Earlier today, Spotify and Universal Music Group announced a licensing agreement allowing Spotify Premium subscribers to “cover” and remix copyrighted music with the help of AI. Oh, joy. It’s a pretty self-evident bid for AI monetization: subscribers pay extra to use the service, while copyrighted songs find new life (and new cash) in the joint hands of users and generative AI. They’re not hiding the financial incentive, either; the official announcement makes it clear that the tool will “open up additional revenue streams and new ways to drive discovery” and introduce “a creation model where artists and songwriters can directly share in the value generated through AI-driven licensed covers.” UMG Chairman-CEO Lucian Grainge insists that “this pioneering AI-enabled superfan initiative” was “designed to support human artistry” and “deepen fan relationships,” because nothing says “support the connection between arts and listeners” like using an AI middleman.
As if that wasn’t enough, Spotify (public enemy #1) has now partnered with Live Nation (public enemy #2) to, yes, make concert ticketing even more hellish. Remember the Ticketmaster and Live Nation monopolization case last month? Spotify doesn’t—or, more likely, they want in on the concert moguls’ deal. It’s called “Spotify Reserved” and will allegedly be used to “identify an artist’s most dedicated fans and hold two tour tickets for them,” both of which will be reserved for a day before being released to the public. The system seems remarkably easy to game, considering it’s largely streams- and shares-based—two incredibly easy metrics to bot and manipulate. It will also likely end up being rather arbitrary, something Spotify itself acknowledged in its announcement: “There will be significantly more superfans than there are seats available on a tour, so not every fan will receive an offer.” I look forward to seeing how terribly this will inevitably go come Taylor Swift’s next tour.
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