Exploration Weekly - Custom Radio Stations on YouTube Music / Spotify Unveils New AI Listening Feature / Tuned Global Partners with Lululemon

We want to send our thanks for reading the Exploration Weekly newsletter for February 2023. Check out some of our guides on music industry topics at Exploration Learn, or subscribe to our YouTube channel for more information.

In this newsletter:

• YouTube Music Users Can Now Build Custom Radio Stations
• Spotify’s New ‘DJ’ Pairs AI-Powered Commentary With Song Picks
• Tuned Global Inks Deal to Provide Yoga and Fitness Giant Lululemon with Licensed Music for Lululemon Studio
• Meta Verified Coming — A Subscription Service for Creators
• Court Should Dismiss “Rockstar” Song Theft Lawsuit Against Nickelback, Magistrate Judge Recommends

The YouTube Music app will now allow users to create customized radio stations based around specific songs, artists, and moods. They will be able to select up to 30 artists to be featured on a single hub.

Premium users in the U.S. and Canada can now use “DJ” on Spotify, a new listening feature that incorporates artificial intelligence technology and provides commentary on algorithmically recommended selections of music.

B2B music company Tuned Global has recently partnered with Lululemon to provide over 10,000 Lululemon Studio fitness classes with licensed music.

Now, the details...

Exploration Weekly - February 24, 2023
Compiled by Heidi Seo

YouTube Music Users Can Now Build Custom Radio Stations

On YouTube Music, it’s now possible to create customized radio stations based around specific songs, artists, and moods. The new stations are distinct from YouTube Music’s preexisting radio options, which are curated by the site itself. Those stations, like the analogous ones on Spotify, can be shaped by a user’s listening history. The user-generated stations offer a higher level of customization. Listeners can select up to 30 artists to be featured on a single hub, and they can further refine their stations by using filters like “chill songs” and “new discoveries.”

Spotify’s New ‘DJ’ Pairs AI-Powered Commentary With Song Picks

Spotify announced a new listening feature that incorporates artificial intelligence technology on Wednesday (Feb. 22). Instead of clicking through an editorial playlist like Today’s Top Hits or an algorithmic one like Discovery Weekly, premium users in the United States and Canada can now turn to “DJ,” which supplements algorithmic recommendations with commentary about the selections delivered via an AI voice platform.

Tuned Global Inks Deal to Provide Yoga and Fitness Giant Lululemon with Licensed Music for Lululemon Studio

B2B music company Tuned Global has signed an agreement to provide Lululemon with licensed music for its catalog of over 10,000 Lululemon Studio fitness classes, saying that its B2B white-label playlist app for fitness companies “enables [Lululemon’s] instructors to curate playlists quickly and hassle-free”. It also enables those same instructors to search for music via filters based on criteria such as BPM, key, genre, and other variables.

Meta Verified Coming — A Subscription Service for Creators

Meta says it wants to make it easier for creators to establish a presence online that is verified, so they can focus on building communities on Instagram or Facebook. The new Meta Verified feature includes a badge that authenticates your account with a government ID, proactive account protection, access to account support, and increased visibility and reach. The service is being tested in Australia and New Zealand for now—with the goal to out to the rest of the world soon.

Court Should Dismiss “Rockstar” Song Theft Lawsuit Against Nickelback, Magistrate Judge Recommends

A magistrate judge in a court in Texas has recommended that a song-theft lawsuit against Nickelback be dismissed, because the plaintiff’s explanation for how the band might have had access to his earlier track is insufficient. Kirk Johnston, vocalist with the band Snowblind Revival, went legal in 2020, claiming that Nickelback’s 2005 track ‘Rockstar’ ripped off a song he had written with the same title four years earlier.

Random Ramblings

• ‘The Voice’ that changed the music industry.
• Untangling the knotty politics behind reggaeton’s rise in Spain.
• Taylor Swift’s recorded music generated more money globally than any other artist in 2022.
• Miley Cyrus reigns supreme for fifth week at No. 1 with Flowers.
• How to prepare your music for sync licensing.