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✘ Why are we still using Spotify?
The rise of AI-generated fake artists; Discovery Mode’s hidden costs; Daniel Ek military investments; alternatives to start listening elsewhere.
 • 
Nicolás Madoery
6
✘ Populists vs. Tech Titans: The Battle Over AI and the Future of Music
And: music is ground zero for the Tech vs. Populist; Trump’s return aligns tech elites with deregulation; populist conservatives turn against Big Tech…
 • 
Virginie Berger
2
✘ This newsletter is optimistic
And: A return to the spirit of punk; MMM can boost digital audio spend; Four kinds of night; The year of the music licensing legal wars; Three AI use…
 • 
Maarten
4

June 2025

✘ All music is media - on value capture
And: Budapest Pride Ban; Hunting down AI songs; TikTok launches Fan Clubs; Algorithms killed discovery; Anthropic's use of copyrighted books ruled fair…
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Maarten
✘ Overcompensating with originality
And: Two-tier music streaming market; DJs' 1% reality; Indies rule; Radical sonic futures; Tropical technologist
 • 
Maarten
4
✘ Has the time finally come for metered music experiences?
And: Social media creator revenue overtakes trad media; The nicest swamp on the internet; Curated guide to 80+ music startups
 • 
Bas Grasmayer
8
✘ Recalibrating our digital system
And: The beautiful crushing act of expression; AI, Heidegger and Evangelion; Fan-Industrial Complex; Reclaiming culture in cultural policy; Timbaland's…
 • 
Maarten
2

May 2025

✘ Multimodal hyperdrive: from the vision of a release, to releasing a vision
And: Artificial emotional intelligence; a listening bar in Milan; the new director of the Venice Music Biennale; an acoustic playground in Shanghai…
 • 
Gadi Sassoon
✘ Read and listen
Rave wellbeing report; Mutual funds; Culture and media in Romania; AI-focused AEO taking over SEO; The age of the fractured soul
 • 
Maarten
✘ How to deal with YouTube
And: Licensing AI music; Developing taste; Just for a second; OpenAI will know more about you; UK venues in more trouble
 • 
Maarten
✘ Societal value, artist empowerment, inclusion, equity - Remixing our industry
And: Clubbing x Science; Hallucination as imagination in LLMs; Tencent's superfan clues; Viral songs aren't good; Create acquires Monstercat
 • 
Maarten
5
✘ The changing face of distro
And: YouTube's virtual creators report; Udio x Audible Magic to create fingerprinted output; Robot dexterity still seems hard; What's winning global…
 • 
Maarten
© 2025 Maarten Walraven
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