Recorded music revenues in the United States reached $8.4 billion for the first half of 2023, an all-time high for the period that translates to a 9.3 percent increase, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Streaming continued to thrive, accounting for a whopping 84 percent of the six-month revenue total, or $7 billion. Total revenue from paid subscription services grew 11 percent to $5.5 billion, nearly double the growth in the number of individual paid accounts, which rose by just over 6 percent year-over-year, to an average of 95.8 million accounts. Continue reading Streaming Drives Music Revenue in the U.S. to a New Record

Intel has unveiled a new glass substrate technology that it says will “benefit our key players and foundry customers for decades to come.” The result of 10 years and $1 billion in development, the concept substitutes glass for the usual resin in which processors are embedded, enabling greater speed and the ability to accommodate the industry’s move toward packaging numerous “chiplets” into more powerful large processors, a configuration that has proven beneficial for the acceleration that drives artificial intelligence. This technology could potentially vault Intel ahead of competitors, some say. Continue reading Intel Has Plans to Power AI with Glass Substrates for Its Chips

Google is implementing a plan to help its Bard AI become more competitive with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Bard Extensions will allow English-language users to expand the chatbot’s knowledge repository to data from various Google apps, including Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Maps, YouTube, and Google Flights and hotels, or even information stored “across multiple apps and services,” Google says. The update boosts search engine capabilities with the travel features, while providing some functionalities of a personal assistant by letting it identify missed emails or summarize the relevant points in a document. Continue reading Google Links Bard AI to Apps Including YouTube, Docs, Drive

Meta Platforms will offer its “Horizon Worlds” virtual reality experience to the world at large, making it available in 2D via mobile and browsers on the Web, starting with early access. Initially, a “small number of people” will be able to  tap into the FPS game “Super Rumble” via the Meta Quest app on Android, with iOS availability over the next few weeks and “more experiences to come.” Early access can also be requested by those who prefer to use computer browsers at horizon.meta.com. “The metaverse should be available to everyone — no matter what device they’re on,” Meta suggests. Continue reading Meta’s ‘Horizon Worlds’ Offers Metaverse on Mobile, the Web

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has issued a report featuring seven proposed principles that aim to “ensure consumer protection and healthy competition are at the heart of responsible development and use of foundation models,” or FMs. Ranging from “accountability” and “diversity” to “transparency,” the principles aim to “spur innovation and growth” while implementing social safety measures amidst rapid adoption of apps including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion. The transformative properties of FMs can “have a significant impact on people, businesses, and the UK economy,” according to the CMA. Continue reading UK’s Competition Office Issues Principles for Responsible AI

California lawmakers have put data brokers on notice. A bill known as the Delete Act would allow consumers to require all such information peddlers to delete their personal information with a single request. The bill defines “data brokers” as any number of businesses that collect and sell people’s personal information, including residential address, marital status and purchases. Both houses last week passed the proposed legislation — Senate Bill 362 — and it now heads to Governor Newsom’s desk. If he signs it, the new law will go into effect in January 2026. Continue reading California Plans to Protect Consumer Privacy with Delete Act

With Netflix ceasing DVD rent-by-mail operations as of September 29, a market opportunity has been identified by Seattle, Washington-based independent Scarecrow Video, which wants to step into the role vacated by the streaming giant. Described as the largest remaining video retailer in the U.S., Scarecrow began experimenting with a rent-by-mail program in 2019, offering DVDs and Blu-ray Discs delivered to mailboxes across the country. While rare titles are excepted from the rent-by-mail program, and applications to participate in the program must be individually approved, Scarecrow has proclaimed the program a success. Continue reading Indie Video Store Tries to Fill Netflix DVD-by-Mail Rental Role

Blackmagic Design’s new Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K is the company’s first with a full-frame sensor. Its 6,048 x 4,032 pixels of native resolution is almost three times the resolution of Super 35, says Blackmagic, which is positioning the $2,595 device as a “large format cinema camera image quality in a portable, lightweight body.” The Cinema 6K abandons the Canon EF mount for L-Mount coupling and greater lens options, and 13 stops of dynamic range with dual native ISO up to 25,600 delivers low noise images in conditions from bright sunlight to “almost no light at all,” according to the company. Continue reading Blackmagic Intros Cinema Camera 6K with Full Frame Sensor

The Department of Homeland Security is harnessing artificial intelligence, according to a memo by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas explaining the department will use AI to keep Americans safe while implementing safeguards to ensure civil rights, privacy rights and the U.S. Constitution are not violated. The DHS appointed Eric Hysen as chief AI officer, moving him into the role from his previous post as CIO. “DHS must master this technology, applying it effectively and building a world class workforce that can reap the benefits of Al, while meeting the threats posed by adversaries that wield Al,” Mayorkas wrote. Continue reading DHS Moves to ‘Master’ AI While Keeping It Safe, Trustworthy

Spotify is adding a new tool called Showcase that lets artists promote their work in the app’s homepage feed. Showcase “appears as a mobile banner at the top of Spotify’s Home — the most visited place on Spotify, where millions of listeners come to decide what to listen to, resulting in billions of streams each day,” the streamer says, adding that “people who see a Showcase are 6x more likely to stream the promoted release.” The banners will carry labels indicating a recommendation is sponsored. The company is also launching a marketing tool called Songwriter Promo Cards to assist with discovery. Continue reading Spotify Lets Artists Pay to Get Home Feed Recommendations

Adobe Firefly is out of beta and in release, adding generative AI features to the Creative Cloud suite. The upgrade starts this week with Firefly added to Photoshop and Illustrator. “AI-powered innovation” is also being integrated into Premiere Pro and After Effects, the company says. Creative Cloud paid plans now include the Firefly web application, “a playground for exploring AI-assisted creative expression.” The company is also going wide with Adobe GenStudio for enterprises, and is rolling out a bonus program that pays contributors to Adobe Stock, on which Firefly was trained for model training data. Continue reading Adobe Releases Firefly and Intros Contributor Model Training

Stability AI is launching Stable Audio, a music generation AI tool that uses latent diffusion to deliver what the company says is high-quality 44.1 kHz music for commercial use. Stable Audio uses a web-based interface to generate music from text prompts and duration. Because its latent diffusion model architecture has been conditioned on text metadata as well as audio file duration and start time, it defeats a problem common to diffusion for generative audio — producing cohesive musical segments as opposed to arbitrary sections of a song that start or end in the middle of a phrase. Continue reading Stability AI Develops ‘Stable Audio’ Generative Text-to-Music

Free video streaming service Crackle has become one of the first third-party publishers to support Amazon Interactive Video Ads. The integration via the Crackle Connex sales arm will let consumers learn more about a product or add a product to their Amazon shopping cart directly from the screen during an ad break. Crackle parent company Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is expected to add Amazon ads to its Chicken Soup for the Soul and Redbox VOD apps in the future. The agreement also allows Amazon Fire TV customers to watch free movies and TV shows via Redbox. Continue reading Crackle Using Amazon Tech to Test Interactive Shopping Ads

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced a TikTok fine of about $368 million today based on how the popular social platform processes data of younger users. DPC announced in 2021 that it was investigating TikTok’s compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) privacy and security laws. The investigation identified specific problems with TikTok’s default account settings, the Family Pairing settings, and its age verification process (although the age verification model did not violate GDPR, the probe found that TikTok did not sufficiently protect the privacy of children under 13 who were able to create an account). Continue reading Ireland Fines TikTok $368 Million for Mishandling of User Data

ETC@USC is hosting its 9th vETC virtual conference at this year’s IBC in Amsterdam, September 15-18. The event — which highlights significant presentations of emerging technologies and their impact on the M&E industry — will explore how generative AI, machine learning, and other compelling new tools help simplify building 3D worlds and tackle today’s computer vision challenges. The sessions will be recorded and posted on ETC’s YouTube channel. For those attending IBC who may be interested in attending the sessions (located in Hall 7 at Booth C28), visit the program guide, which includes a full schedule and speaker bios. Continue reading vETC Coming to IBC 2023: The Path of Sustainable Innovation