I say it all the time, our business is crazy. Like it or not the music business direction is negotiated and led by those who hold the keys. Crazy as this might be, we’re at the mercy of those at the table. Buckle up man
Spotify just announced a feature that could either save the music industry or destroy it.
Starting as early as Q1 2027, Spotify Premium subscribers will be able to use AI to transform any participating artist’s song into a completely different version. Turn a folk ballad into a dance track. Make a hip-hop song sound acoustic. Generate a cover where one artist’s voice performs another artist’s song. Remix a pop hit into lo-fi study music. Create the version of your favorite song that only existed in your head until now.
The remixes will be uploaded directly to Spotify. They’ll appear in playlists. They’ll count toward the original song’s chart position. And most importantly the original artist will earn royalties every time someone listens to a fan-created remix of their work.
Spotify has already signed a landmark licensing deal with Universal Music Group the world’s largest record label. Negotiations with Sony Music and Warner Music are ongoing. The feature will cost an additional $4–$5/month on top of Spotify Premium. And analysts project 7–8% of American subscribers will adopt it by 2028.
This is not Suno or Udio generating music from text prompts. This is fans remixing real songs by real artists with the artists’ permission, on the world’s largest streaming platform, with royalties flowing back to the creators.
A music industry analyst who’s covered streaming economics for 15 years told her team something after reading the licensing agreement that reframed how she understood the future of recorded music.
“Spotify just turned 640 million listeners into 640 million potential remixers. The question isn’t whether people will use it they will. The question is whether paying artists for fan remixes solves the economics of streaming or creates a world where the original recording is worth less than the infinite remixes generated from it.”
Here’s what Spotify’s AI remix feature actually is, who wins, who loses, and why this might be the most consequential decision in the music industry since the launch of streaming itself 🧵
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The way people just talk to talk. Interesting. Gonna pin this for later 🤞🏾
Finally Tunji is getting the boot! The west coast native has been the CEO of Def Jam since 2022 and hasn’t broke any west coast rappers through that label. Useless! @Tunji
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More to come as well. A mess
Another round of layoffs started at UMG today. Artists and their fans often blame labels for everything, but many of the people working in these buildings to support artists care deeply about the work. Some artists may have just lost their only advocate at the company.
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When you really made it
Olivia Dean's "I've Seen It" is accused of copying Bill Withers' "Just the Two of Us" in a new lawsuit.
The publisher behind Withers' catalog calls the similarities “obvious and inescapable.”
🔗: rollingstone.com/music/music…
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feyisola retweeted
I was homeless and couch surfing in 2016. I made a beat pack and named every beat Channel 1, 2, 3… all the way to 50. Mac chose Channel 13 and invited me to the studio for a couple days. That experience changed my life and helped me more than he probably knew. I’ll always be grateful for that exchange. Thank you Mac. 🕊️
🕺🏾💃🏾🪩
BITTERSWEET OUT NOW ON MY NEW EP #HOMEGROWN
PRODUCED BY @Rance1500 x KAYTRANADA
nippa.lnk.to/homegrown-EP
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TELL EM!!!
Growing up, a hit song crossed demographics whether the genre was your favorite or not. People who don’t primarily listen to country still know Dolly, Shania, Carrie, The Chicks, etc. because they made actual hit records that crossed over. If a song can spend 23 weeks at #1, breaking records that stood for 20+ years, while a huge portion of the public is sincerely saying they’ve never heard it, maybe the conversation isn’t “people hate country.” Maybe @RollingStone should be writing about how streaming-era chart dominance no longer equals cultural dominance because there’s some trickery at play. That’s the real story being avoided. Don’t gaslight us.
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