Universal Music Group, which represents artists together with Taylor Swift, Drake, Adele, Bad Bunny and Billie Eilish, says that it’s going to not enable its music on TikTok now {that a} licensing deal between the 2 events has expired.

UMG stated that it had not agreed to phrases of a brand new cope with TikTok, and plans to cease licensing content material from the artists it represents on the social media platform that’s owned by ByteDance, in addition to TikTok Music companies.

The licensing settlement between UMG and TikTok is expired as of Wednesday.

In a Tuesday letter addressed to artists and songwriters, UMG stated that it had been urgent TikTok on three points: “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”

UMG stated that TikTok proposed paying its artists and songwriters at a fee that is a fraction of the speed that different main social platforms pay, including that TikTok makes up solely about 1% of its complete income.

“Ultimately TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” UMG stated.

TikTok pushed again in opposition to claims by UMG, saying that it has reached ‘artist-first’ agreements with each different label and writer.

“Clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans,” TikTok stated.

Yet Universal Music additionally referred to as new know-how a possible menace to artists and stated that TikTok is creating instruments to allow, promote and encourage AI music creation. UMG accused the platform of “demanding a contractual right which would allow this content to massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists, in a move that is nothing short of sponsoring artist replacement by AI.”

UMG additionally took situation with what it described as issues of safety on TikTok. UMG is unhappy with TikTok’s efforts to cope with what it says is hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment. It stated that having troubling content material faraway from TikTok is a “monumentally cumbersome and inefficient course of which equates to the digital equal of “Whack-a-Mole.”

UMG stated it proposed that TikTok take steps much like what a few of its different social media platform companions use, however that it was met with indifference at first, after which with intimidation.

“As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth,” UMG said. “How did it try to intimidate us? By selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars.”

TikTok, nonetheless stated that Universal Music is placing “their very own greed above the pursuits of their artists and songwriters.”

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The 66th annual Grammy Awards are on Sunday, airing reside from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on CBS and Paramount+. So, what can viewers anticipate?

Some new, some outdated. Executive producers Raj Kapoor, Ben Winston, and Jesse Collins are returning for his or her fourth 12 months — evolving the present from their first, which required utterly reimagining the Grammys for COVID-19. In 2021, that they had the thought to show musicians into one another’s audiences when there couldn’t be one, an idea that has knowledgeable each Grammys since.

For instance: artists sit at tables close to the entrance of the stage to provide the sense that the musicians and the viewers as “just having a really lovely evening together,” Winston advised The Associated Press. “We’ve gone away from the big, grandiose, massive theaters with rows and rows and rows of people and actually try to make a really beautiful, bespoke concert every year.”

He says there’ll proceed to be no shut ups of musicians because the winners are learn out — “and then people rewind to see the disappointment in people’s faces,” he says. “We’ve changed that because it becomes a bit too competitive. We’ve really just tried to make it a loving room for the music community.”

Some parts of the stage – just like the gramophone within the center – will stay the identical. “I really like the ideal of keeping elements of last year, but then changing key parts of it,” he says – constructing off of what has succeeded up to now and making acceptable alterations for the brand new 12 months.

Similarly, comic Trevor Noah will host for a fourth time. “There’s never a hesitation, never a hiccup. There’s never a stumble,” says Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr. of their returning host. “He relates so well to the artists and to the music community in my mind, because he’s a fan and he’s an appreciator and a lover of music.”

But what’s new in 2024, and what ought to viewers preserve a watch out for? Here are 5 burning questions — and solutions.

Winston says “best pop solo performance” will doubtless be the primary award of the evening — exceptional as a result of each nominee within the class is a lady.

“That’s the same throughout the show, really — it’s dominated by women,” he says, joking that he introduced up doing “ladies’ night at the Grammys with only women performers,” which was rapidly shot down.

“I’m really excited about the mix of talent we have, and that’s based on the nomination this year, which skew heavily female,” says Kapoor. “That is something we’re really celebrating. It’s almost unprecedented.”

Mason agrees, crediting the inclusion of so many ladies to the altering demographics on the Recording Academy.

“We have so many great women nominees leading some of the general feeling categories, which to is a direct result of a lot of the changes that we’ve been making at the academy,” he says.

Last 12 months, the group introduced over 2,400 numerous music creators joined their voting bloc — 50% are individuals of shade, 46% are underneath the age of 40, and 37% are girls.

Winston says there will probably be between “12 to 15 performers — it depends on if the memoriam counts as one or three.”

“He likes to put an arc through our show beyond just seeing performances on the stage,” Mason says of Winston. “It feels like teamwork at all times — each artist brings their creative ideas; they have a creative director from their team collaborate with a creative director from our team — so it is this incredible mashup of ideas to produce the final results you see on TV.”

Winston says that for some artists, his crew has created brief movies to play earlier than their performances to be able to “tell the story of the artist’s year.”

“We’re going to put the spotlight on them and the significance of the moment that the audience are about to witness,” he says, to supply useful context for a basic viewers.

There are three new classes on the 2024 Grammy Awards as properly, together with the first-ever greatest African music efficiency award. Burna Boy, who’s among the many introduced performers, is nominated within the class.

Kapoor factors out, too, that that is the second 12 months in a row that the Grammys are collaborating with a visible artist for its design: this 12 months is Dave McLeod, a digital artist from the high quality artwork world.

Last 12 months, the Recording Academy introduced a sequence of modifications to the Grammy Awards to raised mirror an evolving music trade. Of these newly instituted tips, protocols involving technological developments in machine studying sparked headlines: “Only human creators” may win the music trade’s highest honor in a choice aimed toward using synthetic intelligence in well-liked music.

What has been the general public response – and the way will artists reply? “I haven’t heard much yet – I’m sure we’ll hear more after the show,” says Mason. “And I’m sure how we treat AI next year will be different than how we treat it next year. Right now, the way our awards team functions, there wouldn’t be any music that was not eligible in any of the categories — so voters were able to vote with confidence that the screening has already taken place.”

That’s not possible to foretell, however there are actually just a few contenders: if Taylor Swift takes house album of the 12 months, she’d break the file of the artist with essentially the most wins, ever, with 4.

If Victoria Monét ’s “Hollywood” wins greatest conventional R&B efficiency, her daughter Hazel Monét will turn into the youngest Grammy winner in historical past at 2 years outdated. Karol G may turn into the primary feminine artist to ever win in one of the best música urbana album class if she wins for “Mañana Será Bonito.” Jack Antonoff may tie Babyface because the producer with essentially the most consecutive wins within the producer of the 12 months, non-classical class with a 3rd win in 2024.

Kelly Clarkson may break the file for many greatest pop vocal album wins if she will get her third trophy for her 2023 album “Chemistry.” Kendrick Lamar could extend his record in the best rap performance category if he wins for a seventh time for “The Hillbillies,” his monitor along with his cousin Baby Keem.

There are doubtless many extra examples – we’ll simply have to attend and see.

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More than two-thirds of musicians worry that synthetic intelligence will make it not possible to make a dwelling, in response to a research by French and German music societies.

Based on a survey of greater than 15,000 folks within the business, France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers (Sacem) and its German equal GEMA, mentioned 71 p.c of respondents feared they might not make ends meet sooner or later.

It discovered that 35 p.c have been already utilizing AI in a “large number of areas related to music creation”.

But the report additionally carried out market evaluation and knowledgeable interviews that estimated incomes would fall 27 p.c by 2028, equal to some 2.7 billion euros ($2.9 billion).

Some 95 p.c demanded extra transparency from firms growing AI instruments, with an analogous quantity saying they needed politicians to pay larger consideration to challenges linked to AI and copyright.

Cecile Rap-Veber, managing director of Sacem, mentioned it was not a query of “slowing down” AI exercise, “but of making it virtuous”.

“We are actively working with players in the sector to implement technical solutions aimed at identifying content generated by AI,” she mentioned within the report.

© 2024 AFP