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Playable Post Malone in WWE is a cross-entertainment bullseye

Cover image for Playable Post Malone in WWE is a cross-entertainment bullseye
Karol Severin
post malone
WWE
cross-entertainment
Wrestling game WWE 2K24 shared an image of the playable Post Malone character this week. The rapper and producer is joining the playable roster as a part of the game’s upcoming DLC pack. Having curated the soundtrack to WWE 2K24, becoming a playable character in-game is a further continuation of his relationship with the title and serves as a great case study for cross-entertainment in-game activations.
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TikTok’s music master plan is coming into focus

Cover image for TikTok’s music master plan is coming into focus
Tatiana Cirisano
TikTok
Social media
music consumption
Oh how the tables have turned. Just a few months removed from its very public clash with Universal Music Group over music licences, TikTok is reportedly looking to buy up music rights of its own. Not only would this ease TikTok’s reliance on licences, but it would also presumably allow TikTok to prioritise its owned content in the algorithm, and do what music executives have been tearing their hair out trying to for years: reverse-engineer viral moments.
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Mainstream is the new niche

Cover image for Mainstream is the new niche
Mark Mulligan
mainstream
Niche
superstars
Five years ago, we made the call that ‘niche is the new mainstream’ . Today, this dynamic is so fundamental to music and culture that we are firmly in the stage of second order consequences. Superstars are getting smaller, the long tail is getting longer, and rightsholders are bringing in earnings thresholds to keep that growing long tail at bay.
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Another Fake Drake? AI is decoupling artists and their voices (and there’s no coming back)

Cover image for Another Fake Drake? AI is decoupling artists and their voices (and there’s no coming back)
Hanna Kahlert
AI
Drake
heart on my sleeve
Drake has had perhaps one of the most publicly up-and-down relationships with generative AI. There was the AI Drake music generator, which he was dead set against. Then there was ‘Heart on My Sleeve’, the AI-generated mix using the voices of Drake and The Weeknd by a creator known as ghostwriter, where Drake again expressed displeasure at the use of his voice.
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Why video creation tools must go niche to survive AI streamliners like Apple Intelligence

Cover image for Why video creation tools must go niche to survive AI streamliners like Apple Intelligence
Ben Woods
Social video
creator tools
Apple
Amid the flurry of recent generative AI announcements, Apple had been strangely quiet. This changed on Monday (June 11, 2024) when it announced Apple Intelligence at its WWDC24 developer conference. In short, Apple Intelligence is a suite of consumer-focused tools embedded into Apple products to enhance productivity and enable creativity.
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