NEWM

🔊 Sound on It's official, NEWM Studio is LIVE and serving up music distribution with a twist! If you're ready to start releasing your music on your terms, head to buff.ly/3RmupGh to get started. Spread the love, share your music! 💗

We asked our Gen Z intern to edit our 3-year anniversary video, and this is what they came up with. Enjoy.  Watch the full cut and meet some of the amazing humans behind our project that you may not know yet here: https://lnkd.in/eW6Gcg33

Since the release of the NEWM Music App, we've been thrilled to see lots of love and positive comments! And the best part is, it will only get better and better.  If you haven't checked out the app yet, you can do so at the link below. If you've already downloaded the app, we'd greatly appreciate it if you could leave us a review with your thoughts and feedback on the Google Play Store 🙏 newm.io/app

One of coolest things about the #CardanoSummit2024 is discovering the many amazing projects building on this blockchain, but even better is meeting the incredible women that push innovation & progress every day. This next article is devoted to a few of our favorite #CardanoGirls - give it a read!

The NEWM Music App is officially LIVE! Now, you can enjoy your Cardano music on-the-go. Simply connect your wallet & listen to your music collectibles whenever, wherever. Download the app & share your thoughts! (available on Android, iOS coming soon) 🔗 newm.io/app

Cardano Summit 2024 has us feelin' nostalgic for the early days of #web3 and how far we've come. So, here's an awesome throwback article on the NEWMag written by guest author, IP/Tech Lawyer & Prof. @NYULaw, Michael Kasdan. Check it out ↓

Annnnd we're off! The NEWM Music App will soon be LIVE! First launch will be for Android, and then iOS shortly thereafter. We're so excited for this announcement that's been 2+ years in the making. The future of music is happening now, and it's on NEWM. Keep an eye out for an official go-live announcement in the coming days. 🎉

It’s time for another Music Industry Breakdown! This week, we’re talking music plagiarism, lawsuits, and why the insidious practice at the heart of this rising trend may have some seriously dark implications for the future of music. Let’s dive in! In 2023, Miley Cyrus' hit "Flowers" was everywhere, but now it’s back in the spotlight for a very different reason – a lawsuit. She’s being accused of copying Bruno Mars’ "When I Was Your Man,” but it’s not Bruno who’s behind the suit. So, who is? The lawsuit claims "Flowers" borrows melodic sequences, bass lines, and even lyric elements from Mars’ 2013 ballad, alleging that the song is so similar it wouldn’t exist without Mars' track. However, Bruno Mars himself isn’t involved in this lawsuit at all. It’s his co-writer’s copyright share that was sold to a private investment firm, Tempo Music. This raises the question – who’s really fighting over these songs, and why? Well, as far as motivation for the suit goes, the stakes are huge. "Flowers" shattered streaming records, pulling in over 1 billion streams on Spotify and dominating the charts worldwide. It’s one of Miley’s biggest hits, and this lawsuit could throw a wrench in her victory lap. This lawsuit is just the beginning of a bigger, and frankly concerning, trend in music. Private firms are buying up artists' catalogs, including classics like those of Bob Dylan and Queen, with the aim to squeeze as much value as possible out of every copyright. That means more lawsuits like this one. Music, after all, often shares common chords, melodies, and themes. But as these investment firms take charge, even the smallest similarities are now fair game for litigation. So what’s really at stake here? Beyond the money, there’s a broader conversation about how music rights are shifting – and what that means for the artists themselves. Is this trend protecting creators, or just turning music into a legal battlefield? One thing’s for sure: as investment firms scoop up more catalogs, we’re likely to see more cases like this. And for artists, that could mean fewer creative liberties in an industry increasingly run by corporate interests.

AI music has been a hot topic of conversation in the music industry recently, and it’s one of the most worrying issues for artists. While much of the discussion has centered around copyright and plagiarism, another rising concern is AI-powered stream manipulation. In a first-of-its-kind case, North Carolina musician Michael Smith has been accused of using AI and bots to fraudulently stream songs to generate and claim millions in royalties. He now faces serious charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. Smith allegedly used AI to generate hundreds of thousands of songs, then employed bots to stream the music billions of times across platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. This scheme reportedly allowed him to collect more than $10 million in royalties over several years. But Smith wasn’t acting alone. Authorities claim he worked with the CEO of an unnamed AI music company, who provided thousands of AI-generated tracks each month in exchange for song metadata and a portion of the streaming revenue. To avoid detection and inflate royalty numbers, Smith reportedly operated up to 10,000 bot accounts at a time to stream these tracks. In an email, he even stated that his music had generated over 4 billion streams and $12 million in royalties since 2019. So, what’s being done to keep stream manipulation in check? Platforms like Spotify have begun cracking down on artificial streams with new policies, such as charging labels for detected fake streams and raising the stream threshold required for royalty payments. But is this enough in the fight against stream fraud? Some have suggested using AI technology itself to combat the problem by analyzing users behind streams to determine their validity. If the user is suspected to be a bot, the stream could be invalidated. AI-generated music continues to be a major concern for many. Recently, artists like Billie Eilish and Chappell Roan signed an open letter calling for action against the "predatory" use of AI in music, demanding fair recognition and protection for creators. While we may not have all the answers right now, the pending case against Michael Smith could potentially set a new precedent for how the industry handles AI music, stream fraud, and artist protection in the future. What do you think? Are there better ways to combat stream fraud, and what AI regulations would you want to see implemented in order to protect artists? Comment your thoughts!

You can't listen that same highschool playlist forever (well, you COULD but then you'd miss out on some incredible #music). So, give your 'on repeat' tracks a break & discover something new in this week's Team NEWM playlist. 🎧 ⏯ 🔗 Tank and the Bangas - Remember ft. Samara Joy and Robert Glasper https://lnkd.in/e8XaESBC  🔗 Gregory Alan Isakov - The Stable Song  https://lnkd.in/eFhS3xmy  🔗 Nemahsis - Coloured Concrete  https://lnkd.in/e4AS7C8G 🔗 Trentemøller - Nightfall  https://lnkd.in/eywaWrGa  🔗 Michael Kiwanuka - Lowdown