Elon Musk’s X platform files to dismiss music publishers’ $250 million copyright lawsuitX, the Elon Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has filed to dismiss a lawsuit filed by major music publishers back in June.
The lawsuit accused the platform of wide-scale copyright infringement, and was filed by a coalition of 17 music industry bodies, with plaintiffs including Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Group, Warner Chappell, BMG and more.

READ MORE: Warner Music Group sign licensing deal with TikTok to boost social media revenue

The original lawsuit against X seeks to claim $250 million in damages for “hundreds of thousands” of alleged infringements of approximately 1,700 pieces of music.
As opposed to other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, it was reported at the time of the filing that the platform had not negotiated music licensing agreements with music copyright holders.
The motion to dismiss now filed by X is the first response the platform has made since the original lawsuit was filed.
In the document (via Rolling Stone), it has cited a 2005 supreme court ruling from MGM Studios v. Grokster, and has claimed that the publishers “do not allege that X encouraged, induced, or intended to foster the infringement of Plaintiffs’ works,” further arguing that the music publishers “must allege that the defendant took active steps with the intent of encouraging infringement.”
It also adds, “To the contrary, X’s anti-infringement policies and practices, including its DMCA policy, believe any reasonable assumption that X has induced its users to infringe any copyrights,” and further states, “Even reading the Complaint in the light most favourable to Plaintiffs, no liability can be established on the facts as pleaded.”
David Israelite, CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA),  said in a statement (via Music Business Worldwide) on 15 August that “X’s response is par for the course – another attempt to deny the fact that they have consistently failed to stop or even slow the rampant piracy on their platform.”
View the full motion to dismiss at Music Business Worldwide.
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“What do they do up there? Twiddle filter knobs and clap”: Deadmau5 says most DJs play pre-recorded sets at major festivalsElectronic music producer Deadmau5 has said that most DJ sets at major festivals are pre-recorded.
The artist, who’s real name is Joel Thomas Zimmerman, shared that he has played pre-recorded shows himself, explaining that at most big festivals “you have to”.

READ MORE: Deadmau5 on plugins vs. hardware: “For me, fun isn’t struggling on a laptop”

The topic is a divisive one, but Deadmau5 had no problem in being honest and upfront about it. He began discussing the topic of pre-recorded sets during a live stream which has since been posted to YouTube. Responding to a comment that asked if he had “ever faked a DJ set”, he was happy to share that he had played pre-recorded ones due to time restraints.
“If he means a pre-recorded set, yeah, wow, all the time. Most of the time. Does that make you mad? Do I go to jail for that? Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren’t,” he says.
Whilst nonchalantly eating popcorn, he then goes on to make a joke about the FBI knocking on his door: “How dare you play a pre-recorded set due to a strict timeline!”
“[At] most major festivals you have to play a pre-recorded set. Like EDC [Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas], I would be surprised if somebody actually played a set that wasn’t pre-recorded to be honest, because theres such a big deal to the fucking artist in the production schedule and the timeline and all that stuff that they wouldn’t wanna fuck up.
“You know what a dead giveaway is to a pre-recorded set? The visuals, believe it or not. When shit is so immaculately timed that everything is lining up, that means everything is on a playback system,” he explains. “What do they do up there? Twiddle filter knobs and clap, yes absolutely. That’s all you can do.”
Deadmau5 then went on to respond to a comment saying those who play pre-recorded sets are not real DJs, “Okay. Says who? The fucking DJ police?” he scoffs.
Watch the video below:

Tickets to see Deadmau5 live are available through his website.
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“Pop will be way more minimal sounding” in the future, Charli XCX predictsElectro-pop and PC Music singer-songwriter Charli XCX has taken to Twitter – now X – to share her predictions about the future of pop music, foreseeing a more minimal sound.

READ MORE: PC Music to stop releasing new music after 2023

“I predict that over the next year pop music will be way more minimal sounding – like 3 or 4 sounds per song plus vocal” the Boom Clap singer wrote yesterday.
After one fan responds to her minimalism prediction by tweeting that pop music should be “highbrow and exciting”, Charli XCX justifies that minimalist music can be “exciting and avant-garde”, not necessarily translating to just acoustic or soft sounds.
“Extreme drama” can be created through minimalism, she writes, found in songs like Peaches’ Fuck The Pain Away and SOPHIE’s Bipp.

“When i say minimal”, she defends, “I do not mean ‘simple’ or ‘lacking complexity’ or ‘small’. i mean that there are only 4 or 5 sounds that make up the entirety of the song – and this choice ends up making everything feel monolithic to me. There is no clutter. Every slight change feels gigantic because you can hear every detail.”
The Crash singer also says that she thinks lyrics will become less metaphorical and “flowery” moving forward and more conversational – “things you’d actually say to your friends on FaceTime”, she writes.

i predict that over the next year pop music will be wayyyy more minimal sounding – like 3 or 4 sounds per song plus vocal
— Charli (@charli_xcx) August 13, 2023

Charli XCX, who has become a cultural icon for the LGBTQ+ community in recent years, was included in the Barbie soundtrack with her track Speed Drive. The soundtrack, curated and produced by Mark Ronson, made UK chart history, with Charli’s track reaching nineteenth in the UK Top 40 charts.
After being added to the soundtrack, she tweeted “Wont lie I did used to behead my Barbies but really happy to be on the soundtrack tho!”
Charli XCX isn’t the only artist to have made predictions regarding the future of music this year. At the BRIT Awards in February 2023, David Guetta said “the future of music is in AI. For sure. There’s no doubt. But as a tool.”
Keep up to date with all things Charli XCX via charlixcx.com.
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Scientists have reconstructed Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall by listening to people’s brain wavesScientists have successfully managed to use people’s electrical brain activity to accurately reconstruct the classic Pink Floyd song Another Brick in the Wall.
The experiment – the first time a recognisable song has been decoded from brain activity [per The Guardian] – is hoped to restore the musicality of natural speech in patients who struggle to communicate as a result of neurological conditions like stroke or ALS.

READ MORE: This new AI music generator can generate over one billion different soundtracks

29 patients were played a three-minute segment from Another Brick in the Wall, with the following brain activity recorded using electrodes placed directly on the surface of their brains as they underwent surgery for epilepsy.
AI technology was then used to take the brain scans and turn them into audible material. Though somewhat muffled, the line, “All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall” was heard, with its rhythms and melodies intact.
“It sounds a bit like they’re speaking underwater, but it’s our first shot at this,” says Professor Robert Knight, a neurologist at the University of California in Berkeley who helped conduct the study.
Knight says by using a higher density of electrodes – the team worked with an average separation of 5mm between electrodes – the results of the experiment may improve.
“Now that we know how to do this, I think if we had electrodes that were like a millimetre and a half apart, the sound quality would be much better,” he says.
Staff at the same laboratory have reportedly been able to decipher speech – and even slightly imagined words – from brain scans, but according to Knight, “in general, all of these reconstruction attempts have had a robotic quality”.
“Music, by its very nature, is emotional and prosodic – it has rhythm, stress, accent and intonation,” he continues. “It contains a much bigger spectrum of things than limited phonemes in whatever language, that could add another dimension to an implantable speech decoder.”

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Wide Blue Sound Offers FREE Audio Plugin Uninstaller For macOS
I doubt I’ve ever covered anything here with a name that more accurately and succinctly describes the software’s primary function than Audio Plugin Uninstaller by Wide Blue Sound. We typically talk about effects, sounds, instruments, and more creative aspects of music, so I understand if uninstalling plugins doesn’t generate the same excitement. But I also [...]
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MNTRA Instruments Releases FREE Mirage Cinematic Instrument
MNTRA Instruments releases Mirage, the FREE cinematic instrument for macOS and Windows. It’s difficult to summarize Mirage in a headline; a cinematic instrument is the most encapsulating description I could think of because it’s ideal for scoring videos or games. The reason it’s ideal for scoring video or games is that it allows you to [...]
View post: MNTRA Instruments Releases FREE Mirage Cinematic Instrument

PRS for Music and PPL are using Audoo’s audio meters to detect songs at public spaces for fairer royalty paymentsBritish music copyright collectives PRS For Music and PPL have joined forces with music technology company Audoo, to improve music royalty detection and distribution for creators, using Audoo’s audio meters.

READ MORE: AVID acquired by private equity firm Symphony Technology Group for $1.4 billion

The installation of Audoo’s audio meters in businesses including cafés, bars, hair salons, restaurants, and retail locations across Great Britain, aims to help drive forward and accelerate accurate and transparent royalty distribution to music creators. The device works by identifying the background music being played and reporting this usage back to PRS for Music and PPL.
According to Audoo, the audio meters installed are designed to be GDPR-compliant and use smart plug-in technology to securely track and report the music being played in quasi-real-time, without capturing any non-music audio such as private conversations.
The move will help PRS for Music and PPL enhance distribution efficiency by delivering optimum payments for their 300,000 collective members – including artists, recording rightsholders, music publishers, writers and composers.
“We are continually investing in new technologies and services to ensure we can pay out royalties more quickly and accurately, delivering the best possible service to members,” said Tim Arber, PRS for Music’s Director of Operational Improvement.
“We have been working with music recognition technology for many years and are excited to see how this collaboration with Audoo can support our ambition to pay out over £1 billion annually in the next few years. Helping businesses across the UK to report the music they play through smart data capture will be integral to reaching this milestone and maximising our members’ public performance royalties.”
Russell Chant, PPL’s Head of Distribution, said: “At PPL, we’re always working to ensure that performers, record labels and self-releasing artists are fairly and accurately paid for the music they create. This initiative with Audoo will complement our existing suite of advanced technological tools and public performance music usage data, offering us a further way to check that our distributions are as accurate as possible.”
Ryan Edwards, Audoo’s founder and CEO, said: “This collaboration with PRS and PPL is a milestone in the evolution of the public performance royalty space, for creators, performers and rights holders, as well as licensees delivering an enhanced experience for customers through the joy of music played in public spaces.”
Learn more at Audoo.
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GameSoundCon 2023 registration now open The world’s largest professional conference for video game music and sound design will be held at Burbank Convention Center in Burbank, California on 17 - 18 October 2023.

AVID acquired by private equity firm Symphony Technology Group for $1.4 billionAVID Technology Inc – the company behind Pro Tools and Sibelius – will be bought by private equity firm Symphony Technology Group for $1.4 billion, in a deal reported by Reuters.
The news comes after it was revealed that US firm Francisco Partners – a major investor in Native Instruments and iZotope – made a bid to acquire AVID just earlier this week.

READ MORE: Four Tet played at his daughter’s birthday to “deeply unimpressed” teenage girls following Coachella set

As reported, the all-cash deal means that AVID shareholders will receive $27.05 per share in cash.
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, and AVID says Sixth Street Partners and Silver Point provided debt financing for the deal.
“Since our founding over 30 years ago, AVID has delivered technology that enables individuals and enterprises who create media for a living to make, manage and monetise today’s most celebrated video and audio content across the globe. We are pleased to announce this transaction with STG, who share our conviction and excitement in delivering innovative technology solutions to address our customers’ creative and business needs,” says Jeff Rosica, AVID’s Chief Executive Officer and President.
“STG’s expertise in the technology sector and significant financial and strategic resources will help accelerate the achievement of our strategic vision, building on the momentum of our successful transformation achieved over the past several years. This transaction represents the start of an exciting new chapter for AVID, our customers, our partners and our team members and is a testament to the importance of AVID and our solutions in powering the media and entertainment industry.”
“After carefully evaluating a variety of options, the Board determined that this transaction is in the best interests of AVID and its stockholders,” adds AVID Chairman John Wallace.
AVID is an industry-leading provider of music software, owning both digital audio workstation Pro Tools and music notation software Sibelius. Its products are among the most popular in the music world, with Pro Tools likely the most used digital audio workstation.
Sibelius is also one of the most commonly used scoring softwares in the composition world, and counts the likes of Hans Zimmer among its users.
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Kits.AI voice generation technology Kits.AI are a new AI-generated voice platform who are working directly with artists in order to licence and release their voice models. 

First-generation iPod sells for $29,000A first-generation iPod bought in 2001 as a Christmas gift has been sold for $29,000 (approximately £22,750).
The iPod, sold on August 4 via Rally Alternative Asset Investment platform, was originally purchased by the parents of a teenager at an Apple store in Plano, Texas for $399. Its sky-high price now is commanded, in part, by the fact it remains in its original packaging.

READ MORE: Nearly 120 historic hip-hop artefacts – including a ring designed by Tupac – go on sale in Sotheby’s auction

“He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it, so he put it on a shelf, and then, inevitably, time passed,” explains Rally co-founder Rob Petrozzo.
He adds that the owner found the iPod in the original blue Apple bag while cleaning out his childhood home after the passing of his father. “It truly is a time capsule,” says.
Rally, the platform which hosted the sale, allows investors to own shares in collectible assets in an NFT-style framework.
Per NME, ownership of the iPod was originally split into 5,000 shares each valued at $5 through an LLC, but a private collector unexpectedly acquired all 5,000 shares and secured exclusive possession of the iPod.
Last year, Apple officially discontinued the iPod after more than 20 years. At the time, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak said: “Today, the spirit of iPod lives on. We’ve integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV.
“And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio — there’s no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music.”
Legacy Apple products regularly command high resale prices. Just last month, an original factory-sealed 2007 4GB iPhone was sold for a record-breaking $200,000.
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BandLab announces support for Human Artistry Campaign – which favours the ethical development of AI in creative industriesBandLab has announced its support of the Human Artistry Campaign, an organisation which champions the ethical development of AI in creative industries.
In a presentation delivered at Ai4 2023 – a renowned artificial intelligence conference held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas – BandLab CEO Meng Ru Kuok confirmed the company’s support of the initiative.

READ MORE: Researchers find that AI can turn brain scans into music

The presentation – titled Augmenting the Artist: How AI is Redefining Music Creation and Innovation – saw Meng showcase BandLab’s SongStarter technology, a musical idea generator powered by artificial intelligence within the BandLab platform.
Credit: BandLab
SongStarter generates unique beats, melodies, and chord progressions based on user input, and is built, BandLab says, to “empower new musicians by encouraging their creative exploration”.
According to BandLab, in the past 12 months, the platform has seen 15x growth in music created using its AI tools.
Elsewhere, Meng’s presentation highlighted BandLab’s commitment to ethical AI training and development. As the company reiterates, it is the first music creation platform to support the Human Artistry Campaign.
“BandLab reinforces its commitment to the thoughtful development of AI-driven solutions to ensure they support and protect emerging creators worldwide,” it says.
“By prioritising the responsible use of AI, BandLab aims to elevate human expression while driving innovation forward.”
Notably, BandLab stands out as the sole company representing music creation at Ai4 2023.
Formed only this year, the Human Artistry Campaign is a “coalition” that represents “countless types” of creatives, including actors, musicians, authors, journalists, visual artists, athletes and more.
Boasting 150 global members at the time of writing, the organisation is built around the fundamental belief that AI can never replace human creativity and spirit, and the rights of human creators must be protected.
The organisation champions seven core principles, which outline how AI can be responsibly used to support human creativity with respect to the “inimitable” value of human artistry and expression. These principles are:

Technology has long empowered human expression, and AI will be no different
Human-created works will continue to play an essential role in our lives
Use of copyrighted works, and the use of voices and likenesses of professional performers, requires authorisation and free market licensing from all rights holders
Governments should not create new copyright or other IP exemptions that allow AI developers to exploit creators without permission or compensation
Copyright should only protect the unique value of human intellectual creativity
Trustworthiness and transparency are essential to the success of AI and protection of creators
Creators’ interests must be represented in policymaking

To learn more about the seven core principles, head to Human Artistry Campaign.
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HoRNet SpringVerb Is FREE For A Limited Time (12 Hours Left)
HoRNet Plugins offers the SpringVerb spring reverb plugin as a free download until 11:59 pm (CET) on August 8th, 2023. There are 14 hours left to get the plugin for free at the time of publishing this article. I love the metallic sound of spring reverbs. It’s no substitute for “normal” reverbs types like plate [...]
View post: HoRNet SpringVerb Is FREE For A Limited Time (12 Hours Left)

Meta’s AudioCraft AI music tool could cut multiple revenue streams for musiciansMeta has launched AdudioCraft, a free generative AI text-to-audio and music tool, and announced that it is open-sourcing it for research purposes “to help advance the field of AI-generated audio.”. Continue reading
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The life cycle of a Sync placementLearn more about the process of getting music into TV. film and games. A quick but thorough guide that goes from pitching to placement to payment. by Jon Mizrachi of. Continue reading
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