In its early stages Rap was largely populated by African-Americans. Over the years the game has seen many biracial rappers, all shades of races share the spotlight in Hip Hop. Some of our favorite MC’s have been the product of parents of differing races.
djfrosty
Mindset Music VC Fund Launches with Investments Across AI, Sync, Production & Marketing
Mindset Ventures, an international venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage tech investments, has launched an early-stage, music-focused fund, Mindset MusicTech, aimed at the music tech sector. In announcing its debut, Mindset Music has revealed its first six investments: Audoo, un:hurd, Music AI, Aiode, ALLOY and OwlDuet.
Mindset Music is looking for startups that “enhance human creativity or improve efficiency” in the music business, partner Lucas Cantor Santigo said in a statement. “We’re looking to support companies with both capital and expertise, and give holistic support to those who are reimagining the music industry for the next generation.”
“The music tech space is extremely undervalued and has an enormous potential for disruption with AI and other new technologies,” added Daniel Ibri, managing partner of both Mindset Music and Mindset Ventures. “We plan to take advantage of this space and make a meaningful difference in the sector for the founders.”
Trending on Billboard
Mindset Music’s roster of advisors includes Drew Thurlow, former senior vp of A&R at Sony Music; music attorney Cliff Fluet; entrepreneur Tomer Elbaz; and music and tech attorney Heather Rafter.
The companies in Mindset Music’s portfolio provide tools for businesses and creators to operate more efficiently, and many incorporate AI technology. Music AI is an audio intelligence platform that provides what it calls “ethical AI solutions” for audio and music applications. The Salt Lake City-based startup’s products include stem separation and mixing mastering.
Based in Tel Aviv, Aiode allows musicians to collaborate with virtual musicians using ethically trained AI. Those musicians’ virtual counterparts are compensated through a revenue-sharing model.
U.S.-based OwlDuet calls itself an “AI-powered co-pilot for music creators.” Its production tool purports to allow users to create “Grammy-level production expertise without requiring advanced technical skills.”
Audoo seeks to improve public performance royalty reporting with music recognition technology. The London-based company works with performance rights organizations and collective management organizations.
London-based ALLOY provides information that facilitates the sync licensing process. The platform gives artists, songwriters, labels and publishers a means to set sync deal parameters and distribute sync metadata to digital platforms.
un:hurd has developed a music marketing and promotion platform that guides artists through the release cycle and connects artists with a network of playlist curators.
Timbaland Announces New AI Entertainment Company, Reveals TaTa As First Artist
Timbaland has launched his own AI entertainment company called Stage Zero and its first signee is the artist TaTa.
Co-founded with Rocky Mudaliar and Zayd Portillo, Stage Zero’s first signee is an AI pop artist called TaTa, driven by Suno AI. The pop artist, along with a bevy of AI-driven creative tools will all be under Timbo’s new company. The Grammy-award winning producer will be handling the majority of the production for this new artificial intelligence venture, which he dubbed as a new genre entirely called “A-Pop.”
“I’m not just producing tracks anymore,” Timbaland said in a statement. “I’m producing systems, stories, and stars from scratch. [TaTa] is not an avatar. She is not a character. TaTa is a living, learning, autonomous music artist built with AI. TaTa is the start of something bigger. She’s the first artist of a new generation. A-Pop is the next cultural evolution, and TaTa is its first icon.”
Mudaliar added, “The artists of tomorrow won’t just be human, they’ll be IP, code and robotics that are fully autonomous. That’s what we’re building at Stage Zero.”
Trending on Billboard
Timbaland has remained a prevalent advocate for AI in music. In an April interview with Billboard, Timbo said AI is in an exciting new place compared to where it was just a few years ago.
“The technology of today is perfect for what this is,” Timbaland told Billboard. “What used to take me three months only takes me two days. In the beginning, it was like a toy. It was like going to a toy store. You gotta go through gluttony, because you can’t believe that it’s here.”
MCA Promotes Rob Femia to Chief Operating Officer
Music Corporation of America (MCA) has promoted Rob Femia to chief operating officer, adding COO to his duties as executive vp of business and legal affairs.
The label group’s imprints include EMI Records Nashville, Lucille Records, Mercury Nashville and MCA Nashville, representing artists including Eric Church, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Dierks Bentley, Alan Jackson and Little Big Town.
A graduate of Rutgers Law School, Femia’s prior career stops include Sony BMG, Virgin Records/Capitol Music Group/EMI Music North America and Atlantic Records. He joined UMG Nashville in 2013 as vp of business & legal affairs, and rose through the ranks to evp of BLA in 2023.
MCA president and CEO Mike Harris praised Femia’s deep industry experience and integrity, calling his presence on the executive team “invaluable” as the company enters a “new chapter” in its history. (Until recently, the music company operated under the name Universal Music Group Nashville.)
Trending on Billboard
Harris added: “I have worked with Rob for a good portion of my own career, and he has always been knowledgeable, hardworking, and honest – which are characteristics we strive to bring to MCA’s roster of artists every day.”
“I am honored that Mike is entrusting me with this expanded role at MCA as we reshape and refocus our priorities around the core of what defines us—a best-in-class record label with a deep roster of hit makers and history makers alike,” Femia said in a statement. “From today’s most talented and brilliant artists in country music to a rich catalog representing some of the most important and influential country music spanning generations, MCA has always stood at the heart of the genre’s legacy and evolution.”
Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Kim Petras & More Gear Up for Festival Season | Billboard News
This is partner content.
This summer is packed with festivals, and we’re highlighting incredible stars such as Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Kim Petras and more, who will be bringing their hottest hits to the stage!
Tetris Kelly:
The festival season is far from over, and as we gear up for the rest of the year, we’re breaking down three massive outings that you should have your eye on, presented by Amazon Prime. It’s Pride Month and Pride is bringing icons only to Washington, D.C., June 6 and 7. You can catch Paris Hilton and Kim Petras, Troye Sivan and Miss Jennie from the block, Jennifer Lopez. At the same time over in New York City, Benson Boone will be flipping his way into the Governors Ball, with a lineup that also includes Tyler, the Creator and Olivia Rodrigo. Olivia is a darling of festival season, as she is also headlining Chicago’s Lollapalooza. Tyler is making his way there as well, and on July 31 to Aug. 3, they will be joined by Doechii, Gracie Abrams and Sabrina Carpenter.
We will be following all the festivals all year long, so keep it locked at Billboard.
Judge Mulls Releasing MLK Assassination Files
On Wednesday (June 4), a federal judge in Washington D.C. signaled that he was open to releasing sensitive documents related to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ahead of the scheduled date. President Donald Trump had signed an executive order calling for the release of the files in January, in addition to files related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon stated that he intended to proceed slowly in the matter, prioritizing privacy. “This is delicate stuff,” Judge Leon said. “This is not stuff you use a chainsaw on. You use a scalpel or a laser.” The judge stated that he would direct the National Archives to allow him – and him alone – to see the inventory of all of the files related to Dr. King that they have It’s believed that there are over 60,000 unredacted pages of documents related to the assassination.
Johnny Walker, a lawyer representing the Department of Justice, requested that Judge Leon grant their agents authorization to look through the files first to create a subset of papers the court and the family of Dr. King could approve for release. He stated that they would steer clear of anything damaging in the files. Sumayaa Saleh, a lawyer representing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, objected citing the Trump Administration’s sloppy handling of the release of files related to President Kennedy. “The government has yet to come forward with any persuasive, compelling, legitimate reason to unseal the files,” she added.
The hearing was called in response to a lawsuit by the SCLC (which Dr. King helped found) and the King family, who have expressed wariness over the release of the files. “Some, perhaps many, of the recordings may be fake. The FBI’s purpose in creating the documents the government seeks to unseal was to misinform the public and irreparably damage our father’s reputation and most importantly destroy the civil rights movement,” wrote Martin Luther King III in a statement.
A federal judge in 1977 had ordered the files to be sealed from the public until 2027. Judge Leon conceded that the hearing is part of “the first few steps in a journey” and that the matter could take up to 2027. But he did ask that both parties keep communicating and if they came to an agreement, he could nudge things along. “We’re going to go slowly,” Leon said. “Little steps.”
Here’s Our Dream Setlist for Nine Inch Nails’ Peel It Back Tour
Hey, pigs! All of our dreams practically came true when Nine Inch Nails announced in January that the band was hitting the road for the Peel It Back world tour in 2025. (“Practically,” because some of us are still awaiting that new album announcement.)
It didn’t take long after the news arrived for fans to start speculating as to who might open for the Grammy-winning band, who hasn’t released a proper NIN album since March 2020’s surprise drops of the instrumentals Ghosts V: Together and Ghosts VI: Locusts — and going farther back, to 2018’s Bad Witch, if we’re talking music with lyrics. Potential openers that were floated on forums such as Reddit have ranged from the industrial (Health, Youth Code) to synth-pop(Gary Numan) to dance/electronic (Boy Harsher). But it was electro-house veteran Boys Noize — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ Challengers soundtrack collaborator — who NIN revealed in March had landed the coveted gig.
But what discussion of the Peel It Back Tour ahead of its June 15 launch in Dublin would be complete without a massive “Wish” list of tracks fans are hoping to hear live? With an impressive catalogue that includes 10 studio albums (plus three EPs, a live set and multiple film soundtracks) since 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine, that’s a heck of a lot of hits and fan-favorite deep cuts to consider fitting into a set.
That said, NIN might’ve offered some not-so-subtle hints about where the focus may be. After all, the critically lauded The Downward Spiral marked its 30th anniversary last year, and the name of this tour comes from the lyrics off the album’s lead single, “March of the Pigs,” so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the setlist was TDS heavy. (Perhaps the 14-track album will even be played front to back? It’s not exactly a pie-in-the-sky wish, since NIN performed the Broken EP from beginning to end at several shows during its 2018 tour, a year after the 1992 release marked its 25th anniversary.) Or maybe given Reznor’s harsh criticisms during the first Trump Administration, things will take a political bent, with a heavier-than-expected focus on 2007’s Year Zero. With the band’s penchant for regularly changing up the setlist from night to night, who knows what fans will be treated to!
But for the sake of discussion, let’s assume TDS will not be played in full. So what will make it to the stage while other worthy songs are set aside to fit into the allotted time for what could be a best-of trek? With the tour kickoff quickly approaching, nothing can stop us now from coming up with our dream setlist.
-
“Pinion”
Album: Broken EP
Assuming this trek is a celebration of The Downward Spiral, it may not seem to make sense — especially to younger fans — to launch into what is sure to be a multi-hour sonic assault with the instrumental opener off Halo 5. But “Pinion” not only perfectly captures the essence of NIN in its desolation, but it was also the kickoff track for the Self Destruct/Further Down the Spiral tours in support of the 1994 album.
-
“Mr. Self Destruct”
Album: The Downward Spiral
Indeed, Reznor is the voice inside our heads that takes us where we wanna go, so why not kick off the celebration of TDS with a block of its tracks? The first song off the seminal album captures both the aggressiveness and quiet desperation that is to come not only on this brilliant album, but what is sure to be an unforgettable show.
-
“March of the Pigs”
Album: The Downward Spiral
Step right up and keep that mosh pit going! There’s no reason to slow down after only two songs. And while the album’s lead single — which hit No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 — was written in the early half of the ’90s, its furious rant about the fakeness and in some cases, the outright lies of everyday life that the masses consume still stands. After all, how many have been fooled by “influencers” and A.I.?
-
“Reptile”
Album: The Downward Spiral
Let’s get really bleak after the intense highs and heart-racing BPM of “March of the Pigs.” In perhaps the most industrial-sounding track by the band, Reznor is spiraling at rock bottom, his needs and loneliness so all-consuming and haunting that he’s ready to take everyone down with him. His depths are limitless … as is our willingness to follow on this journey.
-
“Hurt”
Album: The Downward Spiral
Oh, you thought “Reptile” was low? Amateur. Turns out those limitless depths Reznor thought he found before in his “beautiful liar” are exceeded in the gut-wrenching “Hurt,” where a despair unlike any other reigns with a crown of s–t.
NIN has often performed this track — complete with black-and-white imagery of destruction, death and decay to drive the point home — as the last song of the encore. But it feels like too much of a bummer to end the Peel It Back Tour on such a depressing note, especially when the band has had so many highs to celebrate in its nearly 40-year career. So let’s use it as a moment to give the band — and moshers — a breather physically, though definitely not emotionally.
-
“The Day the World Went Away”
Album: The Fragile
Let’s keep the darkness going with NIN’s highest-charting song to date (No. 17 on the Hot 100). Sure, the four-and-a-half-minute track has only one verse, but it’s one that barrels into the soul like a shovel into a grave. With the outro’s harmonious “nah nah naaaah“s and the wailing-yet-staticky guitars, it’s a song that will fill each nook and cranny of stadiums worldwide before its abrupt ending.
-
“And All That Could Have Been”
Album: Still
This track from The Fragile/New Orleans era didn’t make it onto NIN’s proper third full-length release (it should’ve!), but at least was included on the companion album for live set And All That Could Have Been. Perhaps one of the most beautifully heartbreaking NIN tracks, Reznor’s vocals carry an ache and regret that feel worse than death as he softly croons about his existence being wiped clean from a loved one’s memory, and the world itself, yet all the while knowing of everything he could’ve had, yet were “never meant for me.”
Quick, bring the tempo up. Even the darkest of hearts can stand only so much pain …
-
“Wish”
Album: Broken
Break time is over! Bring on the rage! Is it really a NIN concert if the Grammy-winning “Wish” doesn’t get played? After all, having the entire venue shake as concertgoers scream the lyrics — “Gotta listen to your big time, hard-line, bad luck, fist f–k!” — back at Reznor while pumping their fists into the air is a staple of the band’s shows.
-
“Down In It”
Album: Pretty Hate Machine
“Kinda like a cloud, I was up, way up in the sky” after the high of “Wish,” so let’s keep the fun train going with NIN’s debut single, whose lyrics feature lines from a popular nursery rhyme. (Imagine Reznor’s young children backstage dancing along to potentially the only lyrics of their dad’s that they’re familiar with …)
-
“All Time Low”
Album: Hesitation Marks
The pit is guaranteed to transform into a writhing dancefloor filled with booty shaking and head bopping for this irresistibly catchy, funky song that has a beat that rivals the sexiness of “Closer.”
-
“God Given”
Album: Year Zero
Lying beneath another great, dance-y beat, the song feels eerily prophetic despite arriving in 2007: “How can this be right?/ I’m afraid we’re going to ask you to leave/ Guess you cannot win/ With the color of your skin/ You won’t be getting in to the promised land.”
Though turning a mirror on religion (and some might argue, those who agree with the current immigration policies) might not be considered fun concert fare, Reznor’s refrain could challenge that belief and get attendees to raise their voices: “Come on, sing along, everybody now!”
-
“Burning Bright (Field on Fire)”
Album: Not the Actual Events
What better time to highlight some of NIN’s beautifully atmospheric yet at times apocalyptic sound than in a giant venue? This track would allow the set to take another break from the aggression and dance vibes to “break through the surface and breathe,” while highlighting Reznor and musical partner Atticus Ross’ penchant for capturing the struggle of emotions, as they often do in their soundtrack work.
-
“Isn’t Everyone”
Album: Disco4: Part II, Health
While many fans didn’t get Health as the opener they had fervently hoped for, Reznor could throw the piggies a bone and perform the apocalyptic collab track, even without Jake Duszik to sing live. (After all, the Health frontman’s vocals often evoke an emotional-yet-genderless android’s voice — so why not use pre-recorded vocals and give the fans what they want?)
-
“Terrible Lie”
Album: Pretty Hate Machine
Hey, God! I think you owe me a great, big apology if this song doesn’t make it onto the setlist!
-
“The Hand That Feeds”
Album: With Teeth
Reznor has never hidden his disdain for the twice-impeached president, so why shouldn’t he share his stance on stage with one of his most political songs? The track — which reached No. 31 on the Hot 100 — was originally meant as criticism of the government’s foreign policy, with the band even planning to display an unaltered image of then-president George W. Bush during its 2005 VMAs performance. (NIN would end up pulling out of the show over MTV’s objections to the photo.) Perhaps we’ll get a portrait of Trump for this?
-
“Capital G”
Album: Year Zero
War, climate change, political corruption and greed — not exactly happy topics, but nevertheless relevant today. And with Reznor’s skill in pairing these difficult subjects with an irresistible rhythm that’s also upbeat, the song deserves a spot on the setlist.
-
“I’m Afraid of Americans”
Album: Earthling, David Bowie
This may not be a proper NIN track, but Reznor did do practically a whole remix album of this song for the Thin White Duke, and the two men performed it together several times before the glam-rock pioneer’s death in 2016. And considering the current political climate and the Oscar-winning rocker’s own stance, performing this iconic track would not only serve as a tribute to Bowie, but also an acknowledgement of how much of the world feels about our country today.
-
“Shit Mirror”
Album: Bad Witch
Sing and clap along as Reznor croons about humans mutating into something new and unrecognizable … and not for the better.
-
“The Line Begins to Blur”
Album: With Teeth
This song doesn’t get enough love, and it’s time to change that. Imagine the calm swelling of the music punctuated by the ominous drum beat as Reznor sings emotively about becoming someone he no longer recognizes — it’s cinematic in feel, and projects the fears of his protagonist no matter the volume of the music. Plus, this could be an opportunity for a surprise guest appearance from Dave Grohl, who played drums on the track.
-
“Burn”
Album: Natural Born Killers soundtrack
It’s fate, you know, for NIN to play this vitriolic, anti-society banger and get the mosh pit roiling.
-
“Head Like a Hole”
Album: Pretty Hate Machine
We’re bowing down before the one we serve to get what we deserve — this resistance anthem! The fan favorite would be a great one with which to end the main set on a very high point.
-
Encore: “Happiness in Slavery”
Album: Broken
Oh the delicious anger! What better way for the band to return to the stage for an encore than with this Grammy-winning banger? Fans will be screaming back at NIN — after all, we’ve spent our lives learning conformity.
-
“Dead Souls”
Album: The Crow soundtrack
If the tour is meant to celebrate The Downward Spiral, it would be fitting to also recognize NIN’s cover of the 1980 Joy Division song, which was featured in the Brandon Lee-starring film. Like TDS, The Crow soundtrack came calling in March 1994 — 21 days later, to be exact.
-
“Sin”
Album: Pretty Hate Machine
It comes down to this — more fists and hits in the encore!
-
“Closer”
Album: The Downward Spiral
We wouldn’t leave the song that launched NIN into the mainstream off the dream setlist (even if Trent has done just that a few times)! To save it for the encore would be musical edging of great proportions. After all, it’s indescribably sexy, ridiculously catchy and a wonderful climax to the night.
Travis Scott’s First-Ever Barcelona Performance Is Now a Streamable Concert Film
A day ahead of El Clásico, Travis Scott made his debut in Barcelona with a thrilling concert on May 10, which Spotify has now turned into a short film.
Spotify Presents: Travis Scott Live From Barcelona arrived on the streaming service’s platform on Thursday (June 5) about a month after Scott hit the Spanish stage at Parc de les Tres Xemeneies.
La Flame brought the rage to the intimate show, which saw him perform a pair of unreleased JACKBOYS 2 tracks as well as catalog staples such as “FE!N,” “Goosebumps,” “Highest in the Room,” “4×4,” “Butterfly Effect” and “SICKO MODE.”
Trending on Billboard
“This film is a piece of the energy we created in Barcelona,” Scott said in a statement. “The fans showed up for my first performance there and it was a wild, real moment. Now fans around the world can tap in and feel that same vibe.”
The 18-minute performance film will remain a Spotify exclusive until Friday (June 6) when it comes to YouTube.
Scott and Spotify have enjoyed a lucrative partnership, as they previously teamed up for the 10th anniversary show of Days Before Rodeo in August 2024 in Atlanta.
“This partnership with Travis is a perfect example of how Spotify is deepening the connection between artists and fans,” said Marc Hazan, who serves as the vice president of partnerships and marketing at Spotify, in a statement. “Bringing a global icon like Travis Scott to perform in Barcelona created a once-in-a-lifetime moment for fans on the ground — and capturing it on film, exclusively for Spotify, allows us to share that with fans around the world. It’s about offering new ways to experience video, and to feel closer to the artists they love.”
The Houston native designed Cactus Jack jerseys for Barcelona’s soccer team to wear at El Clásico, which Barce won 4-3 over rival Real Madrid on May 11. The rare jersey collaboration saw a public release and sold out within minutes.
Watch Spotify Presents: Travis Scott Live From Barcelona on Spotify.
‘Ethical’ AI Music Firms React to the Majors’ Suno-Udio Licensing Talks: ‘We Just Get Left Behind’
The three major music companies — Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group — are in talks with AI music companies Suno and Udio to license their works as training data, despite suing the two startups for infringement “on an almost unimaginable scale” last summer. Now, executives in the “ethical” or “responsible” AI music space are voicing displeasure that the alleged infringers could potentially benefit from their actions.
Several of those ethical AI companies said they were led to believe they would be rewarded by the record labels for going through the tough process of licensing music from the beginning, in what one AI music company founder previously told Billboard would be “a carrot and stick approach to AI,” penalizing those who raced ahead and trained models without permission or compensation.
Trending on Billboard
“That’s all out the window,” that founder says now. “I was talking to another founder that does ethical AI voice models, and he told me, ‘F–k it. I don’t care anymore. Why does it matter to be ethical if we just get left behind?’”
Ed Newton-Rex, founder of non-profit Fairly Trained, which certifies ethically-trained AI models, adds: “If I were running a startup that had tried to do the right thing — respecting creators’ rights — and investors had rejected me because I wasn’t exploiting copyrighted work like so many others, and then this happened? I’d definitely be pissed off.”
Tracy Chan, CEO of AI music company Splash, told Billboard via email that she stands by her decision to license music from the start. “At Splash, being ethically trained wasn’t a debate — it was obvious,” she says. “We’re musicians and technologists. We believe AI should amplify creativity, not exploit it. We don’t need to scrape the world’s music to make that happen.”
It remains unclear how far along these licensing talks are between the major music companies and Suno and Udio, and if deals will even come to fruition to avert the blockbuster lawsuits. It’s common in costly and lengthy litigation like this for the two sides to discuss what it would look like to settle the dispute outside of court. Plus, licensing is what the majors have wanted from AI companies all along — does it matter how they come to it?
Multiple executives expressed fear that if the majors ditch the lawsuit and go for deals, they will set a bad precedent for the entire business. “Basically, if they do this deal, I think it would send a message to big tech that if you want to disrupt the music industry, you can do whatever you want and then ask for forgiveness later,” says Anthony Demekhin, CEO/co-founder of Tuney.
This, however, is not the first time the music business has considered a partnership with tech companies that were once their enemy. YouTube, for example, initially launched without properly licensing all of the music on its platform first. In his 2024 New Years’ address to staff, Lucian Grainge, CEO/chairman of UMG, alluded to this, and how he would do it differently this time with his so-called “responsible AI” initiative. “In the past, new and often disruptive technology was simply released into the world, leaving the music community to develop the model by which artists would be fairly compensated and their rights protected,” he wrote, adding that “in a sharp break with the past,” UMG had formed a partnership with YouTube to “give artists a seat at the table” to shape the company’s AI products, and that the company would also collaborate “with several [other] platforms on numerous opportunities and approaches” in the AI space.
Another part of Grainge’s “responsible AI” initiative was “to lobby for ‘guardrails,’ that is public policies setting basic rules for AI.” Mike Pelczynski, co-founder of ethical AI voice company Voice-Swap, also worries that if these deals go through, they could weaken the music industry’s messaging to Capitol Hill, where bills like the NO FAKES Act are still in flux. “All the messaging we had before, all the hard-lining about responsible AI from the beginning, it’s gone,” he says. “Now, if policy makers look at [the music business] they might say, ‘Wait, what side should we take? Where do you stand?’”
If talks about licenses for Suno and Udio move forward, determining exactly how that license works, and how artists will be paid, will be complex. To date, almost all “ethical” AI companies are licensing their musical training data from production libraries, which offer simple, one-stop licenses for songs. Alex Bestall, CEO of music production house and AI company Rightsify, says that the structure of those deals are typically “flat-fee blanket licenses for a fixed term, often one to three years or in some cases perpetuity… all data licensing [music or otherwise] is pretty standardized at this point.”
It’s unclear if the deals the majors have discussed with Suno and Udio will follow this framework, but if they did, the question then comes — how do the majors divide up those fees for their artists and writers? The Wall Street Journal reported that “the [music] companies want the startups to develop fingerprinting and attribution technology — similar to YouTube’s content ID — to track when and how a song is used.” In that scenario, the money received would be given to signees based on usage.
While there are a few startups working on music attribution technology right now, multiple experts tell Billboard they don’t think the tech is ready yet. “Attribution is nowhere,” says Newton-Rex, who also previously worked as vp of audio at Stability AI. “It’s not even close. There’s no system that I have seen that would do a decent job of accurately assigning attribution to what has inspired a given song.”
Even the possibility of deals between the parties has sparked a larger conversation about how to handle tech companies who ask for forgiveness — and not for permission — from the music business.
“If the two biggest offenders actually become the legal standard, it’s effectively like making Pirate Bay into Spotify,” says Demekhin. “I understand it from a business perspective because it’s the path of least resistance [to settle and get a license now]. But this could send a message to tech that could bite the industry on the next wave.”
One Direction’s ‘Night Changes’ Music Video Hits 1 Billion Views on YouTube
1D has hit 1B — again. More than a decade after its release, the music video for One Direction‘s “Night Changes” has surpassed a billion views on YouTube, marking the band’s fourth visual to reach the milestone.
Directed by Ben Winston and posted in November 2014, the “Night Changes” music video gave fans the chance to experience what it would be like to do something many of them had long dreamed of: go on a date with one (or all) of the members of the band. Shot in a first-person POV, viewers were made to feel like they were sitting down at a fancy restaurant with Zayn Malik, ice skating with Harry Styles, riding shotgun next to Louis Tomlinson, sitting by a cozy fire with Niall Horan and walking around a carnival with Liam Payne.
As the guys sing the mellow lyrics to the hit song in the video, things hilariously start to go wrong on each of their “dates.” A disgruntled ex dumps spaghetti on Malik’s head, Styles injures himself and his love interest in a misguided move on the ice, Tomlinson is pulled over and arrested by a road cop, Horan accidentally sets his sweater sleeve on fire and Payne vomits in his date’s hat after getting too dizzy on a spinning fair ride.
Trending on Billboard
“We’re only gettin’ older, baby/ And I’ve been thinking about it lately/ Does it ever drive you crazy/ Just how fast the night changes?” the quintet sings in unison as the video’s vibes quickly turn from romantic to catastrophic.
Released as a single from 1D’s fourth studio album, Four, “Night Changes” is considered a staple in the boy band’s catalog. The track reached No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, one of numerous top 40 hits One Direction achieved between the group’s debut in 2010 and dissolution in 2016.
Following Payne’s death last October, many of the guys’ songs experienced a streaming boost as grieving Directioners revisited their discography while processing the news — but “Night Changes” was the song fans flocked to the most. The track’s playback saw a 416% increase in the days that followed the “Strip That Down” singer’s fatal fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, re-entering both the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart at No. 95 and the Billboard Global 200 at No. 117.
Add your view to more than a billion others by watching the “Night Changes” music video above.
What our fans have to say