A coalition of European creative industry groups representing millions of authors, performers, publishers, producers and other rightsholder organizations has slammed the European Commission’s implementation of AI Act provisions designed to protect intellectual property rights in the age of generative AI.

The group called the measures a “betrayal” of the law’s original intent, according to a press release on Tuesday (July 29).

The backlash comes just weeks after the Commission published its General-Purpose AI Code of Practice on July 10 and accompanying guidelines on July 18. The measures are part of the world’s first AI regulation, which entered into force on August 1, 2024.

Starting Saturday (August 2), “the obligations for providers of GPAI models enter into application,” according to the EU. This means that companies developing general-purpose AI models “must document technical information about their models for the purpose of providing that information upon request to the AI Office and national competent authorities,” among other things.

TikTok has been very busy lately expanding the platforms that are integrated with its ‘Add to Music App’ feature, which lets users save songs they found on TikTok to the music streaming service of their choice.

The latest addition, announced by TikTok on Tuesday (July 29) is YouTube Music. TikTok users who hit the ‘Add Song’ button next to a song name at the bottom of a video will have the song added to the ‘TikTok Songs’ playlist on their YouTube Music account.

Since it first launched the feature in the US and UK in November 2023, TikTok has rapidly expanded both the countries where the feature is available and the platforms integrated with it.

Beginning with Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, the feature was expanded to include South Korea’s Melon and France-headquartered Deezer last fall, SoundCloudthis past May and Middle East and North Africa-focused streamer Anghami just a few weeks ago.

Amid now-resolved recent clashes certain music industry giants and its ongoing potential shutdown in the US, TikTok has been playing up its growing role in the music business.

‘Add to Music App’ is a key aspect of this strategy.

Spotify has landed a major airline partnership, securing placement across United’s more than 680 aircraft fleet.

The deal gives Spotify access to over 130,000 seatback entertainment screens, allowing the company to showcase its video and audio podcasts, audiobooks, and playlists for free to millions of travelers annually.

In 2024, United carried 173.6 million passengers, up 5.3% from a year earlier. According to Airways magazine, United is the largest airline in the world based on available seat miles, which represent an airline’s total passenger-carrying capacity.

Following the Spotify integration, Spotify will appear as a new content option in in-flight screens of more than 680 United aircraft, replacing “audio” under the home menu. Over the coming months, most of United’s fleet will receive a dedicated Spotify featured channel where all Spotify content — songs, podcasts, video podcasts, audiobooks and playlists — will be housed together.

United explains that from 2026, passengers will be able to log into the Spotify app on the in-flight entertainment screen of using their personal devices, allowing them to enjoy personalized content on Starlink-equipped aircraft

Live music giant Live Nation plans to invest $1 billion in 18 new and renovated venues across the US over the next 18 months, stressing the positive impact of the investment on the US economy.

The new or refurbed venues, ranging in size from intimate clubs to large amphitheaters, are in markets ranging in size from large cities like Denver, Pittsburgh and Seattle, to smaller markets like Allentown, Pennsylvania, Birmingham, Alabama, and Riverside, Missouri.

It’s part of Live Nation’s ongoing strategy to build a network of owned-and-operated venues, of which the company now owns 150 in the US, or about 4% of all music venues across the country.

The idea for the venue investment is to bring “more big shows to smaller cities across America,” Live Nation said in a statement on Tuesday (June 10).

“Our mission is simple: help artists deliver more unforgettable live experiences – and in doing so, create jobs, revive cities, and lift up the communities we touch,” CEO Michael Rapino said.

“As an American company, we drive impact here at home while also helping elevate and export the very best of what this nation represents: freedom, creativity, grit, and boundless possibility.”

Anthem Music Publishing has acquired the song catalog of the late country singer-songwriter Marty Robbins.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition covers Robbins’ hits from a career that spanned the late 1940s through the early 1980s, including more than 500 songs released across 72 albums.

The catalog includes Big Iron, which climbed to No. 5 on the US Country chart in 1960 and peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was featured in the 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas. The Western Writers of America ranked it 11th among Western songs of all time.

The Coca-Cola Company has deepened its long-running involvement in the music business, launching a new record label in partnership with Universal Music Group.

Dubbed real thing records., the “genre-agnostic” label will focus on elevating emerging talent from around the world and deepening the connection between artists and fans, Coca-Cola said in a statement on Wednesday (June 11).

The plan is to leverage UMG’s leading position in artist development and its global network of labels and partners, combining it with Coca-Cola’s reach and cultural influence.

The new label has already announced its first two signings, both of whom are already signed to UMG-affiliated labels: French-New Zealand artist Max Allais (Better Now Records/Universal Music Germany) and Indian singer-songwriter and producer Aksomaniac (Def Jam Recordings India/Universal Music India).