News/Music
Get Rich with AI Tryin’: 50 Cent embraces tech to reimagine his music
50 Cent has publicly embraced artificial intelligence technology for reimagining his music, posting AI-generated versions of his tracks like "21 Questions" and "God Gave Me Style" as old-school R&B songs. The hip-hop mogul's endorsement signals a pragmatic approach to AI adoption in entertainment, suggesting artists should work with the technology rather than resist its inevitable progression. What he's saying: 50 Cent expressed enthusiasm about AI's potential to expand his audience reach and praised the quality of AI-generated vocals. "Look, if it will reach someone that I missed, someone who couldn't hear what I was trying to say to them in...
read Oct 10, 2025Record labels sue evasive AI music generators for billions in copyright damages
Major record labels have filed federal lawsuits against AI music generators Suno and Udio, alleging "mass copyright infringement on an almost unimaginable scale" and seeking billions in damages. The legal battle has sparked development of neural fingerprinting technology that can detect AI-generated music and identify when synthetic tracks derive from copyrighted works, even when no direct copying occurs. The big picture: Traditional audio fingerprinting fails against AI-generated music because it only catches exact matches, while neural networks can learn musical patterns and reproduce them in transformed ways that evade detection. Key details about the lawsuits: The labels built their case...
read Oct 6, 2025It’s not over until…an artist creates an AI opera using OpenAI’s terms as lyrics
Artist Jake Elwes has created "Terms & Conditions Opera: A Legalese Libretto," an AI-generated satirical opera that transforms OpenAI's terms of service into operatic performances across multiple musical genres. The absurdist work, featured in London's "Subject to Change" exhibition, represents a growing movement of artists using AI to critically examine the technology's impact on creativity and intellectual property rights. What you should know: Elwes fed OpenAI and Suno's legal fine print into Suno's AI music generator, creating an opera that shifts between classical, reggae, hip-hop, and barbershop quartet styles. The opera transforms mundane legal language like "We've updated our usage...
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When the backlash is Swiftie: Tay Tay grilled over alleged AI use in album promo videos
Taylor Swift is facing criticism on social media for allegedly using artificial intelligence to create promotional videos for her new album, "The Life of a Showgirl." The controversy centers around a viral marketing campaign featuring QR codes leading fans to discover "orange doors" across 12 cities, with eagle-eyed observers spotting visual inconsistencies in the videos that suggest AI generation. What you should know: The "Orange Door" marketing campaign included videos showing hidden lounge areas and puzzles with visual clues and messages typical of Swift's easter egg marketing style.• Fans found QR codes in 12 cities including Melbourne, London, Chicago, Nashville,...
read Oct 3, 2025Aiode launches AI music platform that pays real, actual, human musicians
Aiode has officially launched its desktop AI music platform that pairs artists with virtual musicians based on real performers, emphasizing ethical AI training and compensation for the musicians whose styles were modeled. The platform addresses longstanding complaints about AI music tools lacking precision by allowing targeted regeneration of specific song sections while maintaining creator control and rights. What you should know: Aiode's virtual musicians replace generic AI fill-ins with models based on actual performers who will receive compensation for their contributions.• The platform spent a year in testing before its official launch, with targeted regeneration of specific song sections like...
read Oct 2, 2025Electropop act Imogen Heap embraces AI as “next stage of evolution” in music
Pop-electronica musician Imogen Heap recently opened up about her creative journey, upcoming projects, and controversial embrace of AI technology in a wide-ranging Q&A with The Guardian. The conversation reveals an artist who has consistently pushed boundaries—from remortgaging her flat to fund her breakthrough album to now advocating for AI as "the next stage of evolution" in music creation. What you should know: Heap's 2005 album "Speak For Yourself" was entirely self-funded after a disappointing major label experience, and her song "Hide and Seek" has found new life on TikTok two decades later. She remortgaged her £120,000 Waterloo flat when it...
read Oct 2, 2025Universal Music and Warner near AI licensing deals with both tech giants and startups
Universal Music and Warner Music, two of the world's largest record labels, are nearing landmark AI licensing deals with multiple companies, including start-ups like ElevenLabs, Stability AI, Suno, and Udio, as well as tech giants Google and Spotify, according to a Financial Times report. These agreements could be finalized within weeks and represent a significant shift toward formal partnerships between major record labels and AI companies amid ongoing copyright disputes in the creative industry. Why this matters: The music industry has been embroiled in legal battles over AI companies using copyrighted material without permission to train their models, making these...
read Sep 26, 2025YouTube Labs debuts AI-powered music hosts for Premium subscribers
YouTube has launched YouTube Labs, a new platform dedicated to testing "cutting edge AI experiments" for users, with its first feature adding AI-powered music hosts to YouTube Music. The initiative marks YouTube's focused effort to explore artificial intelligence applications within its ecosystem, offering Premium subscribers early access to experimental AI features. What you should know: YouTube Labs represents a dedicated space for AI experimentation, separate from the existing youtube.com/new testing platform that focuses on general feature previews.• The platform is currently available to "a limited number of US-based participants" who can opt into AI experiments before wider release.• Users receive...
read Sep 26, 2025Fake AI song infiltrates Bon Iver side project’s official Spotify page
A fake AI-generated song has appeared on Volcano Choir's official Spotify page, despite the acclaimed Bon Iver side project being dormant since 2013. The incident highlights Spotify's ongoing struggle with AI-generated content, occurring just days after the platform announced new policies to combat "AI slop" that deceives listeners and diverts royalties from legitimate artists. What happened: A suspicious new single titled "Silkymoon Light" suddenly appeared on Volcano Choir's verified Spotify profile this week with no official announcement from the band or their label, Jagjaguwar. The track features robotic vocals that poorly imitate Justin Vernon's distinctive voice, singing generic lyrics like...
read Sep 25, 2025California-based singer slams AI-generated Mississippi star’s $3M record deal
Oakland R&B singer Kehlani has publicly criticized the AI-generated artist Xania Monet, who recently secured a $3 million record deal with Hallwood Media after achieving top-five R&B chart success. The controversy highlights growing tensions between human musicians and artificial intelligence in the music industry, as artists grapple with AI's ability to create complete songs and compete for traditional recording contracts. What you should know: Xania Monet is an entirely AI-generated R&B artist created by Mississippi writer Talisha Jones, who feeds lyrics into AI systems to produce both the music and visual appearance. Monet has garnered more than 674,000 monthly listeners...
read Sep 25, 2025Spotify removes 75M spam tracks, introduces AI disclosure requirements
Spotify has announced new policies to combat "AI slop" in music streaming, introducing industry-standard AI disclosure requirements, stronger impersonation protections, and automated spam detection. The move comes as the platform removed over 75 million spammy tracks in the past year, with the company warning that harmful AI content "degrades the user experience for listeners and often attempts to divert royalties to bad actors." What you should know: Spotify is implementing three major changes to address AI misuse while maintaining support for legitimate AI-assisted music creation. The platform will use DDEX (Digital Data Exchange), an industry system for identifying and labeling...
read Sep 23, 2025AI vocalist “Xania Monet” scores $3M record deal amid industry copyright lawsuits
Telisha "Nikki" Jones, operating under the AI-generated persona Xania Monet, has secured a $3 million record deal with Hallwood Media. The agreement highlights the growing intersection of artificial intelligence and the music industry, even as major labels simultaneously sue AI platforms like Suno—the very tool Jones uses to create Monet's vocals and production. What you should know: Jones combines human songwriting with AI-generated elements to create a fully artificial musical persona that's achieving commercial success. Jones writes all lyrics and takes production credits, but uses Suno's AI platform to generate Monet's vocals, images, and musical arrangements. Monet's song "How Was...
read Sep 22, 2025Record labels accuse Suno of illegally ripping songs from YouTube to train AI
Major record labels have escalated their lawsuit against AI music generator Suno, alleging the startup illegally "stream ripped" copyrighted songs from YouTube to train its generative AI models. The updated complaint filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on September 19th specifically accuses Suno of circumventing YouTube's encryption technology, which could expose the company to additional penalties under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention provisions. What you should know: The RIAA's amended complaint introduces new allegations that Suno violated YouTube's terms of service by breaking through the platform's technological protections. Record labels claim Suno "employed code to access,...
read Sep 19, 2025AI beats human producer in J-pop song contest as fans choose machine-written single
Japanese girl band AKB48 has released an AI-generated single after fans chose it over a song written by renowned J-pop producer Yasushi Akimoto in a head-to-head competition. The AI victory highlights how machine learning tools trained on existing creative works can resonate with audiences, potentially reshaping how the music industry approaches songwriting and production. How the competition worked: The songwriting battle took place on Nippon TV's "Akimoto Yasushi vs AI Akimoto Yasushi: AKB48 New Song Production Contest," where an AI version of Google's Gemini was trained on Akimoto's lyrics library and interview statements. The AI's song "Omoide Scroll" ("Memory Scroll"),...
read Sep 18, 2025Massive Attack quits Spotify over CEO’s €600M military AI investment
Massive Attack has removed their entire music catalog from Spotify to protest CEO Daniel Ek's €600 million investment in Helsing, a military AI company that develops battlefield analysis software and military drones. The Bristol-based band becomes the first major-label artist to take this stance, citing a "moral and ethical burden" where fan money and artistic work ultimately fund what they describe as "lethal, dystopian technologies." What you should know: Ek's venture capital firm Prima Materia led Helsing's latest funding round in June, with the Spotify founder also serving as chairman of the defense tech company. Helsing's software uses AI to...
read Sep 17, 2025Did she not say she’d always love you? AI invokes Whitney Houston’s voice for new tour
Whitney Houston is embarking on a posthumous concert tour 13 years after her death, powered by artificial intelligence technology that isolates her vocals from original recordings. The tour, called "The Voice of Whitney: A Symphonic Celebration," combines AI-extracted vocal tracks with live symphony orchestras and video footage, marking the 40th anniversary of Houston's career launch. Why this matters: Many of Houston's original multitrack recordings had been lost over the years, making traditional tribute concerts impossible until AI technology advanced enough to separate vocals from fully mixed songs without compromising audio quality. How the AI works: Park Avenue Artists, the production...
read Sep 12, 2025Oakland music venue bans AI-generated flyers to support local artists
Thee Stork Club, an Oakland music venue, has banned AI-generated promotional flyers, requiring all concert artwork to be created by humans instead. The decision reflects growing resistance within the creative community against AI tools that venue owners say undercut local artists and contradict the DIY punk ethos. Why this matters: The ban highlights mounting tensions between AI advancement and artistic integrity, particularly in creative communities where human craftsmanship is deeply valued. The venue's Instagram announcement received nearly 8,000 likes, with "overwhelmingly positive" reactions from artists and music fans. Multiple commenters noted that AI-generated concert posters make them less likely to...
read Sep 10, 2025Pot calling kettle? Spotify upset by thousands of users selling streaming data to AI developers
Over 18,000 Spotify users have joined "Unwrapped," a collective that pools and sells their streaming data to AI developers, earning $55,000 from their first data sale in June. The initiative represents a growing movement where users seek to monetize their personal data while building AI tools that offer deeper music insights than Spotify's annual Wrapped feature provides. The big picture: Users are no longer content waiting for Spotify to evolve its popular year-end recap feature, instead turning to AI-powered alternatives that can analyze their complete listening history for emotional patterns, mood tracking, and social comparisons with friends. What you should...
read Sep 5, 2025AI music hits 2M+ streams, but humans prove creativity can’t be coded. Here are 10 examples.
The music industry stands at a fascinating inflection point where artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape how songs are created, distributed, and consumed. While the technology sparks both excitement and concern across creative industries, the reality of AI's current musical capabilities tells a more nuanced story than either the enthusiasts or skeptics might suggest. Recent developments like The Velvet Sundown—a completely AI-generated band that has accumulated over 2 million streams on Spotify, complete with synthetic band members, fabricated backstories, and algorithmic compositions—illustrate both the potential and limitations of current AI music technology. This virtual band represents a new category of...
read Aug 22, 2025SoundHound AI trades cheaper than Palantir despite tripling revenue growth
SoundHound AI and Palantir Technologies present compelling but different investment opportunities in the AI sector, with SoundHound trading at a significantly cheaper valuation despite faster growth rates. The growth trajectories: Both companies are capitalizing on AI adoption but in different market segments and scales.• SoundHound AI more than tripled its revenue to $43 million in Q2 2025, targeting the conversational AI market projected to reach $61 billion by 2032.• Palantir's revenue grew 48% to just over $1 billion in Q2, driven by its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) adoption across commercial and government sectors.• SoundHound raised its 2025 revenue guidance to...
read Aug 19, 2025Spotify’s new mixing tool lets users customize playlist transitions
Spotify has launched a new feature that allows Premium users to create custom transitions between playlist songs, arriving just weeks before Apple Music's similar AutoMix feature debuts in iOS 26. The timing suggests Spotify is proactively responding to Apple's AI-powered DJ-like transitions by offering its own take on seamless playlist mixing. What you should know: Spotify's transition feature is now rolling out in beta to Premium subscribers, focusing specifically on playlist customization rather than system-wide functionality. Users can access the feature by selecting a playlist and tapping the new "Mix" option in the toolbar. The tool offers both an "Auto"...
read Aug 6, 2025ElevenLabs launches AI music generator with full commercial rights
ElevenLabs has launched an AI music generator that offers full commercial rights to users, allowing generated music to be used in YouTube videos, movies, and advertising without licensing restrictions. The move positions the AI voice company to expand beyond its core offering into the less-crowded generative music space, where commercial usage rights could provide a significant competitive advantage. What you should know: The tool operates through simple text prompts, similar to chatbots or image generators, where users can request specific musical styles and themes. Users can input prompts like "create an early 2000s pop song with lyrics about a romantic...
read Jul 29, 2025Juggalos slam Insane Clown Posse for using AI over community artists when they can afford to do otherwise
Insane Clown Posse has sparked backlash from their devoted fanbase, known as juggalos, after releasing an AI-generated teaser video for their upcoming album "The Naught." The controversy highlights growing tensions within music communities as artists increasingly turn to artificial intelligence for content creation, potentially alienating fans who value authentic artistic expression and want to support human creators within their communities. What happened: Eagle-eyed juggalos identified telltale signs of AI generation in ICP's album teaser, including garbled text frames and an hourglass with sand falling through what appears to be AI-generated imagery. The video also features a grandfather clock filled with...
read Jul 29, 2025Viral AI knockoff song outranks Tyler, the Creator’s actual album
Tyler, the Creator's surprise album "Don't Tap The Glass" has been overshadowed by a viral AI-generated knockoff song of the same name that flooded the internet before the official release. The fake track, featuring repetitive lyrics over generic dance-pop beats, has dominated search results and social media platforms, demonstrating how AI-generated content can hijack legitimate artists' marketing campaigns and cultural moments. What happened: An AI-generated song titled "Don't Tap The Glass" went viral on July 20, one day before Tyler, the Creator's actual album release. The fake track features the phrase "don't tap the glass" repeated over swelling chords in...
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