Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

TikTok’s music master plan is coming into focus

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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

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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

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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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Gen AI music platforms are niche among consumers — is being *too* easy the problem?

Cover image for Gen AI music platforms are niche among consumers — is being *too* easy the problem?
Tatiana Cirisano
artificial intelligence
Generative AI
udio
We all know how hype cycles work: a new technological advancement arrives, and industries rush to apply it to anything and everything. In these situations, it is useful to ask: What problem or need is this technology actually addressing? Usually, the answer is where the real opportunity lies (or, depending on where you sit, the real disruption).
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