On this week's show we discuss the new certification for "respectful" generative AI companies that get permission before training their models on copyrighted content, redundancies at Pitchfork as its team is merged with men's magazine GQ, and more.
SECTION TIMES
01: AI certification (00:05:15)
02: News in brief (00:15:16)
03: Pitchfork (00:18:29)
(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)
THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES
Former Stability exec Ed Newton Rex launches Fairly Trained AI certification
A new initiative to certify generative AI companies that train their models on licensed content has launched. Called Fairly Trained, it has been founded by ex-Stability AI exec Ed Newton-Rex, who stepped down last year in protest at its standpoint on the need to gain licences from content owners
Chris Cooke
Job cuts at Pitchfork as its team is merged in with GQ
Redundancies were announced at Pitchfork yesterday as its team was merged with that of men’s magazine GQ by owner of both titles Condé Nast. The move was heralded by management as “the best path forward for the brand”, although unions said that staff were being “treated like disposable parts”
Chris Cooke
NEWS IN BRIEF
Council Of Music Makers sets out its five key priorities ahead of ministerial review of economics of streaming work
The Council Of Music Makers has set out its five key priorities in the ongoing debate around the economics of streaming, urging record labels, music publishers and streaming services to work with artists, songwriters and their managers via the forums already put in place by the UK government to address
Chris Cooke
Council Of Music Makers memo
CMU summarises the Council of Music Makers memo alongside the full text
CMU
UK’s IPO to look at neighbouring rights and reciprocal payments to foreign performers
The Intellectual Property Office is seeking opinions on when performance royalties generated in the UK should flow to foreign labels and performers - the current rules treat labels and performers differently
Chris Cooke
UK’s largest nightclub operator heading into administration
Rekom UK, the largest operator of nightclubs in the UK, has called in administrators as it faces an assortment of issues, including higher energy costs, minimum wage increases and poor midweek trading
Chris Cooke
Universal Music to lay off hundreds says Bloomberg: company responds and says it will create “efficiencies”
Universal Music has confirmed it will be “creating efficiencies” in parts of its business to allow “investment in future growth”, following reports by Bloomberg that the major will instigate a round of redundancies that will affect hundreds of employees in the first quarter of 2024
Chris Cooke
Apple changes App Store rules following Supreme Court announcement, but Epic vows more legal action
The US Supreme Court has declined to consider Epic’s litigation over Apple’s App Store rules - as a result Apple has changed those rules to comply with an order from the Californian courts, although Epic says the changes have been made in “bad faith” and it will take further legal action
Chris Cooke
Spotify hits out at Apple’s “outrageous” new App Store rules
Spotify has joined Fortnite maker Epic in criticising Apple over a change to its rules around in-app payments. The change, made to comply with a court order secured by Epic, is meant to help app-makers, but Spotify says it has been implemented in a way that means app-makers are no better off
Chris Cooke
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