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Source: Google / Black Owned Friday
Google’s Black-Owned Friday continues spotlighting Black-owned businesses nationwide on America’s favorite shopping holiday.
Black-Owned Friday is back for its fifth iteration and is sticking to the same formula of using the biggest Black celebrities and influencers to help spread the word about fantastic Black-owned businesses.
Last year, Keke Palmer did a clever cover of Crystal Water’s iconic record “Pure Love,” joining other big names like Ludacris, Normani, T-Pain, and Flo Milli, who were involved in previous years.
This year, Google has tapped one of Hip-Hop’s hottest acts in GloRilla, social media superstar and current Google Pixel hypeman Druski, and YouTuber and entrepreneur Jayda Cheaves to help launch the 5th annual Black-Owned Friday shopping initiative from Google.
Source: Google / Black Owned Friday
The trio stars in “A Day of Black-owned Shopping with Druski, Glorilla, and Jayda Cheaves’ film directed by Rodney Lucas, highlighting Black-owned businesses and products featured in this year’s Black-Owned Friday” initiative.
In the short film, Druski, GloRilla, and Jayda Cheaves visit three Black-Owned businesses: Royal Crown Barbershop, Wadada Health Market and Juice Bar, and The Wellness Spot.
Druski, GloRilla & Director Rodney Lucas On The Importance of Black-Owned Friday
“As an artist, I’m all about representing where I come from and supporting my community, “GloRilla begins. “Partnering with Google for Black-owned Friday is my way of showing love to Black entrepreneurs who are out here making big moves. Supporting Black-owned businesses is more than a moment—it’s a movement, it’s how we grow, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
Source: Google / Black-Owned Friday
Druski adds, “I enjoyed working with Google on Black-Owned Friday because it’s all about celebrating the greatness in our communities. I’m a comedian, but this is serious business—spotlighting Black entrepreneurs and showing the power of supporting our own. It’s a cool way to remind folks that every choice we make can uplift the culture, and I’m here for that…plus who doesn’t love a good smoothie, shape-up, and yoga session? I’m more flexible than meets the eye (laughing emoji).”
Source: Google / Black-Owned Friday
“Working with the Google Team on Black-Owned Friday spoke directly to the soul of who I am as a Director and the level of care, support, and vibrations of Black joy that carry our communities,” Rodney Lucas begins. “At age 7, my first job was sweeping floors in one of the longest-standing Black-Owned record shops on the South Side of Chicago. That experience built the foundation of everything I am today. Our fillm gave me the opportunity to re ect, honor, and deliver a cinematic love letter to every Black-Owned business that helped propel my dreams. Black-Owned Friday is a moment to celebrate Black-owned businesses’ service, craftsmanship, and legacy worldwide, and I am grateful for the opportunity to add a chapter to this empowering and unifying campaign.”
Source: Google / Black-Owned Friday
More Details About Black-Owned Friday
Right now, you can visit the landing page for Black-Owned Friday to see more videos supporting Black-owned businesses and add your own to highlight a local Black-owned business in your community. You can also check out a blog post from Dr. Valaurie Lee Bridges, owner of the Wellness Spot in Atlanta, Georgia. If you’re a business owner, you can also learn more about resources like Google’s Black-owned business attribute and the ByBlack Platform powered by the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., to help people find your company on Black-owned Friday and beyond.
Hit the gallery below for a complete list of businesses and products participating in the initiative.
1. EssenceTree
EssenceTree Holistic Life is a lifestyle brand that celebrates organic beauty and inspired living, the passions of its founder Charmaine Gibbs-West. Created as a platform for empowerment, the Atlanta, GA based company consists of luxurious handcrafted beauty products, transformative wellness services and entrepreneurial education.
Established in 2005 on her husband’s family farm, EssenceTree started as a therapeutic hobby. After transitioning from a fast-paced Wall Street career in New York, Charmaine moved south to Tennessee and embraced a simpler, more sacred life.
A student of various healing therapies, Charmaine found herself experimenting with homemade concoctions, artfully infusing practices of aromatherapy, herbalism and intention into her original recipes. Themes which were noticeably absent in the beauty industry.
Even now, EssenceTree’s creations are still original works of art, blended with the finest natural ingredients and healing intent.
2. Marlie Mahogany
Marlie Mahogany started off as a shampoo girl in a doobie shop in Newark, NJ at the age of 14. She quickly became a specialist in hair maintenance, often taking care of the hair of family, friends and community members. After coming to Atlanta, Marlie went to school for dental assisting and quickly realized that her passion for doing hair was still calling her. Soon she began working for a celebrity hairstylist and learned a lot about the hair industry. Marlie was offered as position as a natural hairstylist at Royal Crown Barbershop in West End Atlanta where she worked for 6 years. Now she works full-time in her own hair studio, offering dedicated services and essential products to the natural hair community.
3. Natural Beauty Organics
My name is Cat Belle. My daughter, Saharah, and I were inspired to create this hair care line because we are natural hair care professionals and lovers of a holistic lifestyle. Natural Beauty Organics was created with specific goals in mind.
To have a hair care product that really, really works on textured hair.
To assist hair growth using herbs and essential oils that promote an overall healthy scalp.
To educate and empower women worldwide, about natural hair.
We use all natural ingredients, like hemp seed oil and avocado oil, both rich in omega 3 fatty acids that your hair loves. Combined, we have over 25 years of experience with natural hair. We love cultivating a space for women that choose to have relaxer free hair. We allow the narrative of Natural Hair and Loving Natural Hair to unfold here at Natural Beauty Organics.
4. The Royal Crown Barbershop
Source:The Royal Crown Barbershop
Ehl-Ahd, Royal Crown Barber Shop
“As a proud business owner serving the West End for 25 years, Royal Crown Barber Shop has been about more than just haircuts – it’s about building a community with my customers. Partnering with Google for Black-owned Friday lets me share that legacy and encourage everyone to support Black-owned businesses every day.”
5. Wada Healthy Market & Juice Bar
Jeanee Sellers, Wadada Healthy Market & Juice Bar
“Being part of Google’s Black-owned Friday campaign was an amazing opportunity! After years of serving our community at Wadada, I’ve witnessed firsthand how Black-owned businesses empower and uplift our community. I was proud to share my story and emphasize the importance of intentionally supporting and shopping with Black-owned businesses.”
6. The Wellness Spot
The Wellness Spot is an upscale fitness, day spa and private events destination in the heart of Historic College Park, GA. We deliver a total well-being experience. Whether you need to slip into an hour of calm or challenge yourself in a full-body sweat session. Our promise to you is a visit defined by quality, courtesy, comfort and respect. Learn more about The Wellness Spot journey.
7. Pretty Thuggish
Pretty Thuggish celebrates female empowerment through individuality, courage and power, embracing not only a pretty exterior, but also a “thuggish” interior. Pretty Thuggish has the essence of determination and self-love embedded into the fabric of each piece, and inspires others to be their authentic selves and live fearlessly.
Vibrant colors, edgy, yet feminine flair with a dash of tomboy sets Pretty Thuggish apart from other brands of women’s clothing. Our fun and flashy pieces make a bold statement no matter the occasion. Pretty Thuggish was created for confident women who emanate beauty through strength.
8. Waydamin
Est. 2021 • Ready to wear, size inclusive collections designed by Jayda Cheaves made to fit everyBODY.
9. Honey Beloved
Maisha Abdullah Owner of Honey Beloved
I believe there is much truth to the notion that we are pushed to be our best. My career as an Illustrator and Graphic Designer had become increasingly stressful and unsatisfying to the point that I decided to resign with little savings and an idealistic plan of working for myself. I was terrified to do this but I was more afraid of what would become of me if I didn’t. While establishing this plan I took a part time job at one of my favorite fashion retailers. Nearly everyday I was complimented by customers about my handmade jewelry and clothing. Even told that this multi million dollar company should be carrying my pieces. And additionally I must say that I learned allot from my retail fashion idol that I will be forever grateful for, however another common thought is don’t meet your idols. On my way to work the next big undeniable push for change came again. I knew if I didn’t change my course literally and immediately I would be stuck. I veered off the road and made a u-turn like a bandit breaking out of jail. I drove straight to the local jewelry supply store, bought some supplies, went home and got to work. I have always been a pretty reliable and responsible person but there comes a time in life when neither of those things are as important as saving yourself will ever be. I know that striking out in more ways than one is something that just had to be done!
10. Milano Di Rouge
Milano Di Rouge created by a Dreamer for the Dreamers, the visionaries, and ambitious individuals who aspire to a lifestyle of luxury, authenticity, and success. Our designs are more than just clothing; they’re the keys to unlocking a world where dreams become reality and ambitions are worn on one’s sleeve—literally. Each piece embodies excellence, designed for those who dare to dream and live with purpose. We offer more than just style; our brand narrative is woven into every aspect, inviting our audience to join a movement of boldness and authenticity. In every detail, Milano Di Rouge captures the essence of the dreamer’s journey.
11. Nourish Botanica
Founded in 2014 by Quianah Upton | Homegrown in Atlanta, GA.
With our shops and outdoor event space we provide healing through art, flowers and plants grown on our land, food as medicine and herbal blends. Nourish Botanica also provides a physical space for engagement and education around equity and social justice by centering joy.
12. King’s Barber Parlor By Geno
Book services by heading here.
13. LaRayia’s Bodega
The first Black-owned vegan bodega in Atlanta.
14. MoreLyfe Juice Co.
100% Plant Based 🧃 JUICES 🥤SMOOTHIES 🥐 PATTIES 🥣 BOWLS
LONDON — The U.K. competition regulator has closed its investigations into Apple’s App store and Google’s Play Store on the grounds of shifting “administrative priorities” as it prepares to rollout stronger enforcement powers over tech companies.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation into Apple in 2021 following complaints from developers over the way that the California-based tech giant operates its app store.
For many years, developers and app makers have complained about Apple’s restrictions to outside developers and the up-to-30% fee it charges them on all purchases made through its app store.
Two of the company’s biggest critics have been Spotify and Fortnite developer Epic Games with the latter taking its fight against Apple through the U.S. courts (Epic eventually lost the case, but in the process a California ordered Apple to make changes to how its store operates, including allowing links to outside platforms and third-party services).
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The CMA opened a separate investigation into suspected anti-competitive conduct by Google in relation to its own app store in June 2022.
Both of those probes have now been dropped, the competition watchdog announced Wednesday (Aug. 21), pending reforms to U.K. competition and consumer protection laws, which are due to come into force later this year under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA).
The act, which was passed by the previous government administration in May, grants the CMA new and expanded powers over how large digital companies operate in the United Kingdom, including the ability to directly impose fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover for firms found to be breaching consumer protection and competition laws.
“Once the new pro-competition digital markets regime comes into force, we’ll be able to consider applying those new powers to concerns we have already identified through our existing work,” said Will Hayter, executive director for digital markets at the CMA, in a statement.
The CMA said that should Apple or Google each or both be designated as having “strategic market status” – a categorization that requires global turnover of more than £25 billion or U.K. turnover of more than £1 billion — it will be able to use its new powers to investigate the companies “more holistically” than it could under its now-closed probes.
The regulator said it expects to launch three to four investigations into companies with strategic market status (SMS) within the first year of its new powers coming into force. If the CMA finds businesses are using their status to gain an unfair competitive advantage, it says it will take “targeted and proportionate action” to address their behavior.
The CMA also said that it has rejected new commitments from Google that would have given app developers the choice of using alternative payment options to Google Play’s billing system, under proposals known as “Developer Only Billing” and “User Choice Billing.” Those proposals failed to “address its competition concerns effectively,” said the CMA.
In response, a spokesperson for Google said the company has actively engaged with the regulator throughout their investigation and has “made a number of significant commitments to further broaden the billing options available to developers through Google Play.”
Google says that its fees are the lowest charged by major app stores with 99% of developers qualifying for a service fee of 15% or less. The company says that in 2022 its Android app business generated almost £10 billion in revenue for British developers and supported over 457,000 jobs in the U.K. Apple did not respond to requests for comment when contacted by Billboard.
The CMA’s warning that it will continue to closely monitor the tech sector over competition concerns and may reopen further inquiries in the not-too-distant future comes as regulators and politicians around the world look at ways to curb the dominance of tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Google and Meta.
In March, the European Commissioned fined Apple 1.8 billion euro ($1.95 billion) for breaking competition laws and unfairly favoring its own music streaming service over rivals including Spotify. [Apple appealed in May.]
The company has also been forced to make a number to how its App store operates in the 27-member EU trading bloc as a result of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which officially came into force in 2022, although companies had until March this year to comply with its terms.
The Digital Markets Act requires tech companies trading within the EU region to open up their services and platforms to other businesses and allow them to operate more freely.
For music streaming services like Spotify that means it is now able to list pricing information inside its app for European users – an update that is “something as obvious as it is overdue,” the company said in a blog post earlier this month. Freemium Spotify users looking to upgrade can also see special introductory offers and the pricing once a promotion ends.
While Spotify has welcomed the gradual loosening of restrictions, it says its long-running battle with Apple isn’t over and continues to criticize the company for preventing EU iOS users from purchasing subscriptions in-app because of what it describes as “illegal and predatory taxes Apple continues to demand, despite the [European] Commission’s ruling.”
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
On Tuesday (Aug. 13), Google introduced a fresh lineup of smartphones that features AI and a more advanced camera. The Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel Pro Fold are packed with upgrades including camera enhancements, AI technology and a better weather app.
Pixel 9 has a sleeker design than its predecessor, updated finishes with “a silky matte glass back and polished metal sides for a distinctly premium feel,” per Google.
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The phones are equipped with Super Actua display screens — Google’s brightest to date — a 42 MP camera with new features such as “Add Me,” an editing tool that uses “augmented reality, and AI algorithms that allow you to snap photos and add yourself in them. The battery lasts for more than 24 hours (up to 100 hours in Extreme Power Saver mode).
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Pixel Screenshots, another new feature, helps you organize and save screenshots, plus Pixel 9 offers access to Gemini Live, Google’s AI assistant.
Pixel Weather App also got an update. The weather app now features Gemini Nano technology to generate “custom AI” weather reports.
According to Google, Pixel 9 has an “elegant, sculpted” silhouette with “more rounded corners” than previous iterations, flat glass on the front and back, and new size options. It’s thinner design is constructed with recycled aluminum making for a lighter feel in your hand and for the first time ever, Pixel 9 is available in two sizes: 6.3-inches (Pixel 9 Pro) and 6.8-inches (Pixel 9 Pro XL).
The Pixel 9 ($799) is available in porcelain, hazel, peony and wintergreen. Pixel 9 Pro ($999) and Pixel 9 Pro XL ($1,099) are available in porcelain, obsidian, hazel and rose quartz. Pre-order the Pixel 9 bundle at Amazon to save up to 16% off and receive a gift card worth up to $200.
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Pixel Pro Fold ($1,799), Google’s first foldable phone, features a new “fluid-friction” hinge that opens to 180 degrees. In addition to new phones, Google debuted the redesigned Pixel Buds Pro and Pixel Watch 3, now available in two new sizes to compliment the Pixel 9.
Pixel 9 is available for pre-order at major retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy and the Google Shop. The phones will be released on Aug. 22 and Sept. 4.
The dispute over the YouTube Music union, whose 43 members were abruptly laid off last week while one was testifying during an Austin City Council meeting, largely depends on the definition of “contractor.” Because they are not permanent, full-time employees, “their project on YouTube Music has ended,” according to a rep from their employer, information-technology subcontractor Cognizant, and “the contract expired at its natural end date.”
Independent contractors, according to Kate Bronfenbrenner, Cornell University’s director of labor education research, are “not under the regulatory state,” so they lack basic workplace protections. “Whether it’s labor law, health and safety or race discrimination, independent contractors have almost no rights in our economy,” she says. “So employers say, ‘We want to make as much money as possible — let’s make all our employees temporary employees.’”
Trending on Billboard
The 43 YouTube contractors, who work for Cognizant and Google to oversee content for the music-streaming service’s 80 million subscribers, voted unanimously almost a year ago to form a union under the auspices of Alphabet Workers Union-CWA. They’ve complained of hourly wages as low as $19 and a lack of sick pay and benefits. And they say Google has not been willing to bargain with them; in January, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Google’s refusal to do so was illegal and must “bargain on request.” (An appeal is pending.)
In a statement, Google spokeswoman Courtenay Mencini repeated that Cognizant, not Google, is “responsible for these workers’ employment terms.” On Cognizant’s side, Jeff DeMarrais, chief communications officer, says “nobody was laid off” from YouTube Music and the contractors have seven weeks of paid time to “explore other roles within the organization.”
Sam Regan, a YouTube Music data analyst who is on the union’s organizing committee, responds that his team’s project was “never considered as temporary” and the Cognizant moves are, in fact, layoffs, as opposed to reassignments to different areas of the company. “Our team was fired and we had no notice, no warning, that we were going to get laid off,” he says. “It was cold, ruthless, dehumanizing, inhumane. The practice of tech companies laying off large swaths of people without notice is indicative of a pretty sick orientation towards workers in our culture.”
Regan and Katie-Marie Marschner, a subject matter expert on YouTube Music’s charts team until last week, accuse company managers of forcing them to leave their office without giving them a chance to remove their belongings. The office was a “total destruction zone,” Marschner says, alleging company employees and on-site security refused to let them remove certain personal items. “The experience was traumatic for a lot of us,” Regan adds.
Members of the YouTube Music team had been scheduled to testify before the Austin City Council on Feb. 29 to ask city officials to help convince Google to negotiate with their union. But as data analyst Jack Benedict was speaking, Marschner received a text saying her entire team was fired. Shaken, she interrupted the colleague’s speech — a moment captured in a video clip that went viral. Watching the clip afterwards, Marschner says, has been surreal and traumatic. “It’s such an insane experience opening my phone and that’s the first thing I see — myself talking, and not just talking, but the sound of my voice and the pain and shock,” she says.
Marschner accuses Cognizant and Google of “union-busting” and says the team members were “fired illegally.” And Cornell’s Bronfenbrenner is skeptical of Cognizant’s assertion that the temporary employees had a “natural end date” of Feb. 29. “There are a whole lot of questions about that,” she says. “From everything I’ve read, there wasn’t a certain date. And if there was an uncertain date, the employer can’t say their contract just ended and they can’t be laid off.”
Reached at home, Marschner says she plans to continue pursuing union recognition for her team: “We’re not done with this. We’re very much ready to keep the fight going.”
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Source: NurPhoto / Getty / Elon Musk / XMail
Elon Musk, a.k.a. bootleg Phony Stark, isn’t done with dumb ideas. The Tesla chief now wants to compete with Google’s popular email client, Gmail, with a new product called XMail.
Musk seems to have a serious one-sided beef with Google, and we wonder if the folks there know about it. First, he drops his version of ChatGPT called “Grok.”
He has also been calling out the Alpahabet Inc. owned company’s search tool, calling its AI tool Gemini “insane” and “racist.” He claims he spoke with a “senior exec” who assured him the company will “take immediate action to fix the racial and gender bias in Gemini.”
Now, he claims he is dropping his own email client called XMail.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Musk revealed “it’s coming” when replying to X Engineer Nate McGrady asking, “When are we making XMail?”
We all know Musk is full of you-know-what and tends to make outlandish claims all the time, but he could be serious about this XMail thing.
If he thinks he will be able to compete with Google’s Gmail immediately, he’s definitely going to have some serious work cut out for him.
Demand Sage claims that Gmail currently has 1.8 billion active users globally, and we don’t see XMail coming anywhere near that.
Yeah, so good luck with peeling off longtime Gmail users and luring them to “XMail” if he decides to create it.
We truly believe Elon Musk is just talking out the side of his a** like he does with everything else.
You can see more reactions to the possibitly of XMail arriving in the gallery below.
1. Accurate
3. Howling
4. Sure Jan
5. This guy gets it.
6. Excellent question
After a string of pivots, rebrands, upgraded offerings and expanded plans, YouTube Premium and Music has passed the magical 100 million subscribers mark, counting users in trials, the company announced Thursday (Feb. 1).
That’s up from the 80 million Premium and Music subscribers around the world (including trials), reported in November 2022, and a jump from 50 million users at the end of 2021.
The milestone is cause for great celebration at the company, notes Lyor Cohen, global head of music at YouTube, in an open letter to the industry issued today (Feb. 1). “This 20-million-member growth in just over a year underscores the strength of our twin engine of advertising and subscriptions revenue,” writes Cohen.
The Alphabet-owned business unveiled its subscription offering, YouTube Music, back in October 2015, and launched its dedicated app the following month.
The streaming landscape then was littered with naysayers. “Many doubted a subscription model could thrive on YouTube,” Cohen notes. “They said the market was crowded and our platform was too different. Today – 100 million subscribers later – our distinctiveness is precisely what drives our success and why I still see so much room for growth.”
Later, in June 2018, YouTube announced the launch of YouTube Premium, formerly known as YouTube Red. Since then, notes Cohen, the Premium service’s global expansion has ramped up and is “now thriving in over 100 countries and regions” with “more on the horizon in 2024.”
By crossing the 100 million mark, “we’re delighted and humbled,” comments Adam Smith, vice president of product management at YouTube, in a separate statement.
Along the way, “we learned a lot, made a few pivots (and even rebranded), expanded our offerings and plans, and made YouTube Music and Premium available in over 100 countries and regions,” adds Smith.
In a matchup of streaming heavyweights, Spotify, the market-leading music platform, holds the advantage. The Sweden-based business came to market early, in 2008, and boasted 226 million premium subscribers worldwide in Q3 2023.
Though Apple rarely shares updates on subscriber numbers, in June 2022, J.P. Morgan estimated Apple Music could hit 110 million subscribers by 2025. The last time the company reported subscriber numbers for Apple Music was in 2019, when it reported 60 million paid users.
As YouTube hangs the decorations, captains of the industry are lining up to thank their tech partner — including a former YouTuber now leading a major label.
“Having been at YouTube when we conceived of the subscription service, 100 million customers felt like a distant possibility,” says Robert Kyncl, who was chief business officer at YT before joining Warner Music Group as CEO. “Today, it’s yet another signpost on a journey of extraordinary growth. The fact that YouTube continues to go from strength to strength isn’t just good for them, it’s healthy for the entire music ecosystem.”
Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, says the team led by Cohen and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan deserves credit for “continuing to grow and drive innovation while making significant contributions to the global music ecosystem. Our partnership demonstrates that if you start from a foundation of respect for artists and songwriters, there are limitless opportunities to create thriving businesses that benefit artists and fans alike.”
Adds Helen Smith, executive chair of pan-European independent music companies’ trade body IMPALA: “YouTube has a unique place in the music ecosystem, is a valued member of IMPALA’s Friends scheme and a great partner of our 100 Artists to Watch program.” She continues, “We look forward to continuing to work together across the whole European market where there is so much potential for digital services who see diversity as an asset.”
According to Cohen, YT’s businesses have contributed $6 billion in the past year.
“The music industry is at a critical juncture,” he writes. “Together, we can harness technological innovation to drive unprecedented value for artists and fans, building on our momentum that contributed $6 billion to the music industry in 12 months.”
That future, one where the music industry “thrives,” he insists, would see both sides leveraging AI to enhance creative imagination, seamlessly bridging short-form and long-form content for maximum artist exposure, and more.
Read Cohen’s thank you letter here.
Lyor Cohen’s first encounter with Google’s generative artificial intelligence left him gobsmacked. “Demis [Hassabis, CEO of Google Deepmind] and his team presented a research project around genAI and music and my head came off of my shoulders,” Cohen, global head of music for Google and YouTube, told Billboard in November. “I walked around London for two days excited about the possibilities, thinking about all the issues and recognizing that genAI in music is here — it’s not around the corner.”
While some of the major labels are touting YouTube as an important partner in the evolving world of music and AI, not everyone in the music industry has been as enthusiastic about these new efforts. That’s because Google trained its model on a large set of music — including copyrighted major-label recordings — and then went to show it to rights holders, rather than asking permission first, according to four sources with knowledge of the search giant’s push into generative AI and music. That could mean artists “opting out” of such AI training — a key condition for many rights holders — is not an option.
YouTube did make sure to sign one-off licenses with some parties before rolling out a beta version of its new genAI “experiment” in November. Dream Track, the only AI product it has released publicly so far, allows select YouTube creators to soundtrack clips on Shorts with pieces of music, based on text prompts, that can include replicas of famous artists’ voices. (A handful of major-label acts participated, including Demi Lovato and Charli XCX.) “Our superpower was our deep collaboration with the music industry,” Cohen said at the time. But negotiations that many in the business see as precedent-setting for broader, labelwide licensing deals have dragged on for months.
Negotiating with a company as massive as YouTube was made harder because it had already taken what it wanted, according to multiple sources familiar with the company’s label talks. Meanwhile, other AI companies continue to move ahead with their own music products, adding pressure on YouTube to keep progressing its technology.
In a statement, a YouTube representative said, “We remain committed to working collaboratively with our partners across the music industry to develop AI responsibly and in a way that rewards participants with long-term opportunities for monetization, controls and attribution for potential genAI tools and content down the road,” declining to get specific about licenses.
GenAI models require training before they can start generating properly. “AI training is a computational process of deconstructing existing works for the purpose of modeling mathematically how [they] work,” Google explained 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.”
Whether a company needs permission before undertaking this process on copyrighted works is already the subject of several lawsuits, including Getty Images v. Stability AI and the Authors Guild v. OpenAI. In October, Universal Music Group (UMG) was among the 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.”
As these cases proceed, they are expected to set precedent for AI training — but that could take years. In the meantime, many technology companies seem set on adhering to the Silicon Valley rallying call of “move fast and break things.”
While rights holders decry what they call copyright infringement, tech companies argue their activities fall under “fair use” — the U.S. legal doctrine that allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted works in certain situations. News reporting and criticism are the most common examples, but recording a TV show to watch later, parody and other uses are also covered.
“A diverse array of cases supports the proposition that copying of a copyrighted work as an intermediate step to create a noninfringing output can constitute fair use,” Anthropic wrote in its own comments to the U.S. Copyright Office. “Innovation in AI fundamentally depends on the ability of [large language models] to learn in the computational sense from the widest possible variety of publicly available material,” Google said in its comments.
“When you think of generative AI, you mostly think of the companies taking that very modern approach — Google, OpenAI — with state-of-the-art models that need a lot of data,” says Ed Newton-Rex, who resigned as Stability AI’s vp of audio in November because the company was training on copyrighted works. “In that community, where you need a huge amount of data, you don’t see many people talking about the concerns of rights holders.”
When Dennis Kooker, president of global digital business and U.S. sales for Sony Music Entertainment, spoke at a Senate forum on AI in November, he rejected the fair use argument. “If a generative AI model is trained on music for the purpose of creating new musical works that compete in the music market, then the training is not a fair use,” Kooker said. “Training in that case, cannot be without consent, credit and compensation to the artists and rights holders.”
UMG and other music companies took a similar stance in their lawsuit against Anthropic, warning that AI firms should not be “excused from complying with copyright law” simply because they claim they’ll “facilitate immense value to society.”
“Undisputedly, Anthropic will be a more valuable company if it can avoid paying for the content on which it admittedly relies,” UMG wrote at the time. “But that should hardly compel the court to provide it a get-out-of-jail-free card for its wholesale theft of copyrighted content.”
In this climate, bringing the major labels on board as Google and YouTube did last year with Dream Track — after training the model, but before releasing it — may well be a step forward from the music industry’s perspective. At least it’s better than nothing: Google infamously started scanning massive numbers of books in 2004 without asking permission from copyright holders to create what is now known as Google Books. The Authors Guild sued, accusing Google of violating copyright, but the suit was eventually dismissed — almost a decade later in 2013.
While AI-related bills supported by the music business have already been proposed in Congress, for now the two sides are shouting past each other. Newton-Rex summarized the different mindsets succinctly: “What we in the AI world think of as ‘training data’ is what the rest of the world has thought of for a long time as creative output.”
Additional reporting by Bill Donahue.
Google has laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice assistance and engineering teams as part of cost-cutting measures.
The cuts come as Google looks towards “responsibly investing in our company’s biggest priorities and the significant opportunities ahead,” the company said in a statement.
“Some teams are continuing to make these kinds of organizational changes, which include some role eliminations globally,” it said.
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Google earlier said it was eliminating a few hundred roles, with most of the impact on its augmented reality hardware team.
The cuts follow pledges by executives of Google and its parent company Alphabet to reduce costs. A year ago, Google said it would lay off 12,000 employees or around 6% of its workforce.
In a post on X — previously known as Twitter — the Alphabet Workers Union described the job cuts as “another round of needless layoffs.”
“Our members and teammates work hard every day to build great products for our users, and the company cannot continue to fire our coworkers while making billions every quarter,” the union wrote. “We won’t stop fighting until our jobs are safe!”
Google is not the only technology company cutting back. In the past year, Meta — the parent company of Facebook — has slashed more than 20,000 jobs to reassure investors. Meta’s stock price gained about 178% in 2023.
Spotify said in December that it was axing 17% of its global workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs in 2023 as it moved to slash costs and improve its profitability.
Earlier this week, Amazon laid off hundreds of employees in its Prime Video and studios units. It also will lay off about 500 employees who work on its livestreaming platform Twitch.
Amazon has cut thousands of jobs after a hiring surge during the pandemic. In March, Amazon announced that it planned to lay off 9,000 employees, on top of 18,000 employees it said that it would lay off in January 2023.
Google is currently locked in a fierce rivalry with Microsoft as both firms strive to lead in the artificial intelligence domain.
Microsoft has stepped up its artificial intelligence offerings to rival Google’s. In September, Microsoft introduced a Copilot feature that incorporates artificial intelligence into products like search engine Bing, browser Edge as well as Windows for its corporate customers.
Google has agreed to pay $700 million and make several other concessions to settle allegations that it had been stifling competition against its Android app store — the same issue that went to trial in another case that could result in even bigger changes.
Although Google struck the deal with state attorneys general in September, the settlement’s terms weren’t revealed until late Monday in documents filed in San Francisco federal court. The disclosure came a week after a federal court jury rebuked Google for deploying anticompetitive tactics in its Play Store for Android apps.
The settlement with the states includes $630 million to compensate U.S. consumers funneled into a payment processing system that state attorneys general alleged drove up the prices for digital transactions within apps downloaded from the Play Store. That store caters to the Android software that powers most of the world’s smartphones.
Like Apple does in its iPhone app store, Google collects commissions ranging from 15% to 30% on in-app purchases — fees that state attorneys general contended drove prices higher than they would have been had there been an open market for payment processing. Those commissions generated billions of dollars in profit annually for Google, according to evidence presented in the recent trial focused on its Play Store.
Eligible consumers will receive at least $2, according to the settlement, and may get additional payments based on their spending on the Play store between Aug. 16, 2016 and Sept. 30, 2023. The estimated 102 million U.S. consumers who made in-app purchases during that time frame are supposed to be automatically notified about various options for how they can receive their cut of the money.
Another $70 million of the pre-trial settlement will cover the penalties and other costs that Google is being forced to pay to the states.
Although Google is forking over a sizeable sum, it’s a fraction of the $10.5 billion in damages that the attorneys general estimated the company could be forced to pay if they had taken the case to trial instead of settling.
Google also agreed to make other changes designed to make it even easier for consumers to download and install Android apps from other outlets besides its Play Store for the next five years. It will refrain from issuing as many security warnings, or “scare screens,” when alternative choices are being used.
The makers of Android apps will also gain more flexibility to offer alternative payment choices to consumers instead of having transactions automatically processed through the Play Store and its commission system. Apps will also be able to promote lower prices available to consumers who choose an alternate to the Play Store’s payment processing.
Investors seemed unfazed by the settlement as shares in Google’s corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., rose slightly in Tuesday’s midday trading.
The settlement represents a “loud and clear message to Big Tech — attorneys general across the country are unified, and we are prepared to use the full weight of our collective authority to ensure free and fair access to the digital marketplace,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong.
Wilson White, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, framed the deal as a positive for the company, despite the money and concessions it entails. The settlement “builds on Android’s choice and flexibility, maintains strong security protections, and retains Google’s ability to compete with other (software) makers, and invest in the Android ecosystem for users and developers,” White wrote in a blog post.
Although the state attorneys general hailed the settlement as a huge win for consumers, it didn’t go far enough for Epic Games, which spearheaded the attack on Google’s app store practices with an antitrust lawsuit filed in August 2020.
Epic, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game, rebuffed the settlement in September and instead chose to take its case to trial, even though it had already lost on most of its key claims in a similar trial targeting Apple and its iPhone app store in 2021.
The Apple trial, though, was decided by a federal judge instead of the jury that vindicated Epic with a unanimous verdict that Google had built anticompetitive barriers around the Play Store. Google has vowed to appeal the verdict.
Corie Wright, Epic’s vice president of public policy, derided the states’ settlement as little more than a one-time payout that provides “no true relief for consumers or developers,” in a blog post.
In court documents, the attorneys general said they decided to settle because of significant risks posed by a trial, including the possibility that a jury may have thought their plan to seek $10.5 billion in damages was exorbitant. The attorneys general also cited for the potential of jurors becoming confused had their case been presented alongside Epic’s claims in the trial, as had been the original plan.
But now the Epic trial’s outcome nevertheless raises the specter of Google potentially being ordered to pay even more money as punishment for its past practices and making even more dramatic changes to its lucrative Android app ecosystem.
Those changes will be determined next year by U.S. District Judge James Donato, who presided over the Epic Games trial. Donato also still must approve Google’s Play Store settlement with the states.
“In the next phase of the case, Epic will seek meaningful remedies to truly open up the Android ecosystem so consumers and developers will genuinely benefit from the competition that U.S. antitrust laws were designed to promote,” Wright pledged.
Google faces an even bigger legal threat in another antitrust case targeting its dominant search engine that serves as the centerpiece of a digital ad empire that generates more than $200 billion in sales annually. Closing arguments in a trial pitting Google against the Justice Department are scheduled for early May before a federal judge in Washington D.C.
Google released its list of the biggest trending searches of 2023 and when it comes to music, Jason Aldean‘s controversial “Try That in a Small Town” led the list of search inquiries for songs, with Aldean also hitting No. 1 as the top trending musician.
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In a year when Taylor Swift and Beyoncé were perpetually in the news thanks to their massive tours and the live concert films, the high placement for Aldean was not totally surprising given the weeks of attention he got for “Small Town,” which was pulled from CMT and labeled by some detractors as being pro-gun, pro-violence and akin to a “modern lynching song” after the release of the track’s video.
The visual found Aldean performing the song in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, TN, the site of the 1927 lynching and hanging of 18-year-old Henry Choate over allegations that he sexually assaulted a white girl, as well as the spot of a 1946 race riot in which two Black men were killed. Aldean rejected detractors’ claims about the song whose video featured images of an American flag burning, protesters clashing with police, looters breaking a display case and thieves robbing a convenience store; the video was later seemingly edited to remove images of a Black Lives Matter protest following the backlash.
Right behind Aldean was buzzy rapper Ice Spice, followed by “Rich Men North of Richmond” country singer Oliver Anthony, Peso Pluma, Joe Jonas, Sam Smith, The 1975’s Matty Healy, Kellie Pickler, Kim Petras and Sexxy Red.
Google’s data shows the top trending searches in the U.S., referring to trending queries as searches that had a major spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2023 versus 2022, which is why despite being a near-ubiquitous search term who has a consistently high search interest, TIME‘s Person of the Year Swift (and Beyoncé) didn’t top the ranking for musicians; click here for Gizmodo‘s explanation.
The year’s most buzzed-about movies, Barbie and Oppenheimer (combined as Barbenheimer by fans) came out on top, followed by the controversial anti-trafficking movie Sound of Freedom and Oscar-winner Everything Everywhere All At Once, as well as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Creed III, John Wick: Chapter 4, Five Nights at Freddy’s and Cocaine Bear. The No. 1 trending actor was Jeremy Renner, who suffered serious injuries in a snowplow incident in January.
Jamie Foxx, who was sidelined most of this year after an unexplained “medical complication” in April, was just behind Renner, followed by disgraced That 70’s Show actor Danny Masterson, comedian Matt Rife, Pedro Pascal, Jonathan Majors, Sophie Turner, Russell Brand, Ke Huy Quan and Josh Hutcherson.
The trending people list had Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin at No. 1 following his scary on-field cardiac incident during a Cincinnati Bengals game in January, followed by Renner and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, likely due to his romance with Taylor Swift; Kelce was also among the top five most-searched athletes.
The TV tally featured mostly Netflix projects, including its originals Ginny & Georgia, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Wednesday, That 90’s Show, Kaleidoscope, Beef and The Fall of the House of Usher. Other shows that got in the mix included Daisy Jones & the Six (No. 4) and The Weeknd’s one-and-done HBO series The Idol (No. 9).
Late Friends star Matthew Perry was No. 1 on searches for celebrity deaths, followed by Tina Turner, Jerry Springer, Jimmy Buffett and Sinead O’Connor, with Lisa Marie Presley coming in at No. 8. The news headlines that we searched the most were those related to the war between Israel and Hamas, followed by the sinking of the Titanic tourist submarine, Hurricanes Hilary, Idalia and Lee, as well as a mass shootings in Maine and Nashville, the Maui wildfire, the Idaho college campus murder trail and the Canadian wildfires.