AI
The Artist Rights Symposium returns for a fourth year on Wednesday (Nov. 20) at a new location — American University’s Kogood School of Business. This year the day-long event will feature panels like “The Trouble with Tickets,” “Overview of Current Issues in Artificial Intelligence Litigation,” and “Name, Image and Likeness Rights in the Age of AI.” Plus, the symposium will feature a keynote with Digital Media Association (DiMA) president and CEO Graham Davies.
Founded by University of Georgia professor, musician and activist Dr. David C. Lowery, the event has been held at the university in Athens, Georgia for the last three years. Now that the event has moved to Washington, D.C., the Artist Rights Symposium can take advantage of the wealth of music professionals in the city. This includes D.C.-based panelists like Davies, Stephen Parker (executive director, National Independent Venue Association), Ken Doroshow (Chief Legal Officer, Recording Industry Association of America), Jalyce E. Mangum (attorney-advisor, U.S. Copyright Office), Jen Jacobsen (executive director, Artist Rights Alliance), Jeffrey Bennett (general counsel, SAG-AFTRA) and more.
The Artist Rights Symposium is supported by the Artist Rights Institute.
Trending on Billboard
See the schedule of events below:
9:15-10:15 – THE TROUBLE WITH TICKETS: The Challenges of Ticket Resellers and Legislative SolutionsKevin Erickson, Director, Future of Music Coalition, Washington DCDr. David C. Lowery, Co-founder of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, University of Georgia Terry College of Business, Athens, GeorgiaStephen Parker, Executive Director, National Independent Venue Association, Washington DCMala Sharma, President, Georgia Music Partners, Atlanta, GeorgiaModerator: Christian L. Castle, Esq., Director, Artist Rights Institute, Austin, Texas
10:15-10:30: NIVA Speculative Ticketing Project Presentation by Kogod students
10:45-11:00: OVERVIEW OF CURRENT ISSUES IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LITIGATIONKevin Madigan, Vice President, Legal Policy and Copyright Counsel, Copyright Alliance
11:00-12 pm: SHOW ME THE CREATOR – Transparency Requirements for AI TechnologyDanielle Coffey, President & CEO, News Media Alliance, Arlington, VirginiaDahvi Cohen, Legislative Assistant, U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff, Washington DCKen Doroshow, Chief Legal Officer, Recording Industry Association of America, Washington DCModerator: Linda Bloss-Baum, Director of the Kogod School of Business’s Business & Entertainment Program
12:30-1:30: KEYNOTEGraham Davies, President and CEO of the Digital Media Association, Washington DC.
1:45-2:45: CHICKEN AND EGG SANDWICH: Bad Song Metadata, Unmatched Funds, KYC and What You Can Do About ItRichard James Burgess, MBE, President & CEO, American Association of Independent Music, New YorkHelienne Lindvall, President, European Composer & Songwriter Alliance, London, EnglandAbby North, President, North Music Group, Los AngelesAnjula Singh, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, SoundExchange, Washington DCModerator: Christian L. Castle, Esq, Director, Artist Rights Institute, Austin, Texas
3:15-3:30: OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LEGISLATIONGeorge York, Senior Vice President International Policy from RIAA.
3:30-4:30: NAME, IMAGE AND LIKENESS RIGHTS IN THE AGE OF AI: Current initiatives to protect creator rights and attributionJeffrey Bennett, General Counsel, SAG-AFTRA, Washington, DCJen Jacobsen, Executive Director, Artist Rights Alliance, Washington DCJalyce E. Mangum, Attorney-Advisor, U.S. Copyright Office, Washington DCModerator: John Simson, Program Director Emeritus, Business & Entertainment, Kogod School of Business, American University
SoundCloud announced the roll out of a number of new AI partnerships on Tuesday (Nov. 19), underscoring its intent to integrate emerging technology into the platform — as long as it is used ethically.
Now, SoundCloud users will have access to six new assistive AI tools, including Tuney, Tuttii, Beatz, TwoShot, Starmony and ACE Studio. The company is also using Audible Magic and Pex to ensure that these new AI integrations are backed up by strong content identification tools that provide rights holders with proper credit and compensation.
These new partners join a list of existing AI integrations — Fadr, Soundful and Voice-Swap — SoundCloud has already worked into its platform. Now, any artist can use these tools and then easily share them to SoundCloud through a built-in “Upload to SoundCloud” option within each tool. Songs uploaded directly to SoundCloud will be automatically tagged to show the tool used (i.e. “Made with Tuney”) and artists can edit their newly uploaded tracks directly from their SoundCloud profile page.
Trending on Billboard
Additionally, SoundCloud has signed on to AI For Music’s “Principles for Music Creation with AI,” which was founded by Roland and Universal Music Group. Its principles include five points, like “we believe that human-created works must be respected and protected,” and “we believe music is central to humanity.”
SoundCloud Next Pro creators can access exclusive discounts and free trials for its nine partnered tools through SoundCloud for Artists.
“SoundCloud is paving the way for a future where AI unlocks creative potential and makes music creation accessible to millions, while upholding responsible and ethical practices,” said Eliah Seton, CEO of SoundCloud. “We’re proud to be the platform that supports creators at every level, fuels experimentation and empowers fandom.”
Learn more about the partnerships below:
Tuney: SoundCloud users can now use Tuney’s AI-powered tools to reinterpret original songs they have posted to SoundCloud (including private ones) without having to know the complexities of using a digital audio workstation (DAW). Using the new “Upload to SoundCloud” button, users can then share their creations quickly and easily back to the platform. Tuney’s Beat Swap feature is among the tools available to SoundCloud users, which can generate new remixes of a song by using a vocal stem and filling in the rest of the blanks.
In a statement provided to Billboard, Tuney CEO/co-founder Antony Demekhin said of the collaboration: “At a time when the major music companies are fighting tech platforms that illegally train on copyrighted works, we see this integration as paving the path for the ethical application of generative tech where rightsholders, artists and fans all benefit from innovation.”
Tuttii: SoundCloud fans can now use this AI-powered app to remix and mash up songs to share on social media with greater ease than using a DAW.
AlBeatz: SoundCloud users can now generate and customize professional-grade beats to work off of in their own original creations.
TwoShot: Created to help music producers kick start their creativity, TwoShot now offers SoundCloud users its massive sample library of AI generated sounds. The company also offers an AI co-producer tool, called Aiva, who can talk through musical ideas with users and help users search through TwoShot’s library.
Starmony: Tailored for singers and rappers, Starmony will now let SoundCloud users upload a vocal they’ve composed, and then the platform will provide professional-sounding production to fill in the instrumental elements of the song.
ACE Studio: With ACE Studio’s platform, musicians using SoundCloud can create their own AI voice models for use in the studio. For one, musicians can convert a melody, written out in MIDI, and convert it into a realistic sounding voice. This can also allow users to generate AI choirs of voices and edit vocals generated by Suno.
UnitedMasters extended its existing synch agreement with the National Football League (NFL) through the end of the 2027 season. The deal will expand UnitedMasters’ existing track delivery, allowing the NFL to continue providing music to its fans at games and across NFL programming via UnitedMasters’ fully-cleared synch library. Through the deal, NFL Member Clubs will have the opportunity to explore additional licensing packages, allowing them to create “hyper-local experiences,” according to a press release.
Warner Music India made a minority investment in India-based live entertainment and ticketing platform SkillBox, which has worked on tours for Jacob Collier, Steve Vai, Ben Howard and more and established intellectual properties including Bloomverse, K-Wave, Lemonade and LiveBox. “By integrating live events and ticketing into its portfolio, Warner Music India will offer its artists the ability to reach wider audiences, while fans will benefit from streamlined, unforgettable live music experiences,” states a press release. SkillBox, which also boasts an artist management arm called LevelHouse, boasts 1.5 million users.
Music licensing company Soundstripe is partnering with Orfium, Tuned Global, Music Reports and Cyanite to build a “click-to-license” platform for the music business that will offer pre-cleared music, with a full rollout expected for spring 2025. “Through these partnerships, Soundstripe connects several elements of licensing, which have long been separate,” reads a press release. Orfium’s SyncTracker product will ensure that all licensed music has been cleared when a video posts to platforms including YouTube, while Tuned Global will manage content delivery and asset management on the recording side and Music Reports will cover the publishing side. Meanwhile, Cyanite’s AI-driven technology will allow Soundstripe to tag and search music at scale.
Trending on Billboard
Audacy launched its first FM broadcast station with Super Hi-Fi, a leader in AI-powered radio services for broadcast and digital media companies. From Oct. 31 onward, Denver’s Front Range Country 103.1 will be powered by Super Hi-Fi’s AI-powered platform and toolset, including its program director radio operating system, which manages music curation content, ads, scheduling, voice tracking and station playout tasks.
Streaming service Deezer signed DAX, an advertising exchange from Global, as its exclusive ad sales partner in the U.S. for audio advertising. DAX previously pacted with Deezer in the U.K.
Leading Asian music company Kanjian struck a deal with AI rights management company Musical.AI to provide AI companies with access to its fully licensed music catalog for AI training. According to a press release, Kanjian’s catalog is entirely pre-authorized for AI applications.
Levellr, which helps artists use messaging tools including Discord and Telegram to reach fans, raised $1.75 million in funding from a group of gaming and media industry leaders including Dylan Collins (SuperAwesome, Jolt, Demonware), Mitch Lasky (former Benchmark and Discord board member) and Owen Mahoney (former Nexon CEO), along with senior execs from companies like Krafton, Riot Games and Amazon. The company also announced that Collins will join the company as chairman.
Redeye Worldwide, a leading independent digital and phsyical distribution and music services company (and part of the Exceleration Music family), signed a strategic agreement with Lasgo Worldwide Media to provide physical fulfillmemnt services in the U.K. and Ireland. Additionally, Redeye will consolidate its European Union physical operations through an expanded one-stop agreement with Netherlands-based pan-European provider Bertus, allowing Redeye clients to broaden their sales and marketing reach across Europe. Redeye’s Swedish subsidiary, Border Music, will continue servicing the Nordic markets.
Alt-rock pioneers the Pixies and Tickets For Good, which provides free and heavily discounted tickets to live events, announced a new partnership through which the band will donate tickets to Tickets For Good across the platform’s global network for every date on their upcoming 20-date tour in Europe and North America next year. The partnership includes tour dates that are sold out, giving registered Tickets For Good members an opportunity to gain special access via a dedicated ballot.
Indie music company Anthem Entertainment and Wax Records struck a creative partnership that will focus on “enhancing the relationship between publishing and creative, facilitating a seamless channel for songwriters and artists to produce viable projects,” according to a press release.
AI-powered music and audio technology company Mus.ic.AI is integrating its AI tools into digital asset management and monetization platform SourceAudio. Under the deal, 567,000 active SourceAudio users will be provided with AI-powered stem separation.
Virgin Music Group announced a strategic agreement with Tokyo-based Bushiroad Music, a division of games and anime producer Bushiroad Inc. Through the deal, Virgin will support the expansion of Bushiroad Music’s overseas business through digital music distribution, including theme songs for Bushiroad’s games, anime series and films.
Pioneering producer and singer Imogen Heap has partnered with Jen, an ethical AI music creation platform, to launch two new models inspired by her musical stylings. The partnership was announced Thursday (Nov. 14) at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Portugal.
First, Heap is launching her own StyleFilter model, Jen’s patented tool that allows users to create original tracks that infuse the distinct musical styles of of an artist or producer into their new works. Specifically for Heap’s collaboration, the StyleFilter model was trained on her new singles “What Have You Done To Me” and “Last Night of an Empire.” Importantly, StyleFilter is said to do this while still “maintaining transparency, protection and compensation” for Heap. Secondly, Heap and Jen have also announced a new AI voice model trained on Heap’s distinct vocals.
Jen co-founder and CEO, Shara Senderoff, and Heap took the stage at Web Summit’s Centre Stage to demonstrate how StyleFilter works, transforming prompts into compositions that weave Heap’s style into a user’s original works. Watch their explanation below:
Trending on Billboard
Over her decades-long career, Heap has been viewed as an innovator, pushing the boundaries of art and technology. Since the early days of her career, she has popularized the use of vocoders. Later, she developed her own products, like the Mi.Mu gloves, a wearable tool that allows her to record loops and edit vocals with small hand movements, and The Creative Passport, a service that combines all of an artist’s information in one place from a bio, press photos, royalty accounting, set lists and more.
Last month, in an interview with The Guardian, Heap explained her new AI assistant, called Mogen, which is trained on Heap’s interviews, speeches and TK to act as essentially a living autobiography that can answer questions for fans in her persona. Later, she hopes to expand Mogen to be trained on her musical improvisation and to become a live collaborator at gigs.
Imogen Heap and Shara Senderoff at Web Summit
Jen is an AI music making platform that puts transparency at the forefront. Its Jen-1 model, launched in June, is a text-to-music model trained on 40 different licensed catalogs (and then verified against 150 million songs). It is also backed by APG founder/CEO Mike Caren, who came on as a founding partner in fall 2023. As Senderoff explained in a August 2023 interview with Billboard, “Jen is spelled J-E-N because she’s designed to be your friend who goes into the studio with you. She’s a tool.”
Jen uses blockchain technology to ensure transparency and the ability to track its works after they are generated and put out in the world. Each of the works created with Heap’s StyleFilter will be authorized for use through Auracles — an upcoming non-profit platform, designed by Jen, that uses data provenance to give artists have more access, control and permission for what is made using their StyleFilter model.
While other AI companies have worked on creating personalized AI music models, trained on a specific producer or artists catalog before, like Soundful Collabs, the team at Jen believes StyleFilter is different because “it can learn and apply the style of an artist by training on a single song, establishing a new level of creative precision and efficiency,” says a spokesperson for the company.
“Shara’s integrity shines an outstanding light at this pivotal moment in our human story,” says Heap. “The exponential curve of innovation in and with AI attracts opportunists primarily focused on filling their pockets in the gold rush or those racing at speed to stick their ‘technological flag’ in the sand to corner a marketplace. Alongside the clear innovation in products and new revenue streams for musicians at Jen, Shara’s inspiring strength and determination to get the ethical foundations right from the start are inspiring. An all-too-rare example of a service, contributing to a future where humans are empowered, valued and credited, within and for our collective global tools and knowledge.”
“At Jen, we are determined to create innovative products that invite artists to participate as AI reshapes the music industry, enabling their artistry to take new forms as technology evolves while ensuring they are respected and fairly compensated,” says Senderoff. “Our StyleFilter is a testament to this vision, introducing a groundbreaking way for users to collaborate with the musical essence of artists they might never have the chance to work with directly. Premiering this product with Imogen Heap, a pioneer at the intersection of music and technology, exemplifies our commitment to build with respect and reverence for those who paved the way. She’s also an incomparable human that I’m honored to call my friend.”
By the time Elvis Presley’s Comeback Special was taped in 1968, The King was not just on the ropes but nearly down for the count. A lengthy period in the wilderness starring in commercially successful but critically derided musicals throughout the 1960s had left his reputation in tatters as a new wave of musicians rose to prominence. There was hope, however, that a stellar performance at the special — for which a new song, “If I Can Dream,” was written — could help him win back the hearts of the American people.
This moment in time is where Elvis Evolution, an upcoming experiential installation in London, will begin for its audience. Set to debut at the recently-opened Immerse LDN in May 2025, the show’s creators view this as the moment when Presley was at his most vulnerable and authentic, making it the perfect jumping-off point for an odyssey that will trace the arc of his musical journey — from his upbringing in rural Mississippi to Memphis’ iconic Sun Studios and Beale Street to the backlots of NBC Studios in Burbank, California, where the Comeback Special was shot.
Trending on Billboard
To bring Presley’s musical journey to life, Elvis Evolution will utilize archival material and cutting-edge technology, including generative artificial intelligence, holograms and projections, alongside live music performances from a house band and themed set designs. The show comes from Layered Reality, a production company that fuses digital technology with live theater, and Academy Award-winning special effects company The Mill. In 2023, the former secured the rights from the Presley estate and Authentic Brand Group to license the icon’s image and likeness.
The announcement of Elvis Evolution came amid renewed interest in Presley’s life and music. In 2022, Baz Luhrmann’s jukebox epic Elvis told the story of the singer and his rocky relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker. And Sofia Coppola’s 2023 movie Priscilla examined his first and only marriage from the perspective of his wife.
[embedded content]
Contrary to those interpretations, Elvis Evolution’s director Jack Pirie — who shares a co-writing credit with playwright Jessica Siân — says the show will remain focused strictly on the music. “What I hope we can do with this show is to move away from the myth of what Elvis represented and the image of him in his later years in a white jumpsuit in Las Vegas,” he says. “We want to go back to who he was as a kid, and look at the music he was listening to and how that shaped him.”
Pirie says Elvis Evolution resulted from the success of other, similarly tech-heavy experiences to debut in the U.K. recently. In 2023, cutting-edge digital art venue Outernet in central London attracted more visitors (6.25 million) than the British Museum (5.83 million). The wildly popular Abba Voyage experience, which started in 2022 and features performing avatars of the Swedish pop group, just extended its run into May 2025.
Even Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour concert film, which was released in cinemas to big grosses last year, was cited by Pirie as an example of music fans being willing to celebrate in “a non-traditional environment.”
“Elvis didn’t sit at home listening to music on his phone, he had to go out and seek and experience it,” says Andrew McGuinness, founder/CEO of Layered Reality, which previously produced an immersive version of Jeff Wayne’s War of The Worlds musical and The Gunpowder Plot starring Tom Felton. “The fact that live music runs through the DNA of the story makes it a great property to do it this way.”
Elvis Evolution initially caused controversy when it was revealed that the show would use generative artificial intelligence to help recreate Presley in hologram form. But McGuinness and Pirie tell Billboard that the technology is being used only to enhance authentic moments in Presley’s career. For example, they say the technology will help bring new perspectives and sightlines to the ‘68 Comeback Special, for which only limited camera angles exist. As with any powerful tool, says McGuinness, you need to be “bloody careful” with how AI is employed: “We’re not trying to confect something and we take the responsibility with the utmost importance,” he says.
Tickets went on sale for Elvis Evolution in October, and only a limited number remain available through the show’s opening weeks — specifically, May 10 to June 1. The 110-minute experience will have timed entry, with several performances set to take place each day. Tickets start at £75 ($97), while VIP packages are also available, including the “Burning Love” experience, which includes additional merchandise and VIP seating, and the “If I Can Dream” package, which features tickets to the show, commemorative merch and premium access to the show’s daily after-party.
The show’s venue, Immerse LDN, opened at the Royal Docks’ ExCel convention center in July 2024 and is currently hosting both the Formula 1 Exhibition and The Friends Experience: The One In London, both of which use multi-sensory technology and set design. The immersive venue, which will total 160,000 square feet once completed, is part of a £300 million ($387 million) investment in ExCel.
McGuinness and Pirie’s hope is that Elvis Evolution will be successful enough to be toured globally, and they’re particularly excited about the prospect of taking it to some of the U.S. locations that have strong roles in his story, from Las Vegas to Memphis and beyond.
The show’s success could also create opportunities for similar experiences around other music icons; while McGuinness notes that the commercial demands and scale of such events make only a small group of artists “suitable,” he says discussions have already begun between Layered Reality and other artists’ estates.
Though Presley’s outsized legend makes him one of the few artists, living or dead, to be well-suited for such an elaborate and expensive production, McGuinness adds that one of the goals of the project was to strip away the iconography and get to the root of the person he was.
“There’s a humanity that can get lost with any musician or celebrity, and before I started this project, I was prone to seeing Elvis just as an ‘icon,’” he says. “But within this experience, you get to see him as a man, too.”
Jerry Garcia‘s estate has partnered with AI voice company ElevenLabs to bring the late Grateful Dead guitarist, singer and songwriter’s AI-recreated voice to its Iconic Listening Experience on the ElevenReader app. Now, Deadheads using the app can hear Garcia’s voice read out audiobooks, e-books, articles, poetry, fan stories, PDFs and more in 32 different languages.
Garcia is the latest in a string of partnerships between ElevenLabs and famous estates. Already, the AI voice company has rolled out voice models for Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Sir Laurence Olivier to its Iconic Listening Experience. According to a company spokesperson, ElevenLabs worked “in close collaboration with the Jerry Garcia Estate to ensure that the reproduction of Garcia’s voice was as authentic and true to his legacy as possible.”
Trending on Billboard
In addition to the ElevenReader, Garcia’s voice model will also be used in various upcoming projects associated with the Jerry Garcia Foundation. This could include narrated documentaries, audio art exhibits and more.
This announcement with the Garcia estate shows ElevenLabs taking another step towards infiltrating the niche of AI music. In May, the company’s head of design Ammaar Reshi gave a “very early preview” of an ElevenLabs AI music generator on X, formerly known as Twitter. For now, however, Garcia’s voice model is only available to read various texts.
The Garcia voice model is the latest instance of deceased or older musicians and their estates partnering with AI companies to market the artists’ catalogs and personas to the next generation of fans. Warner Music and the estate of “La Vie En Rose” singer Edith Piaf, for instance, partnered with an AI company to bring the late French singer’s voice back to life for an upcoming biopic, and last month, Universal Music Enterprises and Brenda Lee used AI to translate her Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” into Spanish, enabling Lee, who is now 79, recreate the youthful tone of her voice from the time when she originally recorded the song.
“My father was a pioneering artist, who embraced innovative audio and visual technologies,” says Keelin Garcia, daughter of Jerry and co-founder and vp of the Jerry Garcia Foundation. “In the 1990’s, my dad introduced me to the computer, digital art, and video games. When we traveled on concert tour, we played on Game Boy. At home, we’d have fun playing on the Macintosh in the studio where my father created his first digital art, and housed his MIDI guitar. Now, as technological landscapes continue to expand, ElevenLabs AI Audio technology will offer fans the first opportunity to hear and stream a replica of my father’s voice reading their favorite books and other written content.”
“At ElevenLabs, we’re committed to preserving and celebrating cultural legacies while pushing the boundaries of technology,” said Dustin Blank, Head of Partnerships at ElevenLabs. “By bringing voices like Jerry Garcia to our platform, we’re not just enhancing our app – we’re creating new ways for people to experience content.This project has been a labor of love, and we couldn’t be happier with how Jerry’s voice has been recreated. It’s a beautiful thing to bring his sound to life again for both longtime fans and a new generation of listeners.”
Independent music publisher Primary Wave Music has partnered with the estate of country/folk singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker on Walker’s music publishing catalog, recording copyrights and artist royalties. The partnership provides the Walker estate access to Primary Wave’s marketing team and publishing infrastructure to work on new marketing, branding, digital, synch opportunities and film/TV projects. The deal also features an agreement for Walker’s recorded masters, in partnership with his label Tried & True Music, to be released and distributed through Sun Records; Sun Records will provide overall catalog marketing strategy, including streaming, social media marketing and physical releases. The deal includes some of Walker’s biggest hits, including “Mr. Bojangles,” “Railroad Lady” and “Sangria Wine.” – Jessica Nicholson
AI-powered social music app Hook partnered with Glassnote Records to add new tracks from artists including Tors, bby, Hayes Warner and Dylan Cartride to its library, with more acts to be added soon. Glassnote’s roster also includes Mumford & Sons, Childish Gambino and Phoenix. Hook allows users to remix existing songs by speeding them up, slowing them down, mashing them up with other songs and more to post on social platforms, effectively opening up another revenue stream for participating artists. In a statement, Glassnote founder/president Daniel Glass called Hook “a comprehensive solution to the use of remixed music across social platforms in a way that emphasizes artists’ control and compensation.”
Trending on Billboard
Leading music licensing platform Slipstream acquired Anthem Entertainment‘s production music businesses, including U.S.-based Jingle Punks and 5 Alarm Music and U.K.-based Cavendish Music. The acquisition encompasses more than 650,000 tracks along with music production capabilities. The purchase was made possible by financing and expertise offered by Pollen Street Capital, while Moelis & Company served as the exclusive financial advisor to Anthem on the negotiation. The acquisition represents a full-circle moment for Slipstream co-founders Dan Demole and Jesse Korwin; Demole co-founded Jingle Punks and previously served as president of Anthem Music Group, while Korwin served as Jingle Punks’ MD. Anthem Entertainment will make an investment in Slipstream as part of the deal.
Reactional Music, which allows video game developers to create interactive music soundtracks in their gaming titles, struck a global licensing partnership with Naxos, a leading rights holder of classical and regional music. The two companies are also exploring a collaboration on the composition of interactive soundtracks that would allow gamers to personalize Naxos-owned music in real time while playing, without affecting the master recording. Reactional has previously struck licensing partnerships with companies including Beggars Group, Hopeless Records, Hipgnosis Music Group and production music groups like APM Music, Soundstripe and Alibi.
Global investment firm CVC has invested alongside KKR to support live entertainment group Superstruct Entertainment in its next phase of development. KKR acquired Superstruct, which owns and operates more than 80 music festivals across Europe and Australia, in June 2024. CVC’s previous investments include Stage Entertainment, Formula One, Women’s Tennis and LaLiga.
SoundExchange and the Societies’ Council for the Collective Management of Performers’ Rights (SCAPR) announced that SoundExchange has become the first non-member collective management organization (CMO) to be able to create and issue international performer numbers (IPNs) — unique universal identifiers associated with performers, created and administered by SCAPR, that are used to identify them in data exchanges with other CMOs globally. Through the deal, SoundExchange will create and assign SCAPR’s IPNs to further link performers to their recordings, thereby improving identification of their creative contributions. “IPNs represent another tool in our expanding arsenal helping to get the right people paid the royalties they deserve,” said SoundExchange president/CEO Michael Huppe in a statement.
Downtown-owned business to business distributor FUGA partnered with Manila, Philippines-based management and production company ASINTADA while announcing new hires across the APAC region, including Noorcahyo Istyabudi and Jaya Singh, who will lead business development in Indonesia and South Asia, respectively. FUGA will provide global distribution and bespoke marketing services to ASINTADA, which will also have access to FUGA’s trends and analytics platform. ASINTADA represents some of the biggest hip-hop artists in the region, including Filipino rapper Gloc-9 and rising OPM (original Pilipino music) talent including Shanti Dope, Flow G and Skusta Clee. FUGA also announced a partnership with the Jesuit Communications Foundation, the media arm of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus; Crown Studios Inc., a full-service talent and management agency; and record label and production house 314 Studios.
Global children’s audio platform Yoto secured a $15 million funding package from HSBC UK‘s Growth Lending Fund to support its international growth. The funding will allow Yoto, which is based in the U.K. and currently operates in five countries, to extend its reach beyond those markets. Yoto additionally plans to expand the manufacture of its audio players and content cards to satisfy growing demand. The company says it expects to double its revenue with the funding.
Universal Music Group has entered a strategic partnership with AI music company KLAY. To date, KLAY has not yet released any of its products, but the AI start-up is said to be developing what it calls a “Large Music Model,” dubbed “KLayMM” which will “help humans create new music with the help of AI,” says […]
A new Spanish-language version of Brenda Lee‘s holiday hit “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” was released Friday (Oct. 25), using “responsibly-trained” artificial intelligence to make the translation. A perennial hit for 66 years and counting, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” is the biggest song to have been translated into a new language using AI.
Released via MCA Nashville/Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), “Noche Buena y Navidad” was revamped by four-time Latin Grammy award-winning producer Auero Baqueiro. Baqueiro first translated the lyrics from English to Spanish, trying to match the same phonetics and rhyming structure that made sense for Spanish while maintaining the original lyrical themes from the original English version. Then, he enlisted Chile-born, L.A.-based vocalist Leyla Hoyle to sing the vocals in Spanish in a way that would capture Lee’s unique voice patterns, including intricacies like phrasing, tone, and breaths.
Baquiero ultimately kept the original music and background vocals and, once Hoyle recorded the raw Spanish vocals, used AI to map Lee’s voice over Hoyle’s performance. The translation was made possible using SoundLabs AI’s MicDrop technology, a “responsibly-trained” AI audio plugin that allows users to swap their voices out with another voice or instrument.
Trending on Billboard
The new AI-powered translation arrives just in time for the holiday season. Despite being released back in 1958, Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is more popular than ever. Last year, her song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time and stayed in the top spot for three straight weeks.
Lee is not the first artist to use AI to translate her work. In May 2023, HYBE debuted a new K-pop artist, MIDNATT, who used AI to release his first single in six different languages. In November 2023, indie-pop artist Lauv released an AI translation of his single “Love U Like That” in Korean as a nod to his strong fanbase in that country. Similarly to “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” a bilingual human songwriter, Kevin Woo, translated the “Love U Like That” lyrics to Korean. After Woo sang through the song, Lauv’s voice was planted on top of his vocals using the AI voice platform Hooky.
Finally, country icon Randy Travis made headlines in May 2024 by using AI voice technology to record a new single, “Where That Came From,” after his vocal abilities were greatly diminished in a near-fatal stroke a decade before.
The Spanish-language version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is the first release from Universal Music Group (UMG) and SoundLabs’ partnership, which was announced in June 2024. The AI company was founded by software developer and electronic artist BT and is said to be “responsibly” trained. The partnership is part of UMG’s “responsible AI initiative,” as laid out by the company’s CEO/chairman Lucian Grainge, which involves “forg[ing] groundbreaking private-sector partnerships with AI technology companies.”
“I am so blown away by this new Spanish version of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,’ which was created with the help of AI,” said Lee in a statement. “Throughout my career, I performed and recorded many songs in different languages, but I never recorded ‘Rockin’’ in Spanish, which I would have loved to do. To have this out now is pretty incredible, and I’m happy to introduce the song to fans in a new way.”
“We are thrilled to work with Brenda Lee to making ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ the first classic song translated responsibly into another language with the power of AI, added UMe president/CEO Bruce Resnikoff. “We are also very excited about the possibilities of this emerging technology and look forward to harnessing its capabilities to introduce new material created by and approved by our artists.”
“The minute you hear Brenda Lee’s iconic voice on ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ you know it’s the official start of Christmas,” said UMG Nashville chair/CEO Cindy Mabe. “The global hit has touched people all over the world and kept this young 13-year-old spirit of Christmas captured in a time capsule. We are all so excited for this new Spanish version created with the help of AI from that legendary voice and approved by Brenda Lee herself to help celebrate this enduring, timeless classic.”
Thousands of musicians, composers, actors and authors from across the creative industries, including ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, all five members of Radiohead and The Cure’s Robert Smith, have signed a statement opposing artificial intelligence companies and developers using their work without a license for training generative AI systems.
Signatories also include all three major record labels — Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group — as well as a wide range of music trade organizations representing record labels, publishers and creators from the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Mexico, the U.K., Ireland, Sweden and Brazil.
Trending on Billboard
“The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted,” reads the single-sentence statement posted at aitrainingstatement.org.
Within several hours of going live on Tuesday (Oct. 22), the statement had been signed by more 11,500 people from across the creative arts, including actors Kevin Bacon, Sean Astin and Rosario Dawson; authors James Patterson, Ian Rankin, Ann Patchett and Kate Mosse; and music artists Billy Bragg, Max Richter and Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora.
The global campaign was conceived and organized by Ed Newton-Rex, a British composer now based in the U.S., who has formerly held several senior executive roles at AI technology and music companies.
In 2010, Newton-Rex founded Jukedeck, a U.K.-based AI music generation company that provided music for video, TV, radio, podcasts and games. It was acquired by TikTok parent company ByteDance in 2019.
Following the acquisition, Newton-Rex, who is also a choral composer, went on to run ByteDance’s European AI Lab before becoming head of audio at tech firm Stability AI. He quit that role last year in protest of the company’s belief that it is acceptable to use copyrighted work without a license on “fair use” grounds without permission from rights holders.
Newton-Rex tells Billboard that several trade groups are supporting his campaign and helped gather signatories but have not provided funding for the initiative.
The statement comes amid increasing concern from creators and rights holders over how their works are being exploited by AI developers for generative training purposes — and how to rein those tech companies in.
Earlier this year, the three major record companies filed lawsuits against AI music firms Suno and Udio alleging the widespread infringement of copyrighted sound recordings “at an almost unimaginable scale.”
In the U.K., the government is soon to launch a consultation on how to regulate AI technology and is understood to be exploring a scheme that would allow AI companies to legally scrape copyright-protected content from artists and rights holders unless they “opt out.”
Creator groups say that any “opt out” solution would be highly damaging to the music business and would prefer an “opt in” scheme that grants rights holders the ability to approve the use of their works by AI companies.
Tech giants Google and Microsoft are meanwhile calling for the British government to soften the country’s copyright laws for AI firms and introduce an exception for text and data mining of copyrighted works, including music, for commercial purposes. Such a premise was raised by the previous Conservative government in 2022 but was abandoned a year later following strong criticism from musicians and creators.
“Copyright serves to safeguard the value of human creativity, while also driving value in the wider music and creative industries,” said Sophie Jones, chief strategy officer at U.K. labels trade body BPI, one of the organizations supporting Newton-Rex, in a statement. “If the U.K. is to remain a global creative powerhouse in an increasingly competitive world,” she continued, “the government must ensure that it is respected and enforced.”
Those views were echoed by the Association of Independent Music (AIM), which has also signed the statement.
“To achieve the benefits of AI for creativity, we urge policymakers not to lose sight of the need for strong copyright protections,” said AIM interim CEO Gee Davy in a statement on Tuesday (Oct. 22). She added that it was “vital” policymakers protect artists and rights holders “to ensure a healthy future for those who create, invest in and release music across genres and all communities, regions and nations of the U.K.”
Tuesday’s statement is just the latest salvo in the battle between generative AI companies and rights holders. In May, Sony Music released a statement warning more than 700 AI companies not to scrape the company’s copyrighted data, while Warner Music released a similar statement in July. That same month in the U.S. Senate, a bill dubbed the No FAKES Act, which aims to protect creators from AI deepfakes, was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators.