Month: September 2023

As tech companies begin to monetize generative AI, the creators on whose work it is trained are asking for their fair share. But so far no one can agree on whether or how much artists should be paid. A recent open letter from the Authors Guild signed by more than 8,500 writers, including Margaret Atwood,

Web publishing platform Medium has announced that it will block OpenAI’s GPTBot, an agent that scrapes web pages for content used to train the company’s AI models. But the real news may be that a group of platforms may soon form a unified front against what many consider an exploitation of their content. Medium joins

Saregama has agreed to acquire a 51.82% stake in the startup Pocket Aces as the oldest Indian music label makes deeper push into videos. Saregama is paying about $20 million for the 51.82% stake in Pocket Aces and plans to invest an additional $1.8 million in the startup, the Kolkata-headquartered firm disclosed in a stock

Google announced this morning it will be shutting down its Google Podcasts app later in 2024 as part of its broader transition to move its streaming listeners over to YouTube Music. The company earlier this year announced YouTube Music would begin supporting podcasts in the U.S., which will expand globally by year-end, and more recently

Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl believes AI will be significantly impacting the music industry within the next year. Speaking at the Code Conference this week, the industry exec said the industry should soon expect the increasing quality of music made with AI technologies that comes at a very fast pace, and the industry’s best bet

As Google is shifting its podcast listeners over to YouTube Music, Apple today announced an upgraded experience for its own Apple Podcasts app, following the release of iOS 17. With the software update, the service will now support a refreshed design with full-screen artwork, a more streamlined queue, episode art, interactive widgets, search filters and

After almost five months, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has reached an agreement with Hollywood studios to end the writers strike. Starting Wednesday, writers will be able to resume work under the conditions established by their new contract. During the historic strike, AI emerged as a key point of contention between the writers and

YouTube today announced an update to its advertiser-friendly guidelines that relaxes some of its rules around controversial issues, including sexual and domestic abuse, abortions, and eating disorders. The changes will allow YouTube creators to monetize their videos on these topics under some circumstances, though not if they go into graphic detail. YouTube monetization policy lead

SAG-AFTRA members voted overwhelmingly on Monday to authorize a strike against the video game industry. The union — which includes video game performers like voice, motion capture and stunt actors — has been negotiating a contract for over a year with a collection of studios, like Epic, EA, Activision and more. Around 27.47% of eligible

Spotify is today introducing its latest social feature, Jam, which allows multiple people to blend their own musical tastes into a combined playlist. However, the new feature, which builds on technology previously used in multi-person playlists like Blend and Duo Mix, is designed for real-time listening among a group of people — like at a

Getty Images, one of the largest suppliers of stock images, editorial photos, videos and music, today announced the launch of a generative AI art tool that it claims is “commercially safer” than other, rival solutions on the market. Called Generative AI by Getty Images, the tool — powered by an AI model provided by Nvidia,

After Netflix and Disney+ introduced ad-supported plans last year, Amazon said in an update today that it will start showing ads on Prime Video early next year. The company said it will offer an ad-free tier for additional $3 per month to Prime members. Amazon noted that ads will be introduced in the U.S., U.K.,

YouTube today announced a new feature coming to its short-form video platform Shorts that will allow users to leverage AI tools to create videos. The feature, called Dream Screen, will allow users to create an AI-generated video or image background just by typing in what you want to see. For example, explained YouTube CEO Neal

YouTube is expanding its Creator Music feature, announced last year, with new AI features in addition to the launch of an AI-dubbing tool. Currently, creators can use Creator Music to search for songs, a specific artist or a music genre they want to use in a video. Now, they’ll be able to leverage AI tools