IDOL // UK Label Manager (London/Hybrid)

Nonclassical // Executive Director (London)

Free Trade Agency // Office Co-Ordinator (London)

AEG Presents // Senior Marketing Manager – Festivals (London)

Ninja Tune // Social Media Coordinator (London)

Ambassador Theatre Group // Ticketing Operations Specialist (London)

Lex Records // Worldwide Retail Operations Manager (London)

EmuBands // Artist Relations Assistant (Glasgow/Hybrid)

Today's music business news

TOP STORY

US record industry adds voice cloning sites to its official piracy gripe list

The Recording Industry Association Of America has added unauthorised AI vocal clone services to its list of piracy gripes, urging the US government to include such services in its next Notorious Markets report. In particular, Voicify.

AI models that can be used to create new tracks that imitate the vocals of established artists have become a big talking point this year.

Legally speaking, assuming that such models are trained using the songs and recordings of the artists being imitated, then the music industry would argue that the maker of the model needs to secure licences from whoever controls the copyright in that existing music.

Although, some AI companies have argued that this is not necessarily the case, usually relying on copyright exceptions in certain jurisdictions or the fair use concept in the US. Copyright owners are adamant no exceptions apply - and training an AI model in this way is not fair use - though these arguments are still being tested in court.

With voice cloning AI, there is also the legal concept of publicity rights. Even if a copyright exception did apply - or an artist didn't own the copyright in their music - in many countries consent may still be required from the artist because the AI is exploiting their publicity, personality or image rights.

Quite how these rights work varies from country to country, and in the UK the concept doesn't currently exist.

Either way, the RIAA reckons voice cloning services should join stream-ripping sites, unlicensed download and streaming platforms, and the good old Pirate Bay on the Notorious Markets list. That is the American government's annual document that outlines websites and physical marketplaces based outside the US where intellectual property rights are routinely infringed.

The RIAA always makes a submission to inform that document, and its latest submission notes that this year has seen "an eruption of unauthorised AI vocal clone services that infringe not only the rights of the artists whose voices are being cloned but also the rights of those that own the sound recordings in each underlying musical track".

"This has led to an explosion of unauthorised derivative works of our members’ sound recordings which harm sound recording artists and copyright owners", it went on, adding that "several of these services are located outside of the United States".

That includes Voicify, which is operated by a UK-based company, and which also has a stream-ripping element to it. Double the fun!

"This site markets itself as the 'number one platform for making high quality AI covers in seconds!' - and includes AI vocal models of sound recording artists”. Artists like Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Elvis Presley, Bruno Mars, Eminem, Adele and Ed Sheeran.

"The service stream-rips the YouTube video selected by the user”, the RIAA explains, “copies the acapella from the track, modifies the acapella using the AI vocal model, and then provides to the user unauthorised copies of the modified acapella stem, the underlying instrumental bed, and the modified remixed recording. This unauthorised activity infringes copyright as well as infringing the sound recording artist’s rights of publicity".

ONE LINERS

Audoo, Marika Hackman, EMMA + more

DEALS

Music recognition technology company Audoo confirmed earlier this week that it has secured another $5 million in investment, with Elton John and David Furnish among the latest investors to back to the business, which is seeking to help the music industry more accurately and efficiently pay through public performance royalties. Says John: "Right now, artists are not being paid accurately for their plays because the data simply doesn’t exist. That’s why we’ve invested in Audoo and their world-class technology and data, to help create a more transparent system for everyone, and ultimately to keep the music alive".

APPOINTMENTS

The European Music Managers Alliance has appointed Jess Partridge as Executive Director. "I'm excited to join the EMMA team, bringing my skills and knowledge to strengthen the organisation and its members while increasing its wider impact on the music community”, she says. “Managers and artists are at the heart of the industry; supporting their development, and representing their interests on a European scale is key to having a stronger music ecosystem”.

RELEASES

Marika Hackman has released new single ‘Hanging’. The song, she says, “is reflecting on a difficult past relationship and how you can trap yourself in a situation where you’re unable to grow into the next stage of your life. The line ‘yeah you were a part of me, I'm so relieved it hurts’ is describing how painful it still is to break up even if it's not right”. Her new album ‘Big Sigh’ is out on 12 Jan and she has announced UK tour dates in March next year.

Squid have released a new short film made by director Ivana Bobic and performance artist Ted Rogers in response to the band’s latest album ‘O Monolith’. “For me, uninhibited dance in a social format is far more appealing than very constructed dance”, says Rogers. “The natural feeling of ecstasy that occurs from duration and expulsion is somewhat spiritual in my opinion. It seemed an easy pairing as raves happen in both industrial and pastoral settings”.

The Haxan Cloak has released new track ‘N/Y’, his first solo release in a decade and the first on his new record label Archaic Devices. “‘N/Y’ is a feeling I’ve had for a really long time”, he says. “It was made with the intention of being something that I could play live only, and was just this burst of intensity that could re-contextualise anywhere I would play it in. I kept working on it and it became something that I wanted to hear regardless of the context”.

The Boxer Rebellion are back with their first new single in five years, ‘Powdered Sugar’. “This is a song about love and having the perfect partner, when your relationship is in its infancy and there's constant adrenaline with butterflies in the stomach - the anticipation of what could be”, says vocalist Nathan Nicholson. “I just wanted to try and capture some of that feeling of optimism in the lyrics”.

Jaakko Eino Kalevi has released new single ‘Drift Away’. “Missing someone is the most romantic thing and this is a romantic song”, he says. ”It started out as an ancient jam we once had at a rehearsal place a long time ago, but this one had certain elements that stuck in my mind and I knew I’d use them in a song one day”. His new album ‘Chaos Magic’ is out on 17 Nov.

Slap Rash have released new single ‘This Note Is Useless’, taken from upcoming EP ‘Catherine Special, which is out on 27 Oct. The song is “a retrospective cry out for help”, says vocalist and drummer Amelia Lloyd. “Things I wish I could’ve said, things I wish I did. This song was written to be screamed in the face of the person who wronged you. It’s me saying you didn’t listen to me then, you silenced me so I couldn’t speak, so here it is. This is what I would’ve said”.

Knife Girl has released new single ‘Beautiful’. “So often death is framed as a sad thing, and obviously it is sad, but it’s a beautiful thing as well”, she says of the track. “There’s something really amazing about how our memory stays with people even after death. The song is a celebration and I love playing it as the last song in my live set”. Her new album ‘CUM’ is out on 17 Nov.

DIGITAL

Authors criticise lack of transparency around Spotify's new audiobook offer

The UK's Society Of Authors has hit out at Spotify's recent announcement that it is adding access to audiobooks as part of its premium subscription package in the UK and Australia.

While Spotify has agreed deals with book publishers to make that happen, it seems that little information has been shared with authors and their agents about how those deals work. It's all so fucking familiar.

"As far as we are aware", the authors organisation said earlier this week, "no authors or agents have been approached for permission for such licences, and authors have not been consulted on licence or payment terms".

A big part of the economics of music streaming debate has been about the lack of transparency regarding how the deals between the streaming services and the record labels, music distributors, music publishers and collecting societies work. Artists and songwriters are often in the dark about how those deals operate and how they will get paid. As, now, are the authors of those audiobooks.

In a recent feature in The Bookseller, a number of author agents said that Spotify's big move into audiobooks is probably a good thing, potentially bringing new opportunities and audiences to the sector, and challenging the dominance of Amazon's Audible.

However, as one agent put it: “We have yet to get clarity from any publisher about how our authors are to be remunerated. While it is clearly a good thing that Audible will become less of a monopoly in the audio space, I fear we need to be circumspect until we are able to agree terms”.

The Society Of Authors has made a number of demands of book publishers regarding their new Spotify deals, including that they "inform their authors and agents with full transparency about the deals they have negotiated".

>>> We take a more detailed look at this in the online version of this story. Click below to read it. 

APPROVED: ELISABETH ELEKTRA

Elisabeth Elektra has returned with new single ‘Broken Promises’, ahead of her new EP of the same name next month. Produced by Jonny Scott of Chvrches, the track also features guitars from Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite.

Following a shift in sound first heard on ‘The Dream’, which was released earlier this year, Elektra’s new material is heavier than her 2020 debut album ‘Mercurial’, but maintains its strong pop sensibility.

“I wrote this song while I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life”, she says of the new single. “Everything felt so unstable and disorienting, but I realised even at the time that I was being forged by trauma into a stronger, more resilient and powerful person”.

“Music has always been a way for me to channel more difficult emotions such as rage into something productive”, she adds. “The song is about the realisation that all the things we worry about really don’t matter, only love matters. Everything else fades away”.

The ‘Broken Promises’ EP is set for release on 16 Nov. Watch the video for ‘Broken Promises’ the song here.

DIGITAL

Splice updates AI-powered Create tool

Music creation platform Splice has announced an enhancement of its Create tool, what it calls "a groundbreaking AI experience that can generate sophisticated musical arrangements in seconds".

Create helps users match and adapt loops and sounds from the massive Splice Sounds library. The company explains that "the first release of Create used genre-based seeds to create 'stacks': unique combinations of sounds in different styles, keys and tempos".

And, "in the updated Create mode, users have the ability to use any loop to create a stack. From anywhere in Splice, users can create a stack from a loop, change BPM, switch genres and shuffle layers of sounds, eliminating the need to manually search and match loops and giving users more control".

Says Splice boss Kakul Srivastava: “We invited artists and creators deep into our development process to build Create, and they’ve been clear, they wanted this experience integrated across core workflows. The result is a new entry point into the world of Splice sounds, where any loop can be the start of a new creative journey. And we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible".

Splice Create was updated for all Splice subscribers using its desktop and web platform yesterday, with a mobile version to follow.

LIVE

Proposed new FTC rule would force all-in pricing on ticketing platforms in the US

The US Federal Trade Commission has proposed a new rule to target what President Joe Biden refers to as "junk fees".

"Junk fees cost American families tens of billions of dollars each year and inhibit competition, hurting consumers, workers, small businesses and entrepreneurs", the White House said in a statement yesterday welcoming the proposed new rule. "Junk fees also make it hard for honest businesses to compete, stifle innovation and hurt small businesses".

Junk fees are mandatory extra costs added to purchases during a transaction process, so that a product ends up costing more than the originally advertised price. Although such fees are found in various sectors, one industry that is routinely criticised in this domain is ticketing.

How ticketing platforms deal with booking fees and suchlike varies from country to country, often depending on local regulations. In some countries, such as the UK, all-in pricing is standard practice, which means the price listed in ads and on the main page of a ticketing website includes any additional fees. 

But in some places, including the US, the fees are usually added at the final stage, sometimes significantly increasing the total cost of a ticket.

Actually, most ticketing companies in the US support a shift to all-in pricing. However, if one platform voluntarily makes the move, it means that - at first glance - its tickets look more expensive than those being sold by its rivals. Therefore many in the ticketing business have called for a regulation forcing everyone to move to all-in pricing at the same time.

The Biden government has made banning junk fees in the US a priority objective. Its statement yesterday explained that, if finalised, the new rule being proposed by the FTC "would ban businesses from charging hidden and misleading fees and require them to show the full price up front. The rule would also require companies disclose up front whether fees are refundable".

Bill Pascrell Jr, one of the members of US Congress who has been calling for more regulation of the ticketing business - including mandatory all-in pricing - yesterday welcomed the FTC's proposed new rule.

“Today’s latest announcement is a major victory for Americans who remain under the thumb of deceptive ticketing pricing schemes", he said. "It has also been over three years since the FTC’s ticket workshop I pushed for where every major ticket seller in the primary and second marketplace announced their support for all-in pricing. But President Biden is turning happy talk into action and accountability, and I believe he can get this consumer victory done".

LEGAL

Sam Smith and Normani shouldn't get legal costs after defeating song-theft lawsuit, argues their accuser

The artist who unsuccessfully pursued a song-theft lawsuit against Sam Smith and Normani has argued that his company shouldn't have to cover any of the defendants' legal costs. Or, if it must, then the $730,000+ that the Smith and Normani side have demanded is way too high.

Artist Jordan Vincent claimed that Smith and Normani's 2020 hit 'Dancing With A Stranger' ripped off his earlier song ‘Dancing With Strangers’.

However, the judge overseeing the case was not convinced. He concluded that the elements shared by the two songs were not protected by copyright in isolation, and the argument that Smith and Normani had copied the way those elements were selected and arranged was not compelling.

Having defeated the lawsuit, Smith and Normani would like their legal costs relating to the dispute paid for by Vincent's company. Under US copyright law, a court can award legal costs to the winning party in copyright cases.

This article notes that the US Copyright Act and relevant case law suggests that, when deciding whether to award legal costs, a court should consider “the degree of success obtained on the claim; frivolousness; motivation; objective reasonableness of factual and legal arguments; and need for compensation and deterrence".

A legal filing from Vincent's company this week arguing that it shouldn't have to cover any legal costs states: "The copyright claims filed by plaintiff were objectively reasonable, were not frivolous, and were filed in good faith. The factual claims themselves were narrow and did not overreach. They were hard fought and involved multiple competing experts".

It then raises various other issues with the legal costs claim made by the Smith and Normani side, including the total costs being pursued, which exceed $730,000.

Even if the court does decide to award costs, the legal filing adds, "the overall amount requested, over $730,000, is out of line with the limited nature of the case, and is much higher than that requested in more intensive and longer cases".

We await to see how the judge responds.

AND FINALLY

Liam Gallagher voices Manchester’s tram network

If you're travelling on Manchester’s Metrolink tram network this week, you might be surprised to hear the voice of Liam Gallagher directing you on your journey. Well, not now I’ve told you about it. If you were planning to catch a tram in the next few days, pretend I didn’t say anything.

For the rest of you tram haters, let me tell you that Gallagher is now the voice of the trams. At least for the duration of this week’s Beyond The Music festival and conference, which runs until Saturday. Attendees are being encouraged to use the tram network to travel between the seventeen grassroots venues putting on shows.

“Liam’s doing his bit to get behind the festival and encourage people to get into the city and support new up and coming talent”, says a spokesperson for the former Oasis frontman.

When a request came in from Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, they add, “Liam loved the idea of surprising tram users by doing the announcements and he was given the chance to choose his favourite line. You’ll have to get onto a tram into the city to find out which it is!”

The excitement! It’s very obviously the East Manchester Line. Probably. That’s the one he’d get to his mum’s house, I reckon. If he got the tram, which I’m guessing he doesn’t. God, I’ve overthought this.

Anyway, Burnham, who is also a founding member of the Beyond The Music co-operative behind the new event, alongside Manchester City Council, CityCo and the AO Arena, Co-op Live and Factory International venues, says: "It means a lot to us that Liam has agreed to do this and show his support for his home city”.

“Supporting our music venues and giving people cheaper and better public transport to and from our gigs is what we're all about”, he adds. “I am sure that Liam's dulcet tones will wake up a few early-morning commuters, brighten up many a journey and produce a lot of smiles along the way”.

Find out more about Beyond The Music here.