Google's New AI Detection Tool SynthID and What It Means for Creative Fields

Google's DeepMind created an AI tool, SynthID, that detects images made by AI. This has big implications as detection spreads to music, writing, and beyond. How will creative fields adapt?


Why a BMI Sale to Private Equity Could Be a Good Thing for Songwriters

Yesterday, I wrote a post exploring the potential downsides for songwriters of a BMI sale to private equity. I laid out the legitimate concerns around declining royalty distributions and lack of transparency. However, after reflecting further, I decided to challenge myself to see if I could make a case for why the deal could potentially turn out alright for creators. As an industry observer aiming for nuanced perspective, in today's post I present some counterpoints arguing why a BMI sale may not be all bad for writers' incomes.


BMI Sale to Private Equity: Major Red Flags for Songwriters

The Crucial Role of Performing Rights Organizations

Performing rights organization BMI is exploring a sale to private equity, and songwriters are right to be extremely concerned. As a passionate industry observer and advocate for fair creator compensation, I'm taking a deep dive into what this deal could mean for writers' incomes.


SoundExchange vs. Sirius XM: The Royalty Battle Continues

SoundExchange is once again at odds with Sirius XM, accusing them of misrepresenting and underpaying royalties related to their internet streaming service. This conflict revolves around the distinction between Sirius' two primary services: its satellite subscription and internet streaming. Given that the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board has set different royalty rates for each, the lawsuit alleges Sirius XM has been strategically bundling these services, skewing revenue towards 'webcasting revenue' to reduce royalty costs.


MacOS Big Sur Compatibility for Musicians

This will be an ever changing list that will hopefully help you decide when to update MacOS Big Sur. I mainly put this here for myself to keep track, but feel free to let me know what other music software statuses are since I obviously don't have them all :)


Collaborators Agreement

Almost every songwriter collaborates to some degree and the Collaborators Agreement is the easiest way to make sure that any contributions to a song are duly noted. It is also important to have a document that spells out what happens if you or your co-writer can’t be found, or you decide to add some foreign language lyrics and etc.