can’t explain where or how people can buy the audiobook from Spotify elsewhere
Can’t share a link to send customers to a website to buy the audiobook
Can’t send people an email with purchase information outside of the App Store
Can’t answer questions about an audiobook via an email
Can’t tell customers the cost of the audiobook either in their app or in an email
Can’t give people tips on how to navigate a non-Apple purchase process
That’s a lot of blockages. The most egregious, perhaps, is not allowing Spotify to send an email via its own mail servers to its own customers, a process that doesn’t touch Apple at all. (Apple’s claim here, of course, will be that Spotify acquired their customers’ email address via their iOS app.)
So far, Apple’s been forced to open up to non-in-app-purchase flows in at least two countries, Korea and the Netherlands. However, the process Apple enabled is much more onerous and still costs developers 27% of the purchase price in the Netherlands, and 26% in South Korea, leaving regulators unsatisfied with Apple’s compliance with local regulations.
“Basically, Apple rules mandate a cumbersome Audiobooks purchasing process that makes it harder for you to find your next favorite author or book,” Spotify says.
The reality is that sooner or later, competition authorities will likely force Apple to open up in-app purchases. In Europe, that’s likely via the new Digital Markets Act, which will likely require significant changes in both the App Store and Google Play:
As I’ve written elsewhere, that probably, but not certainly means changes like this:
People would be able to delete pre-installed apps
People would be able to side-load apps, or install them just like you might install an app from the internet on a desktop computer
Businesses would be able create independent app stores
Apps would be able to use third-party payment processing
Apps would be able to interoperate with core services around messaging
Apps would be able to use hardware features that platforms might have reserved for themselves
People would be able to switch AI assistants
The question is: will Apple and Google do this willingly, and thereby maintain some level of public appreciation and developer support, or will they do it slowly, reluctantly, and only as forced by law?
“Apple doesn’t just make the rules,” Spotify says. “They also arbitrarily change them to favor their own services and punish app developers who choose not to implement in-app purchases (IAP). And in this case that means audiobook listeners as well as authors and publishers bear the brunt, too.”
I’ve asked Apple for a comment, and will update this story if the company responds.
It appears that Beyonce, RIhanna, and Taylor Swift collectively agreed to descend from the music heavens to grace our mortal ears with new albums. What a time for female musicians to swoop in and save the music industry as we know it.
On October 21st, Taylor Swift’s tenth album, Midnights, was released and it’s guaranteed to contain a dozen fall anthems. Ever since she announced the new album at MTV’s Video Music Awards, the public has been drooling over Taylor’s every move…and they should.
TSwift is known for her Easter Eggs, meaning no post of hers is unintentional. Little clues and hints about her album and song lyrics are often teased through Swift’s cryptic messages. Even the subtle way she holds a phone can be interpreted differently by many fans.
We know Taylor has been constantly re-recording her old tracks, the most recent being her groundbreaking Red album…but fans still want Taylor to give us new songs to obsess over. She rarely leaves us hanging, constantly feeding us with hit after hit.
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn
Blitz Pictures/Shutterstock
There’s been many versions of Taylor since her country-pop self-titled debut album, Taylor Swift. We’ve gotten the heartbroken, lovesick teenage Taylor with albums like Speak Now and Fearless. The vengeful Taylor in Reputation. And more recently, the soft fall Tay with albums like folklore and evermore.
It’s not just the Midnights album that has sent fans into absolute pandemonium…it’s the impending promise of a stadium tour that is confirmed in the UK, meaning a US announcement can’t be far behind.
Teaming up with Spotify, Swift has been slowly releasing quips of lyrics from Swift’s new album. In a statement from Spotify, they shared:
“Listeners around the world have spent many a midnight with Taylor Swift. Through life’s triumphs, celebrations, and hardships, Taylor’s music and lyrics have always been a source of comfort when the clock strikes 12 and beyond. This is why Spotify has teamed up with Taylor to exclusively reveal lyrics from her new album Midnights around the world leading into the album’s release.”
More recently, Spotify took to Times Square to release new lyrics for Swift’s album. The lyrics? “I should not be left up to my own devices…” And now, in the state I’m in, neither should I!
Tickets for the US leg of Taylor’s Midnights tour are expected to go on sale around November, and I’m sure everyone will be fighting for the chance to see her live. More than likely, the best way to increase your chances is by purchasing an album off her website and receiving a presale code. This is the format she is using for her UK tour, so it would only make sense that the US is the same.
It’s about to be an expensive 2023…Rihanna, Beyonce, and Taylor all are anticipating stadium tours and I’m sure they aren’t the last. The likes of Billie Eilish were seen in the recording studio recently, so my pockets are already hurting.
With Midnights out Friday, we are ready for whatever Joe Alwyn-loving Taylor Swift has cooked up for us all. She just shared her release schedule and the credits list, which includes a very “chaotic” surprise. And don’t even get me started on the Karma theory …
I don’t know how the genius that is Taylor Swift can continuously shock the world and come up with new, creative ways to inspire us…but she does time and time again. A new era is upon us.
The Latin Recording Academy CEO Manuel Abud and Head of Partnerships & Client Solutions Enrique … [+] Pérez
Gio Alma
The Latin Recording Academy — or LARAS — produces the annual Latin Grammy Awards, often called “The Biggest Night in Latin Music.” CEO Manuel Abud stepped into his role at the international nonprofit last year. Now, he’s hired Enrique Pérez as Head of Partnerships & Client Solutions. The two worked together at Telemundo and Azteca.
The men share thoughts about the explosion in Latin music’s popularity, such as Bad Bunny’s recent #1 worldwide ranking on streaming service Spotify. They also reveal secrets few in the industry know about the other.
This Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.
The two of you are like something out of a buddy movie, working together at Telemundo, Azteca, and now again at LARAS. How did you meet?
Enrique Pérez: Manuel was General Manager of KVEA Channel 52 in Los Angeles. I was working in radio but being recruited by Telemundo. They had me go by the Los Angeles station to meet with the Station Group President. Typically, as these things go, he was running late. They said we’d love for you to meet Manuel Abud. I welcomed the opportunity because my wife was working on Manuel’s team and was just raving about him. Like she still does today.
Manuel Abud: There’s something you don’t know about, Enrique. When I was looking for a head of sales, I said to [Telemundo COO] Alan Sokol, ‘KVEA should have the best salesperson out there. Who’s that?’ Alan said, ‘You can’t afford him because we’re bringing him to run the station group. His name is Enrique Pérez.’ I said, ‘Well, I still want to meet him.’ That was 20 years ago.
There’s clearly so much trust between the two of you. Was it instantaneous?
Manuel Abud: No, trust is something that builds over time. You can’t buy it. You can’t design it. It cannot be by decreed. It must be earned—and you can lose it in an instant.
The two of you have a personal friendship, but also a professional relationship. How do you navigate the two?
Enrique Pérez: One of the great things in business is that when you are great colleagues, you have each other’s back, and that transcends a business or personal relationship. Manuel will challenge you. He will agree or disagree with you but he will always hear you out. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with him in the office, when you’re out working in the market—outside of that closed door—you know you have each other’s back. Navigating both comes very naturally, very easily, because you have that trust.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – AUGUST 11: (L-R) Sofia Carson, Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy, and … [+] Valentina Garcia attend the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation Sofia Carson Prodigy Scholarship on August 11, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Manuel Abud: It goes back to trust, right? At the end of the day, when we have these jobs, you have a fiduciary responsibility to your organization. You’re going to do what you have to do, right? We’ve had some very difficult conversations, but because of that trust, we both know there’s nothing personal.
What’s one thing about the other that few people know?
Manuel Abud: I always love Enrique’s story about the birth of his radio personality. What’s your professional name in radio, Enrique Pérez?
Enrique Pérez: Rick Thomas.
You have a radio name?
Enrique Pérez: When I was in college at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, I was studying broadcasting. My professor said a local AM radio station was looking for an overnight DJ host. I applied. The station’s owner asked what my name was. I played my audition tape. He said, ‘Well, Enreekee, there’s one thing you’ll have to change if you’re going to work at KFLAG. Your name has to be Rick Thomas.’ I looked at him and I go, ‘Well, this is Rick Thomas, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.’
That’s awful, but funny.
Enrique Pérez: Next thing you know, I was working from a eleven in the evening to five in the morning on Friday and Saturday nights. This station was so country, we didn’t have a call-in line. We had a CB radio where the truckers would request song.
Manuel Abud: Doesn’t that story tell you everything you need to know about Enrique Perez?
What’s something about Manuel?
Enrique Pérez: No one realizes that Manuel—with his family—takes the most exotic vacations. Whether he’s going to the Arabian Desert or Vietnam, he meticulously plans it—just like he does his work—from the very beginning to the very end. You really get to see it every year in his holiday cards. He’s also a very good and avid photographer, capturing all those moments exquisitely with his camera.
Manuel Abud: I really enjoy time with my family and believe in comprehensive experiences. It’s not only the three-star Michelin restaurant, which is great, but also the street food in Vietnam or the bus ride in China with no English signs. I believe in understanding the world through those experiences.
Changing direction, how do you think that TikTok and new social media channels are affecting Latin music?
Manuel Abud: We focus on the inspiration and the art. The more ways and platforms that artists have to express themselves and put their craft out there, the better. We should embrace, applaud, and support all sorts of different platforms, whether it’s live performance in a cafe or a TikTok account with a gazillion followers. That’s the beauty of what we do at the Latin Recording Academy. We focus on excellence in music, whether it’s a minute-long TikTok post or a 20-minute album.
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 15: Bad Bunny attends the 19th annual Latin GRAMMY Awards at MGM Grand … [+] Garden Arena on November 15, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for LARAS)
Getty Images for LARAS
Bad Bunny is Spotify’s number one artist globally. His album “Un Verano Sin Ti” received 10 Latin Grammy nominations, including album of the year. He’s achieved this success performing in Spanish. Does the attention make conversations with brand partners easier?
Manuel Abud: Absolutely. Latin music has always been around. It’s nothing new. But to the point about Bad Bunny, the Latin Recording Academy focuses on music in Spanish and Portuguese, and therefore, to have these artists being so successful in our language keeps our brand and our presence so relevant.
Enrique, in your conversations, how are brands reacting to the amazing success of today’s Spanish-language artists?
Enrique Pérez: One of the conversations I’m having with a lot of brands is that partnering with the Latin Recording Academy shouldn’t be about a sponsorship of the Latin Grammy Awards or the Latin Grammy Week. We should be partnering with brands to make sure Latin music helps them connect with consumers year-round. That conversation isn’t about just sponsoring an event. It’s about using us as part of a brand’s marketing strategy, a very different conversation.
An example is an initiative called “The Leading Ladies of Entertainment.” It was a brunch that the Academy has done for the last six years, and even kept going virtually when we weren’t doing in-person events in Las Vegas. Moving forward, that initiative will start with the digital series in October. We’ll still have the recognition event in Las Vegas during Latin Grammy Week, but then we hope to continue it all the way through March and wrap it up with Women’s History Month.
How does today’s social awakening impact the Latin Grammys?
Enrique Pérez: I’m the guy that just started. My eyes got really wide about the number of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that we have, especially around our digital content series.
Manuel Abud: We’re very proud of our Grammy DNA. We are a Grammy brand, but we take it to our community by recognizing Latin music. That makes it very relevant to the Latin artists because they are being recognized by their peers. Having the Grammy brand helps us be very relevant also in the general market side. In a time when Latin music is breaking glass ceilings, having the support of a Grammy recognition is so big, so important to an artist.
The Latin Recording Academy has been involved in equity and justice work for a long time. With artists like Bad Bunny ruling the music charts, the payoff and exposure has arrived.
Manuel Abud: This is about opportunity. Bad Bunny is there on his own merit. We’re here to celebrate him but it’s even more important that we provide opportunity to the next Bad Bunny. For Cinco de Mayo, I was at the White House talking to the guy producing all the events. We were talking about producing something with the Latin Grammy brand. He said, ‘Bring your A-listers.’ I told him, ‘Look, you don’t need me for that. If you want a Bad Bunny or Maná, call them. What I can do is bring you the next Maná or the next Bad Bunny.’ Bill Clinton said talent is equally distributed in the universe, but opportunity is not. Now, I have the privilege of working for an organization that focuses on expanding opportunity in the music industry. And that’s beautiful.
Listen to The Revolución Podcast full episode featuring Latin Recording Artist executives Manuel Abud and Enrique Pérez with co-hosts Kathryn Garcia Castro, Diego Lastra, Linda Lane González, and Court Stroud, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,Google, Amazon AMZN
LOS ANGELES, May 22, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Gold House—the leading Asian and Pacific Islander (API) changemaker community that unites, invests in, and promotes API creatives and companies— debuted its first-ever Gold Gala, a historic gathering of API leaders and allies, on May 21, 2022.
The Gala celebrated 2022’s A100 List, the definitive honor that recognizes the 100 APIs who have most significantly impacted American culture and society in the last year. The evening was hosted in collaboration with Meta — to further a long-standing partnership with Gold House thathonors and supports the API community through innovative programming, such as Meta Gold Talks, and convenes distinguished API voices in conversation as well as trains API-led start-ups in-depth.
500+ API celebrities, cultural leaders, and business executives rounded out the guest list, including: Mindy Kaling, Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding, Daniel Dae Kim, Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, Auli’i Cravalho, Jimmy O. Yang, Kelly Marie Tran, Harry Shum Jr., Bella Poarch, Lisa Ling, Prabal Gurung, Jeannie Mai Jenkins, Phillip Lim, Musa Tariq, Chloe Kim, Jay Shetty, Versha Sharma, Michelle Phan, Andrew Yang,the casts of Never Have I Ever and Pachinko, the CEOs and founders of DoorDash, Match Group (Match/Tinder/Hinge), Hulu, Twitch, Classpass, Patreon, Airtable, Forbes, P&G, Brooks Brothers, Ancestry, Droga5, Publicis Groupe, Paramount, East West Bank, and more.
These guests are at the forefront of “The New Gold Age,” the evening’s theme, which represents unparalleled API brilliance and defiance amidst continued violence and racism against the community. The theme was embodied in the modern Asian couture attire, which featured several custom outfits created specifically for the gala.
A100 A1 honorees Henry Golding, Simu Liu, Chloe Kim, Michelle Wu, and Payal Kadakia were recognized for being the most impactful individuals in their respective industries over the past year.
A major highlight of the Gold Gala was Mindy Kaling accepting the A100 Legend award for her lifelong dedication to creating and embodying affirming API characters and content. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan presented the award to her mentor in a heartfelt speech.
To round out the historic evening, A100 Legend Michelle Yeoh was the first-ever recipient of the SeeHer award at the Gold Gala for defying gender stereotypes throughout her career. SeeHer, the leading global movement of media, marketing and entertainment leaders committed to the accurate depiction of women and girls in advertising and media, presented the award along with filmmakers Jon M. Chu, Destin Daniel Cretton, and Jonathan Wang.
The awards were custom designed by artist Maia Ruth Lee, an inaugural Gold Art Prize Awardee.
Throughout the evening, Gold House unveiled a suite of new initiatives to further its focus on uniting, promoting, and investing in API creatives and companies including:
Unity March: in partnership with Asian Americans Advancing Justice, APIAVote, and a dozen other major nationwide organizations, Gold House announced a historic slate of policies and a convening event in Washington, D.C. on June 25, 2022.
Gold Storybook: Gold House launched the definitive guide and resource hub on authentic API portrayals in media, based on years of cultural consultation expertise with every major studio, streamer, and network. The guide was created with support from key partners like The Walt Disney Company and features additional resources through work with SeeHer, P&G, and more.
#WriteHerRight AAPI: SeeHer and Gold House also announced a major partnership to develop a guide focused on the importance of increasing accurate portrayals of AAPI women and girls in advertising and entertainment. A number of studios and networks, including AMC Networks and Paramount, are committed to participating in the guide, which will launch later this year.
Gold House Venture Network: on the heels of launching its $30M fund, Gold House Ventures, Gold House announced a new vehicle for executives, cultural leaders, and founders to invest in sought-after venture deals and procure prominent Board Director and Advisor positions.
Gold Rush Accelerator Food & Beverage and Women Tracks: as part of their community-leading accelerator, Gold Rush (whose alumni have raised $400 million+ in follow-on capital), presented two new tracks that provide funding, promotion, and distribution to culinary and women founders in partnership with Panda Express and Julia Gouw, respectively.
Gold House specially recognized Meta as a long-time supporter of advancing opportunity for all, and shared updates regarding their ongoing partnership to amplify, educate and grow influential voices across the Asian diaspora with a focus on unlocking economic opportunity. This included the launch of Meta’s SMB-focused channel — Meta Prosper — a new program to empower and uplift AAPI small businesses.
“We are proud to partner with Gold House on inspiring a new generation of API voices. It’s an honor to be a part of the inaugural Gold Gala and recognize some of the most influential change-makers in the community,” said Cat Coddington, Head of North American Gaming Creator Partnerships at Meta.
Onsite experiences for attendees showcased an array of cross-industry excellence, featuring: an exclusive Super Bowl Vince Lombardi trophy viewing (generously loaned by the NFL in celebration with Taylor Rapp); crafted drinks, afterparty, and a towering ice bar hosted by Hennessy X.O; curated playlists spotlighting API artists by Spotify; interactive programming and special announcements with longtime partners like Disney; and meaningful resources to highlight the importance of API names from Procter & Gamble‘s pg.com/names campaign. Guests also got to watch the 2022 APAHM video featuring A100 honorees, produced by Gold House and Google as part of Google’s efforts to put Asian community and culture in focus.
After the gala, guests stayed on for the afterparty, hosted in collaboration with Hennessy X.O, with a curated late-night bites menu from Panda Restaurant Group and custom boba drinks from Bopomofo Cafe.
Both the gala and the afterparty were held at the historic Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles. Accommodations for award recipients were provided by Hotel Indigo Los Angeles Downtown and exclusive rides by BMW. The gala partnered with We Can Do This to amplify their vaccine and booster resources, without which, an in-person event would have been impossible. The evening was also made possible by Nordstrom, East West Bank, Warner Bros. Discovery, AMC Networks, and other partners featured at goldhouse.org/goldgala.
###
About Gold House
Gold House is the leading Asian and Pacific Islander (API) changemaker community, fighting together for socioeconomic equity. Through a suite of innovative programs and platforms, the organization unites, invests in, and promotes API creatives and companies. To learn more, visit www.goldhouse.org or follow @GoldHouseCo on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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 hasseemingly 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), currentlyhas 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.Someservices 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 thatthe 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 AIand 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.
‘Santa Paws’ Album Drops to Multimedia Outlets and Library Distributors on Nov. 10
Press Release –
updated: Nov 13, 2017
CHARLOTTE, N.C., November 13, 2017 (Newswire.com)
– The Raggs Band, the effervescent, musically talented characters from the Emmy Award-winning Raggs preschool TV series, dropped a re-mastered version of its popular Santa Paws Christmas album on Monday, Nov. 13, to online multimedia outlets and to schools and public libraries in the U.S. and Canada.
Produced at Concentrix Music and Sound Design in Charlotte, N.C., the 14-song album features classics such as “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” plus covers “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Up on the Housetop” and “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” Also included are Raggs’ original “Santa Paws,” a fun tale about Santa’s clever dog, and “I’d Rather Be an Elf,” a high-energy, sing-along song with overtures about self-respect and confidence.
The authentic, toe-tapping pop sound of Raggs’ music appeals to both kids and their parents. Santa Paws is a ‘must add’ album for family holiday playlists!
Ken Kaganovitch, president of Childish Records
“The authentic, toe-tapping pop sound of Raggs’ music appeals to both kids and their parents,” Ken Kaganovitch, president of Childish Records, commented. “SantaPaws is a ‘must add’ album for family holiday playlists!”
While the classic jewel-cased CDs are fading from retail shelves, Raggs’ vast music library of over 200 songs, including those on Santa Paws, has found a new market for these discs with thousands of school and public libraries across North America. Several distributors including Ohio-based MidWest Tape, which also offers Raggs videos via its online library application hoopla digital, have ordered the Santa Paws CD for traditional library cardholders.
The original Santa Paws has been an iTunes store staple for several years. The re-mastered version will be replacing the existing tracks and will also be available for streaming and/or purchase via Pandora, YouTube, Amazon Music and Spotify.
“With more online and alternative outlets than ever before, we’ve seen the demand for Raggs’ music grow exponentially worldwide,” Toni Steedman, president of Blue Socks Media, owner of the Raggs brand, said, “and songs like ‘Santa Paws’ and ‘I’d Rather be an Elf’ have already become kids classics!”
For more information, go to Raggs.com.
About Raggs
Raggs is an Emmy Award-winning, musical preschool series about five colorful pups who learn life lessons through an innovative mix of live-action stories, music videos, concerts, cartoons and interviews with real kids. With over 200 episodes, 300 original songs and animated new media music videos, Raggs is available worldwide in English, Spanish and Portuguese and has begun dubbing in 15 additional languages for distribution in 100 countries in 2017. The Raggs brand includes CDs, DVDs, toys, books and live shows, including a partnership called “Play at Palladium with Raggs” with the Palladium Hotel Group at resorts in Mexico, the Caribbean and Brazil. The original characters were created by Toni Steedman, a Charlotte, North Carolina, advertising executive, for her then six‐year‐old daughter Alison. Raggs and all rights are owned by Blue Socks Media LLC, Charlotte, North Carolina. For more info, go to www.raggs.com.
Alicia Carol announced this morning that her first single “Never Enough” is now available for pre-order on ITunes. This soulful song by singer Alicia Carol, a native of Carroll County, Tennessee, is an emotionally charged song about a woman that gives a man everything, but it is never enough.
Press Release –
Nov 16, 2015
Medina, TN, November 16, 2015 (Newswire.com)
– Alicia Carol announced this morning that her first single “Never Enough” is now available for pre-order on ITunes. This soulful song by singer Alicia Carol, a native of Carroll County, Tennessee, is an emotionally charged song about a woman that gives a man everything, but it is never enough.
Alicia is a versatile country pop artist. She has always had a passion for music since she was a child. Working as a manicurist is her day job now. But her true passion is music. She stays active in her church band. There are many more other events she does as well, all are designed to hone her voice and perfect her talent.
Noted publisher and guitarist Skip Mitchell will be publishing Alicia’s music. Mitchell is well known for winning multiple awards. He has won a Grammy Award in Gospel for his song “Have a Little Talk with Jesus.” He has also won awards for Country Music Association Band of the Year in 1978 and 1986, Music City News Band of the Year award in 1979. Being in the award winning band the Oak Ridge Boys, Mitchell knows an artist when he sees one. When it comes to Alicia’s music Skip says, “I have been in the music business for over 40 years and Alicia has a voice that has all of the qualities of a superstar.” He also says this about working on Alicia’s song, “It was a pleasure to work on and I am looking forward to being back in the studio with her in the very near future.”
Mitchell is not the only one who has high praises for Alicia. Consultant Michael Nachtigal of September Productions says this, “It is a pleasure to consult with Alicia’s team as she begins her journey in the music business. Her voice has a great texture that many country and pop music fans will appreciate once it debuts on the radio, and when she performs live in venues across the country.”
Her manager is Jay Hassman and he also loves Alicia’s work. He says, “Alicia’s voice has impressed me for a number of years now and it was just a matter of time before we found the right opportunity to bring her voice to the world. This debut release will attract worldwide distribution due to her voice and the words of the song.”
Alicia has this to say about her song, “It is an emotionally charged love song about a woman that gives everything she has to a man, but at the end of the day, it is not enough to continue. This is a song that a lot of women and men can comprehend the words that I am singing and words that mean the world to me as I have lived that life previously.”
Many people have picked up on Alicia’s talent, and many also think she will be a star singer in the near future. A sample of “Never Enough” can be found on Carol’s website, www.aliciacarol.com or on her You Tube channel located at https://youtu.be/XRKy6HLKnXQ.
“Never Enough”, written by Chris Rowe and Lenny Lamb and published by Music of Radar; Rowe-Dar; and String Monkey, will be available for pre-order on ITunes beginning today at http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1057772397?ls=1&app=itunes and is scheduled for release on December 5, 2015 through ITunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play and over 30 other distributors.
