Jerry Rivers shares a report from TechCrunch, adding: “…and it took the music service seven months to notice.” From the report: In a data breach notification filed with the California attorney general’s office, the music streaming giant said the data exposed “may have included email address, your preferred display name, password, gender, and date of birth only to certain business partners…
Tag: spotify
Spotify Invents AI Tech That Will Police Songwriter Plagiarism
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Music Business Worldwide: According to a document published last week, Daniel Ek’s company is seeking a patent for its “Plagiarism Risk Detector And Interface” technology, which pertains to “Methods, systems and computer program products..for testing a lead sheet for plagiarism.” As explained in the filing — and as our songwriter/musician readers will already know…
YouTube Launches Audio Ads and Ad-Targetable Music Lineups, Taking Aim at Spotify
YouTube claims to be the world’s biggest jukebox — and now it wants to wring more ad dollars from the platform’s music fans. From a report: The video giant is launching 15-second audio ads, the first format designed to reach YouTube users who listen to music or podcasts ambiently (i.e., in the background). YouTube also is introducing the ability for advertisers…
Stripe, Mozilla, Dropbox, Spotify, Others Form Tech ‘Challenger Group’ To Sway European Policy
Mark Di Stefano, reporting for The Information (paywalled): A few years back, two Brussels-based lobbyists from midsize tech companies were out for drinks, and in the course of the conversation they realized they had a common problem. Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook were sucking all of the oxygen out of European debates about regulating the internet, leaving out the voices of…
Spotify To Buy Podcast Ad Company Megaphone for $235 Million
Spotify’s making another big podcasting acquisition. The company said on Tuesday it has entered into an agreement to acquire ad tech company Megaphone in a $235 million deal. The companies declined to say whether the deal was in cash, stock or a mix of both. From a report: Megaphone offers technology for podcast publishers and advertisers seeking targeted slots on podcasts….
The Eerie AI World of Deepfake Music
Artificial intelligence is being used to create new songs seemingly performed by Frank Sinatra and other dead stars. ‘Deepfakes’ are cute tricks — but they could change pop for ever. From a report: “It’s Christmas time! It’s hot tub time!” sings Frank Sinatra. At least, it sounds like him. With an easy swing, cheery bonhomie, and understated brass and string flourishes,…
Spotify Will Boost Music In Exchange For Cut of Royalties
On Monday, Spotify announced a new initiative that offers artists the chance to pay their way into automated recommendations. Gizmodo reports: In a carefully worded blog post, Spotify is framing its latest move as a test that will give artists more “input” into the recommendation algorithms that populate personalized playlists with fresh tracks. The company writes that its algorithms take “into…
Hundreds of App Developers Want to Join New Apple-Defying Coalition
The Washington Post reports: App developers are defying Apple in record numbers, according to a new coalition of companies aimed at breaking the iPhone maker’s tight grip over its mobile software and the way it governs the App Store. The Coalition for App Fairness, which launched last month and counts as members video-game giant Epic Games, dating company Match Group and…
Patreon Is Banning QAnon, Joining Facebook, YouTube and Others
Patreon is the latest tech company to take action on the QAnon conspiracy theory, announcing in a blog post Thursday morning that creators promoting the movement would be banned from the platform. Business Insider reports: Patreon, a membership platform that lets fans support creators and celebrities financially through subscriptions, previously hosted 14 QAnon influencers on the platform, according to a recent…
Spotify Now Lets You Search For Songs By Lyrics
Spotify has rolled out a useful new feature today for iOS and Android that allows users to search for songs by its lyrics. 9to5Mac reports: When you’re not sure the name of a song/artist, music recognition apps like Shazam are great if a song is playing. However, they don’t work near as well if you’re just trying to sing a couple…