In today's CMU Daily: Universal Music boss Lucian Grainge has written a memo to staff trumpetting just how great the major label’s new deal with TikTok is. He says it deals with all the concerns that lead Universal to pull its music from the platform - those being platform safety, AI and - of course - money

One Liners: Stormzy and Adidas launch new football centre in Croydon; Steve Redmond departs BMG; Music Minds Matter and Concord appointments; Yannis & The Yaw gig; new music from Leigh-Anne, Tom Misch, Illuminati Hotties, Washed Out and Umbra Vitae

Also today: Astroworld trial stayed while Apple appeals decision to keeps its name on litigation; TikTok test runs some arguments against US-wide ban in legal battle with Montana

Plus: Going to see Taylor Swift but not really a fan? Why not take a masterclass to get up to speed? Plus, more Wide Days recommendations

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Universal boss Lucian Grainge talks up the new TikTok deal which “will protect the integrity and value of human artistry”

Universal Music boss Lucian Grainge has sent a memo to his staff providing some more information about the major's all new licensing deal with TikTok. 

Obviously keen to claim some wins following the company’s three month stand-off with the social media platform - given all the hassle it caused Universal’s artists and marketing teams - he talks up the new commitments TikTok has made. Those are grouped into the three areas of concern Universal raised in an open letter when the stand-off began: money, AI and platform safety. 

He leads with AI, stating that “TikTok has now addressed the primary concern we expressed in our open letter that AI generated content would ‘massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists’”. Not only that, but “they have made a number of commitments regarding AI that demonstrate respect for our artists’ and songwriters’ works and ‘rights of publicity’, as well as support of UMG’s principles on AI, including on training without consent”. 

Like the rest of the music industry, Universal is adamant that existing music must not be used to train a generative AI model without the permission of relevant copyright owners. It also wants AI companies to be transparent about what data they have used in their training and is looking for reassurances that an artist’s voice or likeness will not be imitated by AI without explicit consent. 

“Our new agreement with TikTok will protect the integrity and value of human artistry and ensure that ‘fake artist’ AI content uploaded by third parties that misappropriates the identities of our artists and infringes upon their right of publicity can be removed. This new deal will extend artist protections even further and promote a better environment for authentic artist/fan engagement”.

Most of the music industry agrees with Universal regarding the obligations of AI companies developing generative AI tools and, in that respect, will be supportive of the biggest rights owner using its market power to get some sensible commitments from a platform as big as TikTok. And in his memo Grainge acknowledges the support Universal got from industry groups and even rivals once its big TikTok stand-off got underway. 

That said, while most Universal-signed artists will agree that TikTok should get permission before using their music or voice in the AI domain, many of those artists would also like a similar commitment from Universal itself. Which is to say, where the major controls an artist’s recordings, it will seek artist consent before allowing an AI company to use those tracks. 

Although the recent deal between the majors and US performer union SAG-AFTRA does provide some commitments of that kind, many artist groups continue to call for a wider industry commitment to ensure artists as well as labels will have control over what music is used to train generative AI. 

Elsewhere in his memo, Grainge does find time to talk about the all important cash component of the new TikTok arrangement. “Under the new agreement, artist and songwriter compensation will be greater than under our prior TikTok deal”, he says, “and the total value UMG’s artists and songwriters garner from this partnership will be more closely aligned with other platforms in the social music category”. What that means for individual artists remains to be seen, but in the short term we can assume TikTok will be sending a bigger pile of cash to UMG HQ.

Spiritmuse Records // Label Manager (London Hybrid)

Your Culture // Campaign Management Assistant (Brighton)

Gondwana Records // Part Time Social Media, Online Marketing & Digital Content Manager (Manchester Hybrid)

Como No & La Linea // Operations & Reporting Manager (London Hybrid)

Kilimanjaro Live // Promoter Assistant (London)

Horizon is CMU's new weekly newsletter - published each Friday - that brings you a hand-picked selection of early-stage career opportunities from across the music industry.

Whether you're looking for your first job in music or you're ready to take a step up, Horizon is here to help you find your dream job faster.

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ONE LINERS

Stormzy, Music Minds Matter, Leigh-Anne, Tom Misch + more

DEALS

Stormzy has partnered with Adidas to open a new football centre in Croydon, which also incorporates a recording studio, sports gaming hub and multipurpose rooms. “I’m gassed that we can finally open the doors to #Merky FC HQ”, he says. “Working with Adidas, I’ve wanted to do this for a long, long time and now there’s a community space that everyone in the area will be able to use and benefit from. When I was growing up there was nothing like this around for young people, so it means a lot that we now have a facility like this in Croydon. Proper homegrown!”

APPOINTMENTS 

Steve Redmond is stepping down as BMG’s EVP Global Corporate Communications after twelve years with the company. "My time at BMG has been a career-defining opportunity to demonstrate how communications can really make a difference”, he says. “As BMG enters a new phase and the entertainment industry on a broader level enters a new chapter, this is the ideal moment to move on. I send my best wishes for the future to my BMG colleagues”.

Help Musicians’ mental health support line Music Minds Matter has appointed Cliff Fluet as its new Chair. Grace Meadows has also been named the new Head of Music Minds Matter. “With renewed leadership from Cliff, the support of Grace and through valuable awareness partnerships, we can reach more people working in music and grow our charitable impact to make even more of a difference”, says chief exec Sarah Woods. 

Concord Label Group has hired Brad Clark as SVP Streaming And Data Analysis, and Kristen Reed as VP Data Analytics And Research. “I am excited to have Brad and Kristen join the team”, says CEO Tom Becci. “Brad has worked with artists at all stages of their career, from the releasing of their first song to some of the biggest stadium acts in the industry. He has developed a unique understanding of how to translate data into real-world advancement for an artist’s career”.

GIGS & FESTIVALS

Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis has announced that his Yannis & The Yaw project will play Koko in London on 13 Sep. Debut EP ‘Lagos Paris London’ - a collaboration between Philippaki and late Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen - is out on 30 Aug. 

RELEASES

Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne has released new single ‘Forbidden Fruit’. 

Tom Misch has released new single ‘Insecure’. 

Illuminati Hotties is back with new single ‘Can’t Be Still’. 

Washed Out will release new album ‘Notes From A Quiet Life’ on 28 Jun. The first track from it is ‘The Hardest Part’.

Umbra Vitae have released new single ‘Velvet Black’. Their second album ‘Light Of Death’ is out on 7 Jun.

Approved: Wide Days 2024 showcases - Friday

The Wide Days convention finishes tonight with yet more showcases from up-and-coming artists. Once again, we’ve picked a couple of our favourites for you to check out…

Chroma

Welsh band Chroma released their debut album ‘Ask For Angela’, after which they took part in a project looking at the connection between Welsh and Mãori language culture in New Zealand. Now you can see them in Edinburgh, and we advise that you do.
Sneaky Pete’s, 20:20-20:50

Eyve

Set to play a showcase at Wide Days in Edinburgh tonight, singer-songwriter and rapper Eyve recently released her EP ‘Sista! Beyond The Sky Isn’t The Limit’, showcasing a sound that blends hip hop, trap, jazz and traditional African rhythms.

Bongo Club, 21:00-21:30

Astroworld trial delayed as Apple insists it's a news organisation

The start of the first Astroworld trial - which was due to get underway next week - has been postponed. It follows further moves by Apple to have itself removed as a defendant in the litigation, in which the tech giant is relying on rules intended to protect the free speech rights of news media. 

The judge overseeing the Astroworld cases, Kristen Hawkins, previously denied two motions for dismissal filed by Apple, and the tech giant is now appealing those decisions. That has resulted in the main legal proceedings being stayed. 

Acknowledging that fact, Hawkins said during a court hearing yesterday, “Unless I hear differently, the trial is stayed”. She subsequently said that she'd been notified by the appeals court that it had denied a request from lawyers working for the Astroworld victims to lift the stay. 

Ten people died and hundreds more were injured in a crowd surge at the 2021 edition of the Houston-based, Travis Scott founded and Live Nation promoted Astroworld festival. Hundreds of lawsuits were filed following the tragedy, with the first to get to trial involving the family of one of those who died, Madison Dubiski. Jury selection had been due to begin next Tuesday. 

Apple is named as a defendant because it livestreamed Scott's headline set during which the crowd surge occurred. At the heart of the Astroworld litigation is the claim that failings in the way the festival was planned and managed contributed to the tragedy. Though in the case of Apple, the specific claim is that it placed its cameras around the festival's main stage in a way that affected that placement of barriers and reduced the available space for festival-goers. 

Numerous people and companies connected to the festival were listed as defendants in the lawsuits. Many tried to have themselves removed on the basis they had no involvement in the planning of the festival, or the delivery of safety and security on site. Hawkins approved some motions for dismissal, but denied others, including from Apple. 

In appealing Hawkins’ decisions, Apple is relying on specific rules in Texas law that apply to media organisations which are intended to protect First Amendment free speech rights. According to the Associated Press, Apple lawyer Kent Rutter told the court, “It remains our position that our conduct is protected by the First Amendment”. 

Jason Itkin, representing the Dubiski family, has hit out at those claims. Rutter insisted that when livestreaming Astroworld, Apple was webcasting an event “with significant public interest”, and was therefore acting as a news media organisation. 

However, Itkin argued that Apple defines itself as a tech company not a media company, with Apple News being a content aggregation service not a news provider. “This is not a free speech case”, he added, “and they know that”. Itkin said he'd continue to try to get the stay caused by Apple's appeal lifted, going to the Texas Supreme Court if necessary. 

Hawkins herself seemed generally convinced by Itkin’s arguments, questioning the logic of equating livestreams of entertainment events to news. At one point she asked whether a livestream of animals in a zoo would be news. “Yes, it would be”, Apple’s lawyer insisted. 

Nevertheless, for now the timeline of the Astroworld litigation is in the hands of the appeals court.

TikTok returns to court in ongoing bid to block Montana ban

As TikTok gets ready to fight the new sell-or-be-banned law in the US through the courts, it has filed new documents as part of its ongoing litigation fighting another ban that is specific to the state of Montana. Both TikTok and a group of its users successfully stalled that ban in the courts on free speech grounds, but Montana's Attorney General is now trying to unstall the stall through the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court. 

The state argues that banning TikTok only “regulates conduct” and not the speech or expression of the social media platform’s users. But, says a new filing from a group of those users, this is a “false premise" that "infects the state’s entire argument and, once debunked, dooms its defence of the act”. 

That the TikTok ban “regulates speech cannot be seriously disputed”, they continue, because the law bans “a means of expression” on which TikTok users rely and thus “inevitably affects communication itself”. 

In its own filing, TikTok itself also pushes back at the state’s core argument. “By banning TikTok, the state is necessarily banning the speech on TikTok - indeed, the whole point of using TikTok is for expression”, it argues. “The state cannot get around this reality by simply characterising the operation of TikTok as ‘conduct’”. 

The TikTok lawyers also argue that Montana's ban should remain blocked because the state has failed to show that “less-restrictive alternatives” could not have addressed the concerns of lawmakers. In particular, new stricter data protection laws. 

Lawmakers in Montana passed a law prohibiting the distribution of TikTok within the state last year. The law was in no small part motivated by concerns that the Chinese government has access to TikTok user data via the app's China-based owner ByteDance. US Congress has since passed its own US-wide law that bans the use of TikTok within the US unless ByteDance sells the app within 270 days of the law going into effect. 

TikTok has vowed to fight the US-wide law through the courts as well, relying heavily on the argument that Congress’s law breaches First Amendment free speech rights and is therefore unconstitutional. So, in many ways, by making the same arguments that have been employed to - so far successfully - block the ban in Montana. Though successful subject to the decision of judges in the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court, of course. 

That said, success in blocking the ban in Montana doesn't necessarily mean TikTok will succeed in overturning the US-wide sell-or-be-banned law. 

FCC Commissioner and frequent TikTok critic Brendan Carr recently told reporters that the Montana case is “not analogous” to any litigation aiming to block the new US-wide measures. That's because moves to ban a ByteDance owned TikTok are rooted in national security concerns, which arguably overstep state powers, but is an area where Congress definitely has authority.

And Finally! Dreading accompanying your child to a Taylor Swift show? Take a course in becoming a superfan

We’ve all seen the pictures of miserable dads accompanying their daughters to pop concerts. And if you haven’t, I don’t know what you’re doing here reading this instead of googling those pictures. 

Arguably it’s a rite of passage for both father and daughter (before any accusations of sexism are thrown out, I’m sorry to say that the internet is not interested in mothers and sons at pop concerts). At the very least, it’s an opportunity to be included in a listicle. You just have to grin and bear it.

Here’s the thing though, it doesn’t have to be like this.

Check out this and more of this week’s funniest music news stories in this week's And Finally!