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  1. Fair play to Polyend, this is a smart response to all the modded firmware

    As everybody is no doubt aware, there’s a million custom firmwares popping up for things. I’ve been tracking one in particular for my Polyend Tracker devices, not least because they had a long-standing bug where they didn’t export at exactly 44,100 Hz. That caused a load of clock drift issues when attempting to migrate stems into your DAW.

    Anyway, whilst custom firmwares have abounded, I’ve not yet seen a company really respond officially to that. Today, though, Polyend have just sent an update out with what they’re calling a community firmware. It basically seems like it’s pinched all the best features from the community mods that they’ve seen and rolled it into one official update.

    Crucially, as well as adding a couple more synths and direct SD card streaming, it also fixes the export bug that was principally the reason I’d abandoned using the devices. Also, though, I note that they have now made the firmware open source on GitHub, so that essentially anyone can do anything they want with it from here on.

    I think it’s the smart response, and I suspect it will generate a whole new wave of interest in the Tracker devices. Curious to see how other companies respond as I’d imagine at this point it would be madness NOT to post the firmware, especially if the devices are no longer supported (as is the case with the OG Tracker and the Mini).

  2. Sure enough, Meta's new AI scraping move gets challenged

    Back on the 16th of October I questioned whether Meta's new terms of business (that it announced it was automatically rolling out) would give it carte blanche to train on music or other IP hosted on any website.

    Clearly I was not alone in that concern, as the Copyright Alliance, which comprises bodies like the RIAA and the NMPA, has now issued a statement calling the terms “unconscionable”.

    Things have not turned legal yet, as Meta has pushed back its plans to roll out the new terms, but don't be shocked if it still goes that way…

    Music Business WorldwideCopyright Alliance – whose members include the RIAA, NMPA, and UMG – calls Meta’s proposed business terms ‘unconscionable.’ Now Meta says the rollout could be delayed again. - Music Business WorldwideThe updates are currently scheduled to apply to commercial accounts across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads, and WhatsApp from November 20.

  3. Suno: finding new ways to churn out crap

    I will keep saying it: there was FAR too much music being released long before AI rocked up. Now though, it is just turbo-charging a shit machine such that more than 50% of all uploads to DSPs are AI slop.

    Obviously Suno has now doubled down on this by launching an MCP so you can create even more dross from within Claude, OpenAI or your LLM of choice.

    Urgh.

    Music Business WorldwideSuno’s new MCP tool lets users make songs inside ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini – as its developer API gets a sign-in portal but remains in beta - Music Business WorldwideSuno has unveiled a tool that lets users create songs from inside AI assistants including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. The tool, Suno MCP, is in beta and was announced in Suno’s release notes on…

  4. Quick update on Universal’s share price

    Yesterday I published a piece over on Network Notes, examining what is going on with Universal Music and its attempts to move back into private ownership, which - for now anyway- appear to be floundering.

    One observation was that the share price is continually dropping (down about 33% YoY), so I was curious to see how the share price would respond after the company reported its Q3 performance last night. The report basically confirmed better earnings, fuelled by faster growth in streaming revenues and its continued cost-cutting drive.

    Share prices appeared to rebound upon the news, going up 12% as the markets opened again this morning. As the day has progressed however, the price is slowly coming back down again. Not great:

    For now, this seems to confirm my suspicion that investors are just losing interest in Universal's ability to deliver meaningful returns to them. That is the reason the company is looking to go back into private ownership. Per my article, however, I suspect they may struggle to achieve that. If they do not succeed, then they find themselves in a very risky position where they will be attempting to cut even more in order to increase profit, which I suspect will end badly.

    A story to keep tracking, no question.

  5. Garth Brooks pulls show after ticket bots swarm the sale

    I am genuinely starting to think that a viable solution to ticket sales being overrun by bots is to revert back to selling paper ones from a kiosk. That or ticket sellers integrate the ID checking functions that exist when undertaking legal matters etc, which involves scanning your passport and doing full face scans etc.

    This problem is only going to get worse, after all…

    TicketNewsGarth Brooks Halts Kansas City Ticket Sale, Claiming "Out of Hand" Bot IssuesGarth Brooks halted ticket sales for his third Kansas City concert, blaming bots. The shutdown follows a similar disruption involving SeatGeek.

  6. A note on this latest move by Sony and UMG against Suno

    If you missed it, Sony and Universal are attempting to get a social post from a Suno investor in which she wrote “I’ve personally shifted most of my listening to Suno. I was so tired of Spotify giving me the same overplayed recommendations.”

    Their point is that this demonstrates Suno’s desire to replace Spotify et al - something it always said was not the case.

    For me though, what this really shows is this deluded position Silicon Valley tech people seem to hold, namely that all music and art is easily replaced by AI. It says so much more about them than it ever does anything else.

    Music Business WorldwideUniversal and Sony cleared to depose ex-Menlo Ventures exec over deleted post: ‘I’ve personally shifted most of my listening to Suno’ - Music Business WorldwideIn March, MBW pointed to the potential legal significance of Gong’s post in an open letter to Suno CEO Mikey Shulman…

  7. Dortmund FC rewarding fans for not using phones

    My colleague Harry shared this in our company Slack: Dortmund FC are rewarding fans with loyalty points for keeping their phones locked during a game.

    “Dortmund are offering signed jerseys and gift cards for club merchandise to fans who use an app which measures how often they unlock their phones at their stadium.”

    Could bands adopt this? In theory, yes. I love it as a concept.

    espn.co.ukespn.co.uk

  8. So many great stats in this Pinterest post

    • 40% of Gen Z say that they wish social media had never been invented.
    • 63% of Gen Z adults now intentionally unplug—the highest rate of any generation
    • 44% of the time, when people go online, they get sucked into scrolling and end up somewhere they didn’t intend to be

    I love this line: “Don’t reinforce the loop. Design the exit.”

    I couldn't agree more. It's why here at Motive Unknown we're focusing far, far more on elevating experiences that live on the artist's own website, and ideally tying those to IRL experiences where there is infinitely more value and connection attributed to it.

    PinterestWhy brands need to fuel a life, not fill a feedGen Z wants their time online to be in service of their life, not a distraction from it. See how your brand can help to turn their inspiration into real-world action on Pinterest.

    UPDATE: I wound up writing a longer piece about marketing, stemming from this article. Read that here.

  9. It feels like the net is closing on Suno

    If the judge grants this order to declare what the risks were that were highlighted to Suno, that could be explosive for the case here.

    All of which would play very well for Universal, given it's own deal with Udio…

    Music Business WorldwideSony and Universal ask court to force Suno investor Lightspeed to testify about the ‘legal risk of training data’ - Music Business WorldwideThe labels made their case in a filing in Boston federal court last Tuesday (October 13), opposing Lightspeed’s motion to quash their subpoena.

  10. Meta’s AI scraping move will surely get challenged

    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.

  11. Something doesn't add up in Universal's narrative

    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…

  12. DistroKid confirms it has removed tracks in response to UMG claims

    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.

  13. Universal vs Summer Walker

    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.