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16 May 2024

Flo Milli, Veeze, Earl Sweatshirt & More to Appear on Upcoming Season of ‘Flight Club Fridays’

Flight Club is the holy grail of sneaker consignment shops across the globe. With locations in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles, it’s long been a staple in rappers’ itinerary when making stops in any of the aforementioned American pop-culture capital cities since its ‘05 inception.

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Meshing the often-linked cultures of sneakers and music, Flight Club launched its Flight Club Fridays content series in 2019. Think of it as a version of Complex’s Sneaker Shopping meets Colors as various artists have pulled up to browse the shelves for rare kicks while reflecting on their footwear history and give a unique performance for fans in the store. 

Past seasons have seen Saweetie, Doja Cat, Tinashe, Smino, Young Nudy and more welcomed to Flight Club on their come-up in the music industry. Veterans such as The Game have also returned to the footwear enthusiast museum for episodes. 

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“Music has an undeniable influence on sneaker culture, and the series provides a unique lens into how sneakers, music and art all intersect through intimate performances and dialogue,” GOAT Group Chief Brand Officer Sen Sugano relays to Billboard.

This week, Flight Club Fridays is celebrating its fifth anniversary and there’s a completely new lineup coming to the series with Flo Milli kicking things off on Friday (May 17), Billboard can exclusively report.

Behind the Alabama-bred rhymer, there’s burgeoning rappers such as the eclectic duo of Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist, as well as Veeze and Ot7Quanny. Sugano explains that each artist is handpicked by the team as they’re “fans first and foremost” of everyone involved. 

“It goes without saying that sneakers and hip-hop music have influenced each other,” Sugano states. “Hip-hop artists have historically embraced sneakers as a form of self expression, and Flight Club has been at the forefront of that relationship.”

Billboard has the exclusive teaser of Flo Milli’s episode, which features the rapper performing her infectious love-drunk anthem “Never Lose Me,” which sits at No. 44 on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 after five months on the all-genre chart.

During her first Flight Club visit, Flo recalls “loving how colorful the store” was as she refers to herself as a “crop top and leggings baddie” when it comes to finding kicks to match her laidback wardrobe.

While she’s currently opening for Gunna on The Bittersweet Tour, the 24-year-old tells Billboard she’s “always looking for sneakers to rehearse in.” Chanel kicks, ASICS and New Balances are a few of her go-to brands that she lists. “Give me some scrunch socks and I’m ready,” she adds.

The social currency that comes with being a popular rap artist isn’t lost on Flo Milli. “Let’s be real: Hip-hop influences the world. Sneakers are no exception – hip-hop made sneakers cool,” she declares. “It changed it so much so you have brands making sneakers because of popularity like my fave sneakers, Cha Nay Nay [Chanel].”

Watch Billboard‘s exclusive teaser of Flo Milli’s Flight Club Fridays episode below, and look for the first installment from the new season of the series on Friday. 

16 May 2024

Cardi B Believes She Paved the Way for New Wave of Women Rappers: ‘Every Single … Label Have Told Me’

Cardi B came and took the hip-hop by storm with her breakout single “Bodak Yellow,” followed by her Grammy-winning Invasion of Privacy debut the very next year in 2018.

The Bronx native believes her success had a butterfly effect and changed the way record labels looked at women rappers, which led to much more of them being signed in hopes of the artists following in her footsteps and replicating her success to a degree.

“These labels was not believing in repping new rap artists,” she told Rolling Stone as part of her cover story that arrived on Thursday (May 16). “People from every single label have f–king told me this s–t in my face. They started signing new female rappers after I got signed.”

Cardi doesn’t care much for the debate about whether the women being signed have the chance to become all-time great artists, but thinks they should be appreciated for making hit records that fill fans’ playlists on the daily.

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“Whether some b–ches could be the greatest rappers [or] they just make good music — at the end of the f–king day, guess what? They’re in your playlist right now,” she continued.

Rapsody backed Cardi’s theory during a recent interview with Billboard News. She alluded to how Cardi B’s support of burgeoning women rappers helped them break through.

“I think the way that Cardi supported so many women also helped as well,” Rapsody said. “Because of who she was and the success she had and to speak people’s names and to work with the artists that she did, it definitely made room and space for other artists.”

While Cardi’s holding strong about inspiring other women rappers to enter the industry in an easier fashion, there’s still plenty of questions when it comes to her sophomore album.

After she tweeted and deleted that there would be no such LP in 2024, reps for the rapper confirmed to Rolling Stone that an album was still in the plans for this year.

When the magazine caught up with Cardi in March, she was hard at work in hopes of completing the set. “Being out here is my punishment,” she said of the studio. “Until I have the album ready, I’m not going home.”

Invasion of Privacy arrived in April 2018, and she reflected on the project on its sixth anniversary last month. “6 years ago I released my first album and it broke so many records GAH LEE!!” she wrote. “6 years later I’m preparing to drop the next one this year.. it’s so different from what everyone is expecting and I’m sooo excited.”

IOP debuted atop the Billboard 200, and according to the RIAA, every song on the album is at least certified platinum.

See her Rolling Stone cover below:

16 May 2024

Cardi B Slams President Biden for U.S. Involvement in Israel-Hamas War

Cardi B is deeply unhappy with the state of political affairs, inside and out of the United States. And in a new Rolling Stone cover story published Thursday (May 6), the rapper goes as far as denouncing President Joe Biden for his administration’s involvement in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, as well as the issues she sees happening here at home. 

While addressing America’s ongoingfinancial aid to the Israeli military, as well as Ukraine’s military efforts against Russia, Cardi told the publication, “[America] don’t pay for endless wars for countries that have been going through s–t for a very long time.” 

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“There’s countries [where] kids are getting killed every single day, but because the [U.S.] won’t benefit from that country, they won’t help,” she continued. “I don’t like that America has this superhero cape on. We never did things to be superheroes. We did things for our own convenience.” 

Since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7 – taking about 250 hostages and killing an estimated 1,200 – Israel and Hamas have been engaged in a deadly war. According to the Associated Press, more than 34,500 Palestinians have been killed, while ABC News reports that an estimated 1,700 people in Israel have been killed. Reuters reported on May 14 that Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani had said talks of a ceasefire in Gaza had reached a stalemate due to Israel’s operations in Rafah. 

As for average Americans’ economic struggles on the home front, the “WAP” rapper says she feels “layers and layers of disappointment” about Biden’s inaction. “I feel like people got betrayed,” she said. “It’s just like, ‘Damn, y’all not caring about nobody.’ Then, it really gets me upset that there is solutions to it. There is a solution. I know there’s a solution because you’re spending billions of dollars on any f–king thing.” 

The interview comes just six months ahead of the 2024 presidential election, during which Biden will once again run against the twice-impeached former president Donald Trump. Leading up to the former’s victory against the latter in 2020, Cardi both interviewed and endorsed the current POTUS, telling SiriusXM at the time, “It’s either we go with Joe Biden or Donald Trump … I have spoken to Joe Biden before. I think he gets it. I don’t know if it’s sympathize, but I think that he understands what we want. I think he understands that what we want are simple things.” 

But now? “I don’t f–k with both of y’all n—-s,” she said of Biden and Trump. 

See Cardi B’s Rolling Stone cover and photos from the shoot below. 

16 May 2024

Kid Cudi Almost Done Rescheduling Insano Tour After Foot Surgery, Promises Next Album Is Mind-Blowingly ‘Tasty’

Kid Cudi is feeling confident as he continues his rehab from recent surgery on his foot after he broke his calcaneus — the bone that forms at the heel — while jumping off the stage at Coachella last month. Forced to cancel his planned Insano world tour as a result of the injury, Cudder has been cooling his heels as he rehabs the foot, providing an update on Thursday morning (May 16) about his ongoing recovery and teasing an upcoming album he thinks is his finest work to date.

Wearing a grey hoodie pulled around his face, the rapper, 40, shared some exciting news in a pair of video posts in which he said, “I’m all good. I feel fantastic. Healing is going great. Therapy’s been great. No pain. I think I’m gonna bounce back from this stronger than ever, so there’s that.” He also announced that he’s already rescheduled “about 80%” of the tour and is just waiting to lock in some of the remaining dates, promising to provide an update as soon as he can.

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“I’m excited, man… the tour was gonna be physically demanding, so I might have to change some things depending on how my recovery goes,” he explained. “I think I’ll be go though, I think I’ll make a full recovery. That’s what I’m praying for.”

He then paused the nearly two-minute video and directed fans to check out a second, nearly five-minute clip in which the constantly evolving MC provided a blueprint for what he promised was his very exciting next phase. Noting that he’s been telling fans for months that he planned to hit them up with something new before the year is out, Cudder said, “As you know the past few years I’ve been a machine… I’ve been so inspired and in the studio cooking and trying new things. I started something towards the end of the last year I really think is something special.”

While he did not provide specific details on that mystery project, after a long, thoughtful pause to collect his thoughts, Cudi promised to give a taste of the new phase “soon,” which might include some new music before summer’s end. “Something tasty, something new,” he teased, noting that every one of his album phases is a “reinvention.”

“You know me, you know I always like to switch it up, try something new, challenge myself,” he said. “And I think this is going to remind people of the days where I was really… really trying to explore and feel something in the music.” He said his Insano album and the 2024 reissue, Insano (Nitro Mega), inspired him to elevate his live shows and the goal with the unnamed upcoming project is to bring the joy. Cudi also said he tried to tap into an “elevated” version of the kind of big, anthemic songs his fans love, naming “Up Up & Away” and “Erase Me” and “Heart of a Lion” as examples.

“I want you to know that this s–t is not a game for me,” he concluded. “I work really hard to create new experiences for you guys sonically. When I say you have never heard anything quite like this from me before and that your minds will be blown, I’m not f–king playing games.” He said he could not even explain the vibe of the tracks, but assured fans that it is “some of my best s–t ever… I’m not f–king around.”

Check out Cudi’s video updates below.

Check out Cudi’s video update below.

16 May 2024

ATC Acquires Majority Stake in Raw Power to Form UK Artist Management ‘Powerhouse’

LONDON — Two of the United Kingdom’s leading music management companies have joined forces after ATC Management acquired a majority stake in Raw Power Management, whose clients include rock bands Bring Me The Horizon and Bullet For My Valentine.

Financial terms reveal that ATC paid £1.4 million ($1.8 million) for a 55% stake in Raw Power, which was founded in 2006 by CEO Craig Jennings, Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor. Headquartered in London and with offices in Los Angeles, Raw Power’s other clients include The Mars Volta, The Damned, You Me At Six, Don Broco, Heartworms, Kid Kapichi, The Chisel and Refused.

Under the new partnership, Raw Power’s U.K. team, including Jennings and commercial director Don Jenkins, will relocate to ATC Management’s London headquarters. Both companies’ LA-based operations will also merge with immediate effect.

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Raw Power employs 14 staff across its U.K. and U.S. offices. The firm said there will be no job losses because of the deal.

According to a regulatory financial filing, Raw Power generated £2.3 million ($2.9 million) in revenue in the year ending Feb. 28 2023. Profit before tax was £326,000 ($412,000).

As part of the majority stake deal, ATC will loan Raw Power up to £1.3 million ($1.6 million) in additional funds to pay off historic debts. Listed among those liabilities in Companies House records is a £1.9 million ($2.4 million) loan from Phantom Music Management, the company of Iron Maiden’s long-time manager (and Raw Power co-founder) Rod Smallwood.

Since its formation in 2006, Raw Power has built itself into one of the leading rock artist management companies in Europe.

Bring Me The Horizon, who are managed by Jennings and the firm’s U.S. president, Matt Ash, won best rock/alternative act at this year’s Brit Awards and have surpassed 1 billion Spotify streams and more than 5 million equivalent album sales worldwide.

The British band’s most recent album, 2020’s Post Human: Survival Horror, topped the charts in the U.K. and peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hard Rock albums chart. A sold-out U.K. and Ireland tour in January sold 140,000 tickets across 10 dates, says Raw Power.

ATC Management was founded in 1996, initially as a boutique ticketing and marketing business, before focusing on artist management. Part of the independently owned ATC Group, which also encompasses live booking agency ATC Live, merchandise company Sandbag and livestream business Driift, the management business represents more than 60 artists, including Nick Cave, The Smile, PJ Harvey, Yaeji, and Johnny Marr. ATC Live represents more than 500 acts, while Sandbag has relationships with 750 artists.

In 2021, ATC Group, which is headquartered in London and operates offices in Los Angeles and New York, listed on the U.K.’s Aquis Stock Exchange. 

Commenting on the deal, Raw Power’s Jennings said the merger with ATC marked “a new era” for both companies and would turn them into a “powerhouse organization.”

“Both ATC and Raw Power value integrity, belief in the acts we look after, passion for the music and doing everything for the benefit of our artists,” said Jennings in a statement. “This feels like a massive opportunity to take our artists to a whole new level.”    

“At heart, our two companies have a common purpose – to support artists and empower them to achieve their creative and commercial goals,” said Adam Driscoll, CEO, ATC Group. “By coming together and combining forces, the capacity to deliver on those goals has increased substantially.”

16 May 2024

Tommy Richman’s ‘Million Dollar Baby’ Rises to No. 1 on TikTok Billboard Top 50

After debuting at No. 2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart dated May 11, Tommy Richman’s ”Million Dollar Baby” ends up one spot better on the May 18 survey, ranking at No. 1.

The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity May 6-12. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.

“Million Dollar Baby” reigns following continued viral usage of the tune on TikTok, the app on which it was first teased on April 13, well prior to its eventual April 26 wide release.

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A recent trend utilizing “Million Dollar Baby” on TikTok involves users referring to the “Black wife/girl effect,” showing them in photos before they began dating a Black woman and then afterward. Some uploads also flip the script, representing before-and-after photos of when they started dating people of other races or ethnicities.

Concurrently, “Million Dollar Baby” remains at its No. 2 peak on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100 chart, led by its 58.3 million official U.S. streams May 3-9, up 54%, according to Luminate.

“Million Dollar Baby” takes over at No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 from Lay Bankz’s “Tell Ur Girlfriend,” which drops to No. 2 after three weeks atop the list. Laila!’s “Like That!” reaches a new peak of No. 3, up from No. 4 May 11. As previously reported, “Like That!,” a steady gainer since April on the chart, benefits from a trend in which creators use its its “Do you want me?/ Do you wanna love me like that?” chorus to post often comedic videos trying to distract their significant others from their perceived flaws or shortcomings.

Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” drops 3-4, while Jaxomy, Agatino Romero and Raffaella Carra’s “Pedro” rounds out the top five. “Pedro” hits a new peak after a rise that began with the tune’s No. 24 debut on the April 27 tally. “Pedro” initially found TikTok success through a trend featuring dancing pets within a rotating spotlight.

Though “Pedro” has not yet been able to reach the Hot 100 (it has, however, peaked so far at No. 12 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs list), its success concurrently takes it to a new peak of No. 17 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey dated May 18.

Daya’s “Hide Away” hits the TikTok Billboard Top 50’s top 10 for the first time, vaulting 11-7. The 2015 track scored a peak of No. 23 on the Hot 100 during its original chart run and enjoys newfound success thanks to a TikTok trend featuring creators lip-synching the chorus, with many showing off whether they are a top- or bottom-tooth speaker. Another trend follows users responding to a “maturing is …” prompt, and a third features creators dancing along in turn to the track.

“Hide Away” reaches a new peak of No. 151 on the Billboard Global 200 dated May 18, sporting 13.1 million global streams May 3-9.

The week’s sole top 10 debut on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 is courtesy of Kendrick Lamar, whose “Not Like Us” bows at No. 9. The Drake diss track, which concurrently starts at No. 1 on the Hot 100, achieves TikTok success mostly thanks to users reacting to the song’s incendiary lyrics

See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here. You can also tune in each Friday to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown at 3 p.m. ET, with reruns heard throughout the week.

16 May 2024

A Rare Celia Cruz Live Recording Is Coming Soon

South Florida radio personality Albertico Rodríguez was cleaning out his closet last year when he found something unexpected: an audio reel recording of Celia Cruz, from a live show at the now defunct Casanova Club in Miami in 1986 or 1987.

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Rodríguez, who emceed many shows in which the legendary Cruz performed, had recorded this particular performance, put it away and forgotten about it. Now, almost 21 years after Cruz’s death, he had an unexpected treasure in his hands: a previously unknown recording of Celia Cruz, an extremely rare commodity in 2024.

Rodríguez immediately took it to Omer Pardillo Cid, the executor and trustee of Cruz’s estate, and Nelson Albareda, the CEO of Loud and Live (and Billboard‘s Latin executive of the year in 2023), which represents the Celia Cruz estate. Albareda purchased a machine to digitize the reel recording, and then, the three men sat down to listen.

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“I didn’t cry, but I was clearly excited,” says Albareda, who worked with Cruz as a young assistant when he started in the music business over three decades ago. “Not only was the recording quality great, but it had hits like ‘Quimbara.’” Albareda set to work, restoring and remastering the music, a process that took nearly a year to complete.

Now, on May 24,  that recording will see the light of day as an album titled En Vivo: 100 Años de Azúcar, to be released in digital format, as a standard vinyl and as a limited edition collector’s box set that will also include a coffee table book and exclusive photographs of Cruz. The nine-track album will feature “Químbara,” a signature Cruz song, as the lead single.

Celia Cruz

Celia Cruz

Courtesy Photo

More importantly, the album will be only the second live recording of the legendary artist released since her death, and it will also mark the beginning of the celebration of the centennial of her birth, which will continue through 2025. As part of the celebration, Cruz’s face will be depicted on a U.S. quarter in August, according to the United States Mint, as part of the American Women Quarters Program.

When Cruz, known as the “Queen of Salsa,” died of cancer at 77 years old in July 16, 2003, she was already an undisputed icon — not only one of the most impactful artists in the history of Latin music, but perhaps the most revered Afro Latina artist of all time. Since her death, Cruz’s legacy has been carefully preserved by Pardillo Cid, her longtime manager, whom she appointed the executor of her estate before her death.

“One of the greatest treasures of my life was to spend so many years next to Celia as her manager, and most important, as her friend,” says Pardillo Cid today. “When she died, I made it a mission to defend the legacy of this unique woman for the rest of my life so her brilliant work wouldn’t be forgotten. This project, the first to commemorate her centennial is another example of Celia’s immortality.”

Beyond it being a rare recording, 100 Años de Azúcar is unique in that it captured Cruz performing at a relatively small venue –- for some 1,000 people — and it captures her interacting with her fans up close and personal.

“Her jokes, her spontaneity is something we don’t usually see in her live recordings,” says Pardillo Cid. “Here, we see the essence of Celia. Plus, there are no other original Celia recordings. Fans are going to hear something different, and that’s why we thought it would be perfect for the centennial.”

100 Años de Azúcar will be released by Loud and Live Studios and distributed by indie distributor InnerCat. The decision to keep things in-house, says Albareda, was very deliberate.

“We felt the project needed white glove treatment and we felt we had the passion to market it that way,” he says, noting that InnerCat also shared their passion for all things Celia. The details abound. The cover of the limited edition box set, for example, features an illustration of Cruz where her Afro hairdo was created from pieces of one of her dresses.

While the actual album will release May 24, Sirius XM’s Caliente channel will exclusively premiere the music beginning Friday May 17. The actual release will be accompanied by a big social and media push that will include Pardillo Cid embarking on a “big publicity tour” and a push on all DSPs.

“This is a passion project, but we do believe it will be economically viable and it will keep Celia’s legacy alive,” says Albareda. “The recording truly conveys and reminds us of the raw energy and power that Celia had on stage. Through this release, we seek to continue to celebrate the power, global influence, and legacy of Celia, and the impact she made through her live performances all throughout the world.”

16 May 2024

Ring of Fire: Fury vs. Usyk Boxing Livestream — How to Watch the Fight Card Live Online

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Two heavyweight champions clash during Ring of Fire on Saturday, May 18. British boxer and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (34-0-1) battles Ukrainian fighter and WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0) in a boxing bout for the undisputed title.

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Ring of Fire: Fury vs Usyk takes place at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, starting at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT.

Want to watch the Fury vs. Usyk fight online? This is a pay-per-view event, and it’s streaming on DAZN and ESPN+, so the only way to watch it is to purchase the PPV feed here.

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The Fury vs. Usyk PPV price is $69.99 for DAZN subscribers. If you’re not a subscriber, then you can get access and the first month of the streaming service for free (afterward, it’s $29.99 per month) with the DAZN monthly pass. In addition, if you’d like to go for an annual subscription, you can still get the first month for free ($19.99 per month afterwards) for $289.88 in total with the service’s 12-month contract.

With DAZN, you get more than 100 live fights per year, fight replays, highlights, documentaries and other perks. Learn more about a DAZN subscription here.

Ring of Fire: Fury vs. Usyk PPV event is also livestreaming for $69.99 on ESPN+ for subscribers only (altogether it’s $80.98).

If you’re not a subscriber, you can get ESPN+ monthly for $10.99, or pick up an ESPN+ annual subscription for $109.99. The annual subscription bundle is the best deal because it saves you nearly 20% overall.

Additionally, you can get the Disney Trio — which includes ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ — starting at $14.99 per month.

However, if you just want the PPV of the Fury vs. Usyk match without a DAZN or ESPN+ subscription, you can just purchase the event straight up for $69.99.

Check out the full fight card below, and livestream Fury vs. Usyk on pay-per-view here.

Ring of Fire: Fight Card, 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT

  • Tyson Fury (champion) vs. Oleksandr Usyk (champion) (Heavyweight) — Main Event, undisputed heavyweight championship
  • Jai Opetaia vs. Mairis Briedis (Cruiserweight) — IBF cruiserweight title
  • Joe Cordina (champion) vs. Anthony Cacace (Super Featherweight) — IBF super featherweight title
  • Frank Sanchez vs. Agit Kabayel (Heavyweight)
  • Moses Itauma vs. Ilija Mezencev (Heavyweight)
  • Mark Chamberlain vs. Joshua Wahab (Lightweight)
  • Sergey Kovalev vs. Robin Sirawn Safar (Light Heavyweight)
  • Daniel Lapin vs. Octavio Pudivtr (Light Heavyweight)
  • David Nyika vs. Michael Seitz (Cruiserweight)
  • Isaac Lowe vs. Hasibullah Ahmadi (Featherweight)

Ring of Fire: Fury vs. Usyk is streamable on DAZN on Saturday, May 18, at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT.

Want more? For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.

16 May 2024

Nova Music Festival Massacre Documentary, ‘We Will Dance Again,’ to Premiere on Paramount+ in Fall

A documentary chronicling the murderous terror attack on the Nova Music Festival in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 will debut on Paramount+. The streamer announced on Thursday (May 16) that the See It Now Studios Original Documentary We Will Dance Again will get a worldwide premiere in the fall, a year after the surprise assault by Hamas militants left more than 400 dead and dozens kidnapped at the peaceful desert EDM gathering.

“The human cost of what happened on October 7th in Israel, and the war in Gaza, has been catastrophic. We can’t tell everyone’s story. This film is about innocent young people, forced to fight for their survival,” said See It Now Studios president Susan Zirinsky in a statement. “It is a painful story of unfathomable tragedy, and also of bravery, sacrifice and heroism.”

A description of the film notes that Nova Music was “supposed to be a celebration of life, love, and music for thousands of young people but became one of the first targets when Hamas launched the deadliest terror attack in Israel’s history.” The film recreates the day of the worst terror attack in Israel’s as told through the eyes of more than a dozen survivors of the Nova assault, many of whom videotaped their experience as the massacre was taking place. In addition, the film will include eyewitness accounts from more than a dozen survivors, as well as footage taken by both the victims and the Hamas assailants.

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The film was directed by Yariv Mozer (The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes).

The surprise assault on the festival was part of a coordinated attack from Hamas militants, who crossed the border into Israel on the morning of Oct. 7, killing more than 1,200 Israeli men, women and children according to Israeli authorities, as well as taking more than 250 hostages, nearly half of whom are still believed to be held — alive or dead — in Gaza.

The deadliest day in Israel’s history since the Holocaust elicited a forceful counter-response, which so far has resulted in the deaths of more than 35,000 Palestinians according to Gaza Health authorities. The furious daily assaults from Israeli fighters in the now eight-month-long war has plunged Gaza into what experts say is a dire humanitarian crisis, with much of the territory’s infrastructure destroyed and more than a million Gazans on the verge of starvation. Amid calls from the United States and other nations for an immediate cease fire, protests against the war broke out on college campuses across the U.S. and the world over the past few months.

16 May 2024

Sony Music Warns Artificial Intelligence Companies: Don’t Harvest Our Data

Sony Music warned tech companies not to mine its recordings, compositions, lyrics and more “for any purposes, including in relation to training, developing, or commercializing any [artificial intelligence] system,” in a declaration published on the company’s website on Thursday (May 16). 

In addition, according to a letter obtained by Billboard, Sony Music is in the process of reaching out to hundreds of companies developing generative AI tech, as well as streaming services, to drive home this message directly.

The pointed letter notes that “unauthorized use of SMG Content in the training, development or commercialization of AI systems deprives SMG Companies and SMG Talent of control over and appropriate compensation for the uses of SMG Content, conflicts with the normal exploitation of those works, unreasonably prejudices our legitimate interests, and infringes our intellectual property and other rights.”

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GenAI models require “training” — “a computational process of deconstructing existing works for the purpose of modeling mathematically how [they] work,” as Google explained last year in comments to the U.S. Copyright Office in October. “By taking existing works apart, the algorithm develops a capacity to infer how new ones should be put together.” Through inference, these models eventually can generate credible-sounding hip-hop beats, for example.

Whether a company needs permission before undertaking the training process on copyrighted works is already the subject of a fierce debate, leading to lawsuits in several industries. In October, Universal Music Group (UMG) was among the music companies that sued AI startup Anthropic, alleging that “in the process of building and operating AI models, [the company] unlawfully copies and disseminates vast amounts of copyrighted works.”

Although these cases will likely set precedent for AI training practices in the U.S., the courts typically move at a glacial pace. In the meantime, some technology companies seem set on training their genAI tools on large troves of recordings without permission. 

“Based on recent Copyright Office filings it is clear that the technology industry and speculative financial investors would like governments to believe in a very distorted view of copyright,” Dennis Kooker, Sony Music’s president of global digital business, said during the Artificial Intelligence Insight Forum in Washington, D.C. in November. “One in which music is considered fair use for training purposes and in which certain companies are permitted to appropriate the entire value produced by the creative sector without permission, and to build huge businesses based on it without paying anything to the creators concerned.”

While Kooker was adamant during his testimony that training for genAI music tools “cannot be without consent, credit and compensation to the artists and rightsholders,” he also pointed out that Sony has “roughly 200 active conversations taking place with start-ups and established players about building new products and developing new tools.” 

“These discussions range from tools for creative or marketing assistance, to tools that potentially give us the ability to better protect artist content or find it when used in an unauthorized fashion, to brand new products that have never been launched before,” he continued.

Sony’s letter to genAI companies this week ended on a similar note: “We invite you to engage with us and the music industry stakeholders we represent to explore how your AI Act copyright policy may be developed in a manner that ensures our and SMG Talent’s rights are respected.”