Excl: Recording Academy CEO Offers AI Insights
Takeaway Takeover - Moog Meltdown, Apple's Cheapy Earpod, Authors Sue OpenAI
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Above: Atmos Producers Roundtable, featuring three of LA’s best recording professionals — Kevin Moo, Dean Reid and Steve Genewick — discussing what’s next for spatial audio.
TAKEAWAY TAKEOVER
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. Moog Slashes Jobs at Asheville, NC Manufacturing Center
The legendary American synth company has laid off most production staff months after a sale to inMusic.
Takeaway: Since the sale, there has been speculation about how Moog will position itself in the future. Many assumed that inMusic would delocalize the brand to Asia in order to produce more cheaply. This is probably becoming a reality now.
2. Breaking Down the ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Lawsuit That Has All of Reggaeton in Its Sights
The creators of the original “dembow rhythm” that underpins almost the entire genre are suing — everyone?
Takeaway: Rhythms are just collections of sounds arranged creatively, like the melodies and lyrics that are clearly covered by copyrights. But in reality, U.S. courts have been hesitant to extend protection to musical elements like rhythms, chord progressions and song structures.
3. Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Indie Artists to Negotiate Collectively
If passed, the new bill could grant musicians the same rights to collectively bargain as currently being demonstrated in the SAG/WGA and UAW strikes.
Takeaway: The bill would create an exemption to U.S. antitrust laws that would allow music creators to come together to jointly negotiate licensing deals with a “dominant online music distribution platform or a company engaged in development or deployment of generative artificial intelligence.”
4. George R.R. Martin Among 17 Top Authors Suing OpenAI
A win for authors could set a precedent for musicians and drastically cool the unfettered development of generative AI.
Takeaway: According to the Authors Guild-led lawsuit, the books OpenAI used to train ChatGPT “were downloaded from pirate ebook repositories and then copied into the fabric of GPT 3.5 and GPT 4, which power ChatGPT and thousands of applications and enterprise uses — from which OpenAI expects to earn many billions.”
5. Deezer Raises Prices, Again
The modest-sized streamer keeps punching above its weight by showing a willingness to test new models of streaming economics.
Takeaway: [There is] no evidence of churn from the first set of price rises, but with a cost-of-living crisis still biting in various parts of the world, that’s no guarantee that a second set will be similarly received by subscribers.
6. Apple Has $19 EarPods with USB-C and Lossless Audio Support
Since they already dominate the premium earbud space, Apple is now offering a cheap alternative.
Takeaway: You’ll get the same quality audio out of Apple’s more expensive AirPods Max offering—though without spatial audio or active noise cancellation in the EarPods.
We had a wonderful week in Durham, NC at the Bull City Summit. Here’s an important moment of Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. talking about how artists are responding to AI.
Full report coming next week.
