Amid so much talk about what AI can and cannot do, I find myself going back to songs (and videos) like this one from Cardiacs, and take huge comfort in the fact that AI won’t create anything even close (both sonically and visually) in a million years.

AI generated music is an echo chamber. This is humanity at its finest: gloriously imperfect, batshit crazy, wholly original and totally exciting to behold. RIP Tim Smith.

I have published two new guides over on Soundtrack The Page. The first is for Simon Reynolds’ excellent “Still In A Dream” book that covers “shoegaze, slackers and the reinvention of rock 1984-1994”. The second is for Dan Hancox’s brilliant “Inner City Pressure” charting the history of grime.

Dive in!

Soundtrack The PageSoundtrack The Page — listening guides for music booksCompanion listening guides for music books. Every record a book names, chapter by chapter, in the order it names them — each one a click from listening.

I would express surprise at Meta’s move here, but really it’s exactly what I’ve come to expect from them. In short, any users of Business accounts will, by default, consent to their sites being scraped for AI training.

Expect this to get a robust legal challenge.

Random thought: if a site is hosting music (e.g. an artist website) does that mean this gives Meta carte blanche to train on that too? 🤔

Nieman LabMeta’s new commercial terms will allow the scraping of news sites, legal experts sayStarting October 30, business accounts will consent to Meta scraping their websites if they continue using Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp.

Mia Koden is a true head. Her passion for music is matched by her deep, deep knowledge of it, as evidenced by anyone who has seen her play or heard her mixes.

Any new release is a treat then, and this is no exception. My only crit is that it arrived with little to no fanfare, and I nearly missed it!

AI is taking jobs from the bottom of companies, not the top. Technology, therefore, isn't threatening senior roles. Yet most of these latest redundancies are senior positions - which makes financial sense as they save the most money. However that suggests a company desperate to save money because it cannot deliver the necessary profits by the usual means, i.e. growth. Curious to see what so many senior execs do next, too. Hopefully, start interesting new businesses to bring more competition to the marketplace 🤞🏻

Music Business WorldwideMultiple layoffs at Universal Music Group, as $270M cost-cutting program continues - Music Business WorldwideExecs such as Tunji Balogun, Ben Mortimer, Nicole Wyskoarko, and Sam Riback are leaving UMG…

I loved this post from Dick Huey about how he has addressed his hearing loss caused by attending, it has to be said, a very enviable array of gigs through his lifetime. This is another area where AI tech may well deliver incredible steps forward, and given so many of us might wind up in this place, that’s quite a heartwarming thing to consider…

dickhuey.substack.comLosing my hearing and how I fixed itFor my many friends & colleagues in music who probably also need a hearing aid and fake their way through conversations

Very interesting stats on the effectiveness of AI within the workplace. In short: it might be saving time, but that's little evidence it's actually pushing up profit.

garymarcus.substack.comIt remains “very difficult [to find] actual, materially measurable financial impacts” from spending on AI, per new studyYet another study pointing in the same direction

The issue here - floods of AI slop notwithstanding - is that DistroKid is a volume operator. That means it isn't there to provide personal support to users, and also isn't motivated to police it's platform all that much. Very much a case of “you get what you pay for”. 🙄

Music Business WorldwideDistroKid confirms it has removed tracks in response to UMG claims - Music Business WorldwideThe Verge reported that independent artists had been posting on social media about their music being taken down without notice.

Love this - a repository of band riders, covering anyone from Metallica to Taylor Swift via N*SYNC, ELO, Public Enemy and anyone else in between…

The Smoking GunBackstageThe backstage rider, presented to concert promoters by every touring act, details specifications on stage design, sound systems, lighting rigs, as well as an artist's wish list--from transportation

Whilst I do feel legal contracts exist for a reason, and that Summer Walker’s reasons to escape her contract might be up for question, I’d equally counter that at a time where Universal makes much of being artist-friendly, these kinds of lawsuits do absolutely nothing to help that image.

Note the contract being described as “brutal”. For me it’s a simple reminder of what Universal really is: a corporate behemoth, backed by the likes of Pershing Square. In some respects I don’t begrudge that - we will always have corporations - but it is when those companies make passionate claims about having artists’ interests at heart that I feel things get disingenuous.

Rolling StoneInterscope Claims Summer Walker Will Owe $50 Million if She Walks Away From Record DealInterscope is suing Summer Walker with claims she'll owe at least $50 million in damages if she terminates her contract under California labor law.

This song has proven such an earworm for me. It reminds me of Jellyfish, which is no bad thing given the calibre of that band’s power pop. I can’t wait to hear Andy’s album; I genuinely feel he’s one of the most criminally underrated songwriters out there.

This is fascinating, jaw-dropping at points, and all delivered on a really well designed site experience.

sheets.worksThe people holding up the internetFour billion phones ask one text file what time it is. One lecturer keeps it in his spare time. We counted the rest.

New guide up on Soundtrack The Page. This time it’s Rob Young’s amazing Electric Eden.

Soundtrack The PageElectric Eden — Rob Young — Soundtrack The PageA listening guide to Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music, by Rob Young — every record the book names, chapter by chapter, in the order it names them.

From a Network Notes reader, in response to the last piece and the comment about agents becoming the undoing of the internet as we know it:

“I suspect you’ll have already heard of things like this, but I know someone who vibe-coded a bot that got him Glasto tickets this year.”

A taste of the future perhaps. Things like OpenAI’s Dots agents can be set to handle tasks like this, but unlike you or me they operate at insane speed, don’t get tired, and won’t stop until the job is done.